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Page A2-The Chronicle, Thursday, June 13, 1985 Klan trial: Plaintiffs claim victory By ROBIN ADAMS Chronicle Assistant Editor Finally somebody has been found guilty of something, said Andrea Bernstein, a spokesman for the plaintiffs in a $48 million civil suit filed against Klansmen and Nazis. A six-person jury had awarded nearly $400,000 in damages to some of those plaintiffs last Satur day in a case stemming from a Nov. 3, 1979, Greensboro shootout between Klansmen and Nazis and members and supporters of the Com munists Workers Party. “This is a major victory in this case,” plaintiff Nelson Johnson said on the steps of the Federal Building Friday afternoon. “(But) no dollar amount can measure the significance of this -listoric victory.” The monetary award was assessed against Greensboro police Sgt. P.W. Spoon, Detective Jerry “Rooster” Cooper, former police informant Eddie Dawson and Klan-Nazi defendants David Wayne Matthews, Jerry Paul Smith, Roland Wayne Wood, Jack Wilson Fowler Jr. and Mark Sherer. They were all found guilty in the wrongful death of Dr. Michael Nathan, one of five people killed during the shootout. Dr. Marty Nathan, his widow, was awarded $335,000 for the wrongful death charge and another $3,600 from Matthews, Smith, Wood and Fowler, who were also found liable for assault and battery on her husband. Paul Bermanzohn, the CWP member who was shot in the head and paralyzed, was awarded $38,359.55 from Matthews, Smith, Wood and Fowler, all found liable for assault and battery on Bermanzohn. Tom Clark was the only other plaintiff receiving a monetary award. He was awarded $1,500. All charges against the city of Greensboro and the federal defendants were dropped. The plaintiffs had contended that federal agent Bernard Butkovich, who they say conspired with the Nazis, and knew of potential violence and did nothing to stop it, was one of the key defendants in the case. News of the jury’s decision has been viewed by some as a victory for the plaintiffs, by others as a defeat. To appreciate the verdict, said Lewis Pitts, the head attorney for the plaintiffs, one must con sider that it happened in North Carolina. “Remember Ben Chavis and Joann Little,” said Pitts in an interview with the Chronicle Tues day. “Remember Jesse Helms. This is a fairly reactionary state in terms of its racial attitudes. We feel it’s a real victory to get a North Carolina jury to find liability and complicity between the Klan, Nazis and Greensboro police.” Pitts said his problems with the verdict involve some of the particulars. “It’s very unfortunate that no black person recovered (a monetary award)” he said. “Frankie Powell, who lives in Winston-Salem, was eight months pregnant and sprayed with pellets. It’s disappointing that they all weren’t treated the same.” The discrepancy in how the plaintiffs were treated by the jury, said Pitts, may have occurred because of “polarization.” The