Page A12-The Chronicle, Thursday, February 23 Klan From Page A1 immmmnmmmmmmmmummpMmmmmmt I Na/i from W inston-Salem, sat directl> in frcVnt of me. Although 1 had seen pictures of the nine men on the newscasts following the Nov. 3 incident, 1 almost wasn't able to tell who was who. All M the defendants were dressed in suits, sporting slicked-back or freshly-cut hair styles and night-before shined shoes. But you could tell they weren't comfortable. One Klansman wore red-striped sweat socks with a blue, three-piece suit. Also at the front of the courtroom were nine attorne>s ami four U.S. Marshall^, On the other side of the defendants sat Daniel L. Belt It, chief prosecutor; two other attorneys, a local FBI man and several more U.S. Marshall. In the middle of the courtroom is a model of the housing project in Greensboro where the shooting occurred and wall maps of the area. All around the front portion of the courtroom are video monitors. For a person who is used to seeing one complainant and one defendant, and a lawyer to each side, I found it difficult to know who was who and who represented whom. And the fact that no names were given didn't help much. '1 wasn't alone in my confusion, though. The jurors sat on the edge of their seats as if trying to sort out who was who and what was going on. The Secret Jury As the day's proceedings began, the all-white six-man, six-woman jury and four white alternate jurors filed into the courtroom. Although the biographies of the jurors are not yet public, on first looking at them my mind racecT trying to decide if they looked like racists. Only four of the people looked younger than 30, half had gray hair and all looked very solemn and bothered -maybe because the trial is expected to last three months. ThpV Irtnkpfl VP rv Hiffprpnl from llio U ~ ~ ~ - -?I / WM VI VIII IIVSIII lllk JUI Ul 3 IVJI IIIC )ldtc trial, which might be considered a plus for the prosecution. The jury at the state trial in 1980 was again all-white and the foreman was a Cuban refugee named Octavio Manduley, who belonged to an organization characterized in the media as "an anti-Castro organization." Manduley admitted that he knew little about the Nazis or the KKK, except that they were "patriotic" groups. Also on the last jury was William Browning, who said he felt sympathy for anyone sitting on the defense side of the court, and three others who had known biases against the CWP, but who favored either the Klan or Nazis. The only information available on this jury is that one juror admitted in the closed jury selections that her grandfather was a Klansman, but she said she felt sure she could listen to the trial and reach a fair decision. I tried unsuccessfully^ decide which one she was. Was she the older lady with the well-teased bouffant hairstyle or the well-dressed lady with a striking new hair cut? I couldn't be sure. ed to take the trial lightly. Wood had a legal pad that he drew red and green dots on. And it was either Coleman Pridmore, exalted cyclops (president) of the Invisible Emnire of the I inrnln fnnntv Klan or Roy Toney who constantly played eye games with the sparse audience of media people. One or the other tried to gain eye contact and then stared intensely at his subject. Dawson smiled or winked at the audience whenever a positive point in the trial was made. Griffin sat on the end of the bench with the patience of a two-year-old at a Sunday morning church service. And Jerry Paul Smith, colonel of security of the North Carolina Invisible Empire of the KKK and the one seen on the news videos of the shootout with two guns in his hand firing at the demonstrators, slept. The others appeared restless and bothered, and they all acted as if they had something better to do than sit in * _ 11 -J-.. wuui i an uay. Somebody Was Guilty As the prosecution exhausted its list of the day's witnesses, including one news photographer and three cameramen who filmed the 88-second shootout between the CWP and the Klan and Nazis, I, too, became a little weary of the trial. ; But not because I didn't understand the importance of the proceedings or what impact the jury's verdict might have on Klan activity in North Carolina; rather, I was upset. The attorneys Tor the state and the defense spent half the day objeot*4??*44^'wtoii4'iiHw presenting technical information that I'm sure the jurywas puzzled about. But the state's attorneys, unlike those in the first trial, did appear to have some human concern for the five dead demonstrators. They referred to them as people or demonstrators, and not as "communists." 