Newspapers / The Warren Record (Warrenton, … / June 9, 1977, edition 1 / Page 11
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Final Arguments Go To Warren Jury (Continued from page l) testified, where they sat in the car for some time, smoking marihuana and drinking wine. Davis said Wilson realized that no girls were coming and told Davis that he should not lie like that. Davis recounted that Wilson told him that he was going "to teach you a lesson about lying." Davis said that he got out of the car and Wilson got out and pushed him down. He said he grabbed a pocket knife and tried to cut Wilson to get him off, and that Hampton hit Wilson with an automobile jack. Davis testified that Wilson got up after being hit and said he was "going to get the cops." Davis said Hampton hit Wilson again, and that he did not know how many times Hampton struck the victim. He testified that Hampton told him "we have to finish what we've started" as Wilson lay in a ditch at the road's edge. He said Hampton turned the car around and Davis threw the jack in the front of the car before they put the body of Wilson in the trunk. Davis, under questioning, said he took Wilson's watch and that Hampton later had the money. He said he saw only papers from Wilson's wallet and did not see Hampton take the wallet. Davis identified the bloodstained jack, which was the State's exhibit two. He said the two drove the car to Manson, stopping at a gas station on Interstate 85 for gas, with Hampton pay Doe Hunting (Continued from page 1) mood. A number of road requests were made of the commissioners but action on Warren roads was deferred until after June IS when a highway meeting will be held here and when more would be known about allocations and priorities. Several of these road matters were discussed by John Hawkins, chairman of the Wairen County Republican Party. Hawkins, who is a-member of a state agency concerned with nursing homes, asked the commissioners to designate their choice from among the three persons who proposed to build a nursing home in the district, preferably at Warrenton. This the commissioners failed to do, only saying that they prefer that it be built on a site in Warren County. Hawkins said that he also favors this and would do his best to have the home located in Warren County. Manager inaries Mayes read a letter from the Board of Commissioners of Camden County asking that the Warren County Commissioners join with them in a proposed change in the insurance laws. The commissioners said that the time for action was past as the letter arrived too late. The board agreed to sign a contract with the auditing firm of Watts St Scobie for a county audit. A request from Macon Wemyss, manager of the Warren County ABC Board, that each of the Warren County ABC Stores be equipped with bullet-proof glass at the rate of one a year, at a cost of (5,000 each, was tabled by the board for further study. Manager Hayes reported that one cent sales tax collection in Warren County during the month of May totalled $17,525.88, compared with $16,228.46 in April. ■ The Commissioners granted $5000 tax credit under the elderly homestead exemption act for Mrs. Lois Connell and A. J. Ellington because both were ill and could not sign the proper forms in January. : The commissioners also granted a tax refund of $15.96 to Mordecai Shearin due to error in listing. * A claim of Horace Robinson for alleged overpayment of taxes and presented by bit attorneys for payment, was denied by the commissioners and •turned over to the county •attorney for settlement. tag for the purchase. Davis said he used the restroom to wash blood from his hands. He said they then went to the interstate bridge crossing Lake Gaston and threw Wilson's body from the bridge. He said they had to hurry because they could see a car approaching, and heard the body hit the water before continuing their drive into Virginia. He said they stopped again for gas at Petersburg, where Hampton cleaned himself of blood. They then went to a nightclub in Richmond, later going to a bus station for something to eat before driving to a relative's home. They found everyone asleep and went to a poolroom where they remained until about 11:30 a. m. on January 22. Davis said they then returned to the relative's home and drove back to Warrenton that night. He testified that he sold his pocketknife, also exhibited by the prosecution, in Richmond for a dollar. Davis said that on their return to Warrenton they parked Wilson's car behind Mariam Boyd Elementary School and began wiping fingerprints from the vehicle when a car approached. They then fled on footDavis going to a laundromat and Hampton running in the general direction of Hawkins Junior High School. Davis said the two met later and caught a cab. Davis said he went to his girl friend's house, where he spent the night and that on the