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juror issued challenge during talks in officer’s trial in Charlotte
■ By Tom Foreman Jr.
ICHARLOTTE (AP) - A
lor who heard evidence
It he trial of a white North
'arolina police officer said he
bllenged his colleagues to
kermine what an unarmed
lack man did to lead the de-
Idant to fatally shoot him.
I‘I wrote on the board:
■hat did Jonathan Ferrell
land I underlined “do,” to
arrant death: 10 shots.’I had
pre this because there was
Bhing that I had seen in the
leeks preceding that showed
I what he had done,” said
tor Moses Wilson, who was
■ of the jurors who chose to
vict Officer Randall Ker-
: of voluntary manslaugh-
‘And I said that if anyone
show me what he did, I
;ht change my vote - which
;oing to be for conviction
acquittal, and every day,
was my challenge,” he
Ifter four days of delib-
ations, the jury was dead-
cked, 7-5 on an initial vote
id 8-4 on the succeeding
ree votes. And when Judge
obert C. Ervin asked thejury
reman last Friday (Aug. 21)
further deliberations would
five the impasse, the te
rse was no. Ervin then
ared a mistrial - a move
sparked protests outside
lourthouse and elsewhere,
east two people were ar
id.
Tilson said when he first
t into deliberations, he
’t know how he was go-
o vote. From there, he de
ci to review his notes and
n his opinion.
Vhile the military veteran
'ilson served two tours of
tnam - and former Boston
stable thought the pros-
tion’s case should have
id, Wilson said he was
icularly upset with the de
le’s presentation, which he
I put Ferrell on trial.
■It became, not what he
J, or what they did to him,
it more, what he didn’t do,
riat he should have known
tat to do, so that the police
Itld not either beat him sil-
or shoot him,” Wilson said.
.Kerrick, who is suspended
thout pay from the force,
ed 12 shots at Ferrell, hit-
I him 10 times. Pros-
utors said nonlethal force
ould have been used to sub-
I Ferrell, a former Florida
■M football player, in Sep-
nber 2013. Two officers
th Kerrick didn’t fire their
ns. One of those officers
Ruse a Taser.
But Kerrick’s attorneys said
1 officer feared for his life
ran he shot and killed Ferrell
ale responding to a breaking-
Bentering call.
Wilson pointed to the three cl
ients of voluntary manslaugh-
described to the jury by Er-
■ including whether Kerrick
deeded matching the threat to
n by something far more ex-
isive than what was needed to
I the threat.
■That’s where we had our
iblems,” he said,
He said the entire incident
bunted to “a night of mis-
es” on both sides, but he said
' most egregious was that Ker-
I didn’t do what he was sup-
sed to do as a police officer.
’“You are not the judge. You
notthejury,” he said. “You’re
f person who comes to investi-
1 and decide whether a person
>uld be arrested and sent else-
ere.”
MEMBERS OF THE DURHAM BRANCH OF THE NAACP REMEMBER JULIAN BOND
Durham Branch NAA CP Remembers Julian Bond
WASHINGTON (NNPA)/Staff Reports
Members of the Durham Branch of the NAACP gathered on Sat., Aug. 22, at 2 p.m.
to remember the late NAACP Chairman Julian Bond. Bond’s family had asked those
who could make the trip to the family’s program to participate by spreading flowers
into water at 2 p.m.
“The family of Julian Bond wife, [Pam Horowitz, sons, Horace Mann Bond II, Jef
frey and Michael; daughters, Phyllis Jane Bond McMillan and Julia Louise Bond; sister,
Jane; brother, James; and his eight grandchildren] has issued the following statement:
“We realize that many people loved and admired Julian. We understand that at this
time of great loss for our family, that many you are feeling your own sense of loss.
We also very much understand the need for community closure and an opportunity to
celebrate the life of a great husband, father and grandfather, but also a great national
treasure and civil rights icon.
“To that end, we would like to provide the following explanation and invitation.
“As all ofyou are aware, Julian Bond was a man who took strong positions and held
fast to the things he believed in. Julian directed all of us, with respect to his desires for
his final rites. We are honoring his wishes that his body be cremated and his ashes be
committed to the Gulf of Mexico. This will be a private, family only, service.