1 also grew angry watching the video monitors and seeing Smith firing at Cesar Cauce as he crawled on his hands and knees to safety or David Matthews shooting Dr. James Michael Waller in the back or Matthews shooting at Sandra Neely Smith who had been hit in the head with a wooden stick that had put a part in her skull or Dr. Michael Nathan, who lay in the street with his head surrounded in a pool of his own blood. I was appalled that the earlier trial had produced not-guilty verdicts. What would it take to prove that somebody was responsible for the deaths of five people? But I remembered that I could not react this way. I was a reporter. I was supposed to be unbiased and fair and listen to both sides and report accurately. I was not to make a decision as to guilt or innocence. Suddenly, 1 was shaken back into reality as the judge pounded on his huge desk signifying the end of the day's proceedings. Court would start again the next morning. I got into the elevator with another reporter, the two of us discussing the day's proceedings. Before the door closed, several of the Klansmen on trial also got in. Again, I felt that same fear that 1 had felt eaflier that morning. But it was a short ride from the second to the first floor. A lot less than 88 seconds. , 1984 ? v Black districts pre % Though a number of "The Forsyth Counts black elected officials have delegation will look at this embraced it, his plan has a plan and the percentage of long road to travel if it is to blacks in this communits be adopted. Little says. and sa\ that vse otight to be The plan has to receive a shining example of what's public support and the sup- right and fair," Burke says, port of the present five- Alderman Virginia u ,. u i -1 VI. ti uiciiiuci uuu>c ucicganun rsewjiii agrees, of which Dr. C.B. Hauset "The courts have shown and Annie Brown Kennedy that the county has not livare black members. ? ed up to its commitment to Alderman Larry Worn- black people and this proble, who supports the Little posal gives them a chance to plan, sa\s the delegation do that," she says. "It's a should endorse it as well good one and we ought to because it is the fair thing to sit down and look at it." do. The plan obviously has "1 think that they (pre- the blessings of Winstonsent delegation) should go Salem's black aldermen and with two single-member the Black Political districts," Womble says. Awareness League "A three-judge panel has unanimously voted to ensaid we have to do it my dorse it. But whether the March 16 and, if we don't, Forsyth County delegation they will. We have been to the state House will supable to do that and retain port it remains to be seen, the two seats we (blacks) Kennedy say^she has not have already and it seems had enough time to study fair to me that the delega- the plan carefully to comfion -should support the ment on whether the the plan." delegation will support it. Alderman Vivian Burke, Hauset also says he has who also supports Little's not had an opportunity to pTanTsays sne thinks it will look at the plan but hopes be favored by the present the delegation will support house delegation. the concept of two 1QQC I f:;::.;;^3 f ;.;.;9 IB V P| 11 V :?#J BOibpior I ,. Kelway Rentals/Sales compare our LOW pric and audio equipment 5 Stores Serving Win )posed From Page A1 predominantl\ black vinule- them " member districts. If the black community "1 hope that if we can get and the present delegation two, we get two," Hauser cannot come to terms on a says. a plan by March 16, or any But Walter Marshall, ac- other deadline the courts ting president of the NAACP, says he doubtthe delegation will endorse Little's proposal. -/ _^"Most of the delegation ^A|V' M * , $3 has depended on the stable black vote to get them into B cowmen office," Marshall says. "If lcx*they vote to remove us from JL their voting rolls, they /% would be voting themselves SB / % out of office. The margin between the Democrats and ^ T "T Republicans has always ^ I I oo*??tuu? been the black vote. H B J without us, they lose." * 0 hSgjjSI j[ But Little says the black 0 J community's history of ML"!support" for white ^ aouawat Democrats is precisely the reason the delegation ^1 ^, ifo should approve the plan. Li wrtjf "For so long they have been 0^^ m J ^9* riding us and riding us," he kuS^S?L says. 44We have been their ******** margin of victory even IB L when they turn on us. We helped send R. J . (Childress), (Tom) Womble and (Margaret) Tennilleto Raleigh. Now we need JrjKtrWmmmMKMu SPEC FOR klEER^_ 1 S?^S \^! "J CB UTTO^rm^ IE! GET IT TODAY has more to offer we invite ' :es on famous name brand TV iston-Salem, Greensboro, High Point, F REGISTER nm,?????? & VOTE - YOUR LIVELIHOOD ma} uiipusc, nu jjiimiiiics DEPENDS ON IT or elections can be held. ^ YOUR Forsyth County's primary FREEDOM election is scheduled for May 8. ???1 j Lccr^^ pffl AT WHAT WE V092 , HAVE TO RENT %?? 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