following night they met again at the Starlight Palace and Davis was told by Hampton that sheriff's deputies had questioned him. Davis said they agreed to a story that Cleveland had taken them to the Greystone Restaurant in Vance County and left them and that they had not seen Wilson since. He said he told deputies the story when questioned. Davis returned to the witness stand at 9:40 a. m. Tuesday, again telling of Wilson taking Hampton and himself to the Greystone Restaurant, the story he said had been concocted. He admitted that Wilson had never taken either of them there. He said that he told Hampton he had been questioned by deputies also, and Hampton replied "Just be cool." Davis said he was arrested in Warrenton on Budget Proposed (Continued from page 1) for furniture. All told, the schools' capital outlay request totalled $136,446. It is anticipated that $70,000 from bond funds, cash balances and the sale of the Macon and Littleton school property will be put with the proposed county money to fund all the requests. The current expense budget for the schools calls for allocating $593,828 in county funds, compared with $523,980.95 in the current year's budget. Hayes said the increase in the schools' operating budget, the increase in fuel and electricity and an increase in the Social Services budget brought about the jump in proposed expenditures. Hayes pointed out that the recommended budget provides for two new employees in the county's ambulance service, an addition required by state law. He said one additional person is being recommended for the Register of Deeds Office and another for the Soil Conservation service. Both positions are now filled by employees funded under the Federal CETA program. A decrease in the proposed budget was noted in debt service because of the reduction in principal, now down to $180,000. Expenditures for the Warren General Hospital Fund are down by $12,800 because capital outlay, including a new hospital roof, is proposed to be funded by revenue sharing money. Capital outlay and renovations for county buildings carries a $59,249 price tag in the new budget proposal. the Monday afternoon following the crime. He said he told officers after he was in jail the same story he told jurors Monday. He said that he had talked with Deputy Dorsey Capps and that Joe and Cleveland had gotten in a fight and that "Joe killed him." Davis testified that he was advised by his lawyers and the district attorney that if he testified it would lessen his sentence to voluntary manslaughter. He said that they had not given him any bargains on anything else. Defense attorney Frank Banzet questioned Davis as to what Cleveland was wearing (Davis could not remember) and how many beers they had had. Davis replied "about five each." Davis admitted drinking whiskey during the day and using marihuana, but he refused to tell where he got the marihuana. He said he had been to Richmond with Hampton before. His father and aunt live in Richmond, Va., he explained. He said he had about $18 that night. He admitted that he had never before that night had conversation with Joe about Greystone. Under cross-examination he said they stayed in the woods about 20 minutes. The defense contended Joe Hampton helped Davis out by hitting Wilson with the jack (to get Wilson off Davis) and noted that both men were placed in jail at the same time and put in cells alone. Davis was asked if he understood the sentence for murder and the sentence for voluntary manslaughter. He said he had been told that he could get 20 years for manslaughter. He said that they (the district attorneys) had promised to dismiss other charges by combining all of them under a single voluntary manslaughter charge. Davis said he had been convicted in court in 1975 for worthless checks and trespass. The third witness called by the state was Howard Riggan of the Granville County Sheriff's Department who was part of Granville County Rescue Squad dragging Lake Gaston for Wilson's body. He said his rescue squad found the body in the lake on Feb. 27 about noon. He described the body as face down in the water at the time it surfaced and that the back seemed intact. When the body was turned over in the ambulance on highway for examination by the Mecklenburg County medical examiner, the right side of the face was smashed in, Riggan noted. Deputy Capps testified that the body was clothed in shirt, pants and socks when recovered from the lake. He said he took the body to Chapel Hill on the Warren County ambulance and went back the next morning to receive evidence from State Medical Examiner, Page Hudson. Capps said he took the evidence to the SB1 laboratory in Raleigh the same day. He testified he found a coat and shoes at Sherwood Forest on Jan. 23. He identified the knife exhibited in court and said he and SBI agents recovered it in Richmond. Doctor Hudson