Newspapers / The Chowan Herald (Edenton, … / Nov. 5, 1997, edition 1 / Page 1
Part of The Chowan Herald (Edenton, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
Testimony begins in Rankins trial dt acAN JACKSON Staff miter Before the evidence in Michael Rankins’ trial was ever presented to the jury, Rankins questioned Interim Police Chidf Greg Bonner’s credibil ity. Bonner, who was a Captain with the Edenton Police Depart ment at the time of the Royalty FJu^nce robbery on March 14. Bonner led the investigation that resulted in Rankins’ ar restton armed robbery charges. Superior Court Judge Clifton Everett had sent the jury out of the pourtroom before Rankins stated that his due process rights were violated at the time of a grand jury hearing when a court reporter was not present as Bonner presented the case he had against Rankins. “I feel as though Captain Bonner lied to the jury to get me indicted,” Rankins told the court. “I can’t come in here and expect to receive a fair trial if I can’t test his (Bonner’s) cred ibility.” Everett explained to Rankins and his attorney, Hackney High, Jr. of Edenton, that only an investigative grand jury needs a court reporter present. High then called Bonner to the witness stand to discuss the method in which Bonner pre sented three composite photo graph lineups to Bishop Ali, owner of B.J.’s Coffee Shop on Broad Street, which—at the time of the robbery—was lo cated just down the street from Royalty Finance. High wanted to suppress Ali’s eyewitness identification of Rankins from the lineup Bonner presented to him on the afternoon of the rob bery. Everett denied High’s mo tion to suppress Ali’s testimony since he did not feel that the manner in which the photo lineup was presented to Ali was unduly suggestive. After opening statements by High and prosecuting attorney Michael Johnson, four wit nesses who were employed by Royalty Finance at the time of the robbery were called to tes See RANKINS On Page 3-A I Election voter turnout low ■ BY SEAN JACKSON ! Staff Writer j | Turnout for yesterday’s election was, as forecast, light, j In spite of favorable weather, Edenton residents did not turn op at the polls in large num ! b§rs. Qfcowan Ceunty Board of % Elections Director Rebecca j Lowe reported a light turnout, a mere 90 votes cast at Edenton precincts, by lunchtime. “It’s been real quiet,” Lowe said. “No call-in votes in yet at all. Everything must be run ning smoothly.” With no bond issues on this year’s ballot, and with all three j town council races going un contested, Lowe said voter apa thy, for the most part, had been expected. Councilmen Jerry Parks, at large incumbent, Jerald Perry, 3rd Ward incumbent and Willis Privott, 4th Ward incumbent were re-elected for another four years on the Edenton Town Council. All three council members are Democrats. According to Lowe, the East Edenton precinct saw a little more voter activity since the majority of both the 3rd Ward and 4th Ward voters go to the polls there. The difference, Lowe said, was minor. “It has been a quiet day,” she said. ! USHERING IN THE HOLIDAY SEASON Those doing a little early Christmas shopping found lots of beautiful things - and some very reasonable prices -- during the National Guard Ladies Auxiliary-sponsored annual craft show and sale on Saturday. Even the nasty weather early that morning couldn't keep the crowd away as they Vj/eje treated to the products of some of the most gifted craftspeople and cooks in the area. (Staff pl)oto by Rebecca Bunch) (Related photos on page 1-B) * Veterans Day ceremony nears "The seventh annual Veterans Day Program will be held at the Chowan County Veterans Memorial in Edenton on Nov. Hat 11 a.m. Guest speaker will be Town Manager Anne-Marie Knight on,-Music will be provided by Lyiln Bundy and prayer by Jean Halsey. Local veterans’organizations wilf lay wreaths at the memo rial and citizens are also in vited to lay wreaths in memory of loved ones if they wish. For more information, call George Stokes at 482-8572. American Legion Post 40 will also be having a flag retire ment ceremony that evening at sunset. "All those who have flags to be retired with honor, please bring them to the Post Home, located on West Queen Street in Edenton," Stokes said. Notice Due to computer-related difficulties, some subscrib ers of The Chowan Herald may be late in receiving this week's paper. We are working to repair the