“This final request will be carried out in a burial at sea on Saturday, August 22, 2015
at 2:00 pm, Central Daylight Time.
NAACP member Charles Perry led the delegation to a spot on the Eno River at the
West Point on the Eno State Park.
“Julian Bond contributed for years to the NAACP and this the least we can do for
him. He was a giant.”
Rev. Rachel Green led a prayer of remembrance on how he was instrumental in
SNCC and moving the NAACP forward.
Those sentiments were echoed at the Durham Branch’s monthly meeting on Sun-
Aug. 23.
Bond’s family continued:
“Since we fully understand and appreciate that many of you consider Julian to b
part of your family and would like to be a part of his official home going, we extent
the following invitation. We invite you to gather at a body of water near your home ant
precisely at 2:00 pm, CDT, spread flower pedals on the water and join us in biddins
farewell to Horace Julian Bond. This gesture will mean a great deal to us as a famih
and also provide some comfort in knowing that you share our loss.
“Finally, as we join together as a family to help each other through this time, wt
are well aware that there must be a public opportunity for all of Julian’s friends, Civi
Rights Colleagues, students and admirers to come together in a memorial celebration o
his life to share memories and expressions of love and appreciation. We will announci
plans for such a gathering very soon.
“Thank you for sharing Julian with us, and thank you for allowing us to honor hi:
wishes. Thank you.”
Meanwhile, tributes continue to pour in for Bond.
“Julian Bond was a huge hero in the fight against HIV and AIDS,” said Phil Wilson
president and CEO of the Black AIDS Institute. “I never had to explain why it wa:
important for him to show up on any of the many occasions I called him for his help
He made sure that HIV/AIDS was front and center on the NAACP’s agenda. He wa:
the first leader to create an AIDS strategy for a national civil rights organization. An
when I called him asking him to be photographed and to publicly take an HIV test, hi
did not hesitate.”
Equally important, Wilson said, “Julian understood probably better than anybody
else that injustice is of a whole cloth - you cannot embrace any of it and still call your
self just. The threads are woven throughout. You can’t say that I’m opposed to racism
but I’m okay with sexism; you can’t be anti-misogynistic yet homophobic. Julian spen
his entire life fighting for justice. Not just some of the time, in some places, for somi
people.”
Wine train issues apology to black women booted from train
By Kristin J. Bender
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The Napa Valley Wine Train issued an apology
Aug. 25 to a book club that includes mostly black women who said they were
booted from a tasting tour because of their race.
The company also promised additional training for employees on cultural
diversity and sensitivity, and offered the group free passes for 50 people for a
future trip.
“The Napa Valley Wine Train was 100 percent wrong in its handling of this
issue,” CEO Anthony “Tony” Giaccio said in a statement. “We accept full re
sponsibility for our failures and for the chain of events that led to this regret
table treatment of our guests.”
The 11 members of the book club, all but one of whom is African American,
said rude employees ordered them off the train on Saturday (Aug. 22), mid-
journey, and marched them down several aisles to their embarrassment.
“We didn’t do anything wrong,” club member Lisa Johnson, who chronicled
the episode in cellphone videos and social media, told KTVU Monday (Aug.
24). “We still feel this is about race. We were singled out.”
One member of the group is 83.
Johnson was not immediately available for comment Aug. 25) Tuesday to
The Associated Press.
Wine train spokesman Sam Singer said employees had repeatedly asked the
women to either quiet down or get off the train and accept a free bus ride back
to their starting point.
Giaccio said he had a conversation with Johnson, a leader of the Sistahs on
the Reading Edge Book Club, and offered the group the free passes for a re
served car “where you can enjoy yourselves as loudly as you desire.”
“We were insensitive when we asked you to depart our train by marching
you down the aisle past all the other passengers,” he said in his letter. “While
that was the safest route for disembarking, it showed a lack of sensitivity on
our part.”
The Napa Valley Wine Train offers food and wine to passengers as they roll
to Napa County wineries in updated Pullman cars.
On average, Singer said, individuals or groups are asked to get off the wine
train once a month for various reasons.
Wine train employees had called police in St. Helena about the book club
members, who were already off the train when officers arrived.
Police spokeswoman Maria Gonzalez said it was the first time in memory
that the wine train had sought such assistance from the department.
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