said he performed an autopsy or Cleveland Wilson on Feb. 2i and 28 and that the victim had suffered multiple frac tures of the jaw anc cheekbones and brain dam age. The medical examiner said in his opinion that death was caused by beating of the head and face by a blunt instrument. When shown the jack exhibited by the state, he said that the jack could indeed have killed the victim., He testified that the temperatures of the water had well preserved the body. Hudson also testified that following his examination he believed that the victim may have lived for an hour or so or could have died instantly following the blows to the head. He also noted that the victim could possibly have lived if proper medical attention could have been administered immediately. Hudson testified that the body had a stab wound in the abdomen. State called D. G. Hedgecock of the SBI Crim Lab, who testified about various exhibits. The State began its Wednesday presentation by recalling SBI Agent Donald Sollars who told the court that he had taken fingerprints on the trunk of the car of Cleveland Wilson at Mariam Boyd School. Sollars said that he also took samples on the car jack and those of Joe Hampton. He declared that the fingerprints, used as exhibits in court by the state, were the right palm print and left palm print of Joe Hampton and that there were no matches of impressions taken of William McLean Davis on the trunk. He also noted that there were not enough impressions on the jack to draw any conclusions. Steve Jones, SBI agent, was called next. He also testified that the fingerprints procured by the Agent Sollars were those of Joe Hampton. The State rested its case at 10:10 a. m. The defense called Joe Hampton as its first and only witness. Hampton testified that he went to the Starlight Palace on the night of Jan. 21 and that he saw Davis and Wilson there. He said he went to the club with his brother. He admitted leaving the club with Wilson and Davis on Wilson's car. He said, 1 went to the Grey stone Restaurant." Wilson and Davis stopped in the middle of the road and put him out, according to Hampton. He testified that he went around the club and bought some "pot" from an unidentified person. He then went around the back and smoked it. He stayed at the club for perhaps an hour. He said that McLean and Wilson had said they were going to Henderson to play some cards. Later McLean came to Grey stone and said that he and*Wilson had gotten in a fight and that "he (Davis) had killed Cleveland." Hampton also testified that McLean was driving the car when they left Greystone. He said that he didn't move out of the car because he was high on pot. He testified that McLean drove to Richmond and that he remembered stopping with McLean at a service station on 1-85 but he did not pay for any gas. He said that he first saw the body of Cleveland Wilson in the car a Greystone where McLean showed it to him in the trunk. He testified that he glimpsed the body and vomited in the parking lot. He advised McLean to cal the police. When cross-examined, he testified that he was able to call the police and did not. Hampton would not commit himself on any times. He couldn't remember what time they were at Greystone or what time they left. He said that they drove to the l-«5 bridge and he was almost asleep. McLean got out, Hampton testified, and threw the body over the bridge by himself. Hampton said he wasn't sure if the body had indeed gone over the bridge. When he saw McLean in Richmond on Saturdy, Davis had changed clothes and had obtained some money from his father. He testified that they did not go to any of the clubs or restaurants, as Davis had earlier testified. He said that when he returned to Warrenton he went to the Starlight Palace. When asked by the defense if he killed Wilson, he replied, "No, I didn't." He told the defense that his fingerprints got on the car in Richmond. He said that Davis wanted to go to Ohio and that he didn't. So he drove and they ran out of gas. He noted that he went to a gas station, obtained a container of gas and returned to the back of the car where he proceeded to put gas in the car, leaning on the trunk where he left his fingerprints. Under crossexamining Hampton said he had never seen the knife or the jack shown him by the State. Hampton said he could not remember seeing anybody he knew in the parking lot at Greystone. He said he smoked about five joints of pot in the back of the building. He told the state that McLean told him at Greystone that he and Wilson had "got in a fight" at Greenwood village in a wooded area and that he (Davis) had killed Wilson. Hampton testified that until he met Davis at Greystone he hadn't done anything. He constantly stated that McLean was driving the car. Later he was confused as to when he was driving the car and when McLean was driving. He could not remember where he