problem, and will have papers in the mail as soon as possible. Home delivery should not be affected. We deeply regreat any in convenience to our readers. ,hnir;intuc„kCopuntysTDKeTrcu.s Hende;rhan9s °n to showdown m Barco. The Aces trounced Currituck 56-8 to clinch a playoff berth. (Cox NC Publications photo by J. Murphy Miller) It's official: Edenton Aces earn entry to playoffs after championship win BY AMY HARBER Cox NC Publications Sports Writer Edenton Aces coach Jay Swicegood looked like he went for a dip in the Currituck Sound, but his drenched body wasn’t due to the rain. It was from his players dump ing a cooler qf water on him during the filial moments of the Aces’ 56-8 win over Currituck County in Barco Fri day night to clinch a state play off berth and the 2-A North eastern-Albemarle Conference title. A soaked Swicegood said his team fought hard to come back from early season losses against bigger non-conference opponents. “They enjoy getting people wet over here. That’s what the kids enjoy,” said Swicegood, whose team has beaten Currituck (6-4, 3-2) three straight years. “I told you last week how fun it is coaching right now and when you win it is fun, but this is a close group of kids and they work hard. I think when we were 2-3, our kids battled back and people wondered if we were a good football team, but we knew we were playing people tough. I think it made us a little bit stron He added, “Currituck fought real hard tonight. They tried to make a game of it. I’m just proud of our kids as well be cause I think we came out ag gressive, ready to play and it’s a great feeling to win the con ference championship tonight.” Edenton (7-3,5-0) took advan tage of five recovered fumbles, includingone returned 10 yards for a touchdown by Wayne Downing with 7:31 left in the first quarter. Swicegood and Currituck coach Donnie Simpson said the weather was a factor in the game. “I felt confident that if we came out and did the thing that we were capable of doing that we could win the ballgame,” said Swicegood. “We got off to a good start. A lot of things went wrong for Currituck. The weather, I think, played into it a little bit. The loose balls that were there, we were able to pick up and make some things happen.” “I think it had a lot to do’with the weather,” Simpson said of the fumbles. “Of course, there towards the end, our fumbles came when we had a new quar terback and not getting a lot of exchanges there with the first team center and the weather • See ACES On Page 3-A Candlelight Tour tickets now on sale BY REBECCA BUNCH Editor Susan Wood and Mary Jo Sell ers will again chair the annual Christmas Candlelight Tour, scheduled for the weekend of Dec. 12-14. The tour is spon sored by the Edenton Histori cal Commission. Twelve Edenton homes will be included on the tour. While most of the homes are located on East and West King and Blount Streets, there will also be homes on Blount Street and Pembroke Circle included. "I think we have a good mix r ture of historical and contem porary homes for people to see and enjoy," said Wood. "We think the tour is going to be a very good one, and we are also excited about the other events that will be going on for people to enjoy that weekend." Those events will include the Edent'on Christmas Parade, scheduled for Saturday morn ing, Dec. 13, at 11 a.m. and the Chowan Arts Council's "A Grand Time for Christmas," on Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. at Swain Auditorium. There will also be the tradi tional Wassail Bowl and Groan ing Board from 1-5 p.m. on Fri day and Saturday. A new fea ture this year will be the addi tion of a Holiday Repast at the Barker House which will also be held at the same time. Those events will be free to the pub lic. "This is my first time work ing with something like this...with such wonderful or ganizers as Susan and Mary Jo, I feel sure it will be a very memorable experience," said Ginny Culpepper, Barker House manager. See TOUR On Page 3-A m I Mary Jo Sellers and Susan Wood meet at the Barker House to discuss plans for this year's Christmas Candlelight Homes Tour weekend, scheduled for Dec. 12-14. (Staff photo by Rebecca Bunch) Sunday, Many Groups NOV. 9 Performing Free Admission Swain Love Offering Auditorium
The Chowan Herald (Edenton, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Nov. 5, 1997, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75