was when they changed drivers. He denied conversations with Deputy Capps on some points. Upon questioning by the State he answered that he guessed he wanted the court to believe that he was potted i.i the night in question even when he told Capps he had not smoked pot on Friday night. He denied ever being accused of breaking in South Warren School, assault ori anyone or stealing a vehicle. He said he did not take the victim's wallet. ■ Mrs. Salmon Fetes Bridge Players Mrs. Boyd Salmon recently entertained her bridge club with two tables set up for play. Arrangements of spring flowers were used at various points of the home. Mrs. Clyde Spragins was high score winner, Mrs. Thomas L Pepper won second high and Mrs. V". G. Hedgepeth won the travelling prize. Others playing were Mrs. William H. Myrick, Mrs. Carl Myrick, Mrs. R. A. Brown, Mrs. Douglas Reid and Mrs. W. G. Britton. A sweet course and drinks were served. Norlina Town Board Adopts Tentative Budget For 1977-78 The Norlina Town Commissioners on Monday night adopted a tentative budget for the town calling for total expenditures of $244,888.95 and a tax rate of 56c, compared with 78c for the 1976-77 fiscal year. The budget is based on a tax valuation of $7,414,026, compared with a valuation during 1976-77 of $5,244,375. A recent revaluation of real estate is responsible for the rise in values which permits a reduction in the tax rate. The bulk of the receipts comes from non-tax sources and includes funds from the Water Department, the Powell Fund, and Revenue Sharing. Other items in the budget are for the general Pollination haiiure Can Reduce Yields Garden crops that fail to produce as you think they should might have a pollination problem. It is one of the most common causes of failure in fruits and vegetables. Here are some things about pollination of garden crops that might help you better understand the fruit setting problem, as described by extension horticultural specialists at North Carolina State University: In vegetables there are generally two types of plants. One of these has both male and female parts in the same flower and can pollinate themselves. These crops include tomatoes, peppers, beans and peas. When poor fruit set occurs in these plants, the temperature is usually too high or there is a serious nutritional imbalance—either too much or too little fertilizer. The other group includes such crops as squash, pumpkins and melons. These most often have separate male and female flowers, and insects are necessary for good pollination. Very often plants in this category produce only male blooms for long periods, making pollination and fruit set impossible. When this occurs the temperature has been too cool or the plants have been fertilized too heavily, particularly with nitrogen. fund and debt service. The budget is departmentalized as follows: General Fund, $1,896.00; Water Department, $27,900.00; Powell Fund, $62,164.70; Revenue Sharing, $62,267.40; Debt Service, $20,667.08. A public hearing on the budget will be held at the Town Hall at 7:30 o'clock on June 26 after which the budget is to be adopted. In a reading of the minutes of a public hearing last week as to how the Revenue Sharing Fund should be appropriated, only two appeals were made. A representative from the Fire Department asked for a share of the fund for the Fire Department and Leigh Traylor asked that the fund be used to create recreational facilities for the town. Mrs. Mae Gums, Town Clerk, told the board that Mrs. Emily Bobbitt had resigned as chairman of the Norlina Board of Elections and that she and the other members of the board would have to be appointed. The board deferred action on a replacement for Mrs. Bobbitt until the next meeting of the board, and re-elected W. Leon Knight, and Dot Bobbitt as board members. The board approved policy for hauling off garbage and trash. Under the new policy, garbage, leaves and small brush will be hauled away if brush and leaves are placed at the curbing. No objects such as debris from tearing down buildings, in part or whole and heavy stumps or rocks will be removed. The statement of policy was drawn up by Attorney Julius Banzet. Mr. and Mrs. Otis Ottwa Va., announce the engai Dorothy Faye, to Julian Brs Va., son of Mr. and Mrs Littleton. Miss Tucker is a graduate she received a Bachelor of Mr. Acree is a graduate i where he received a Bache presently employed as a sa Olive Pickle Company. An August wedding is pi; y Tucker of Drakes Branch, seroent . of their daughter, ntley Acree, Jr., of Roanoke, Julian Brantley Acree of of Longwood College where Science Degree. >f Atlantic Christian College lor of Science Degree. He is es representative for Mount inned.
The Warren Record (Warrenton, N.C.)
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June 9, 1977, edition 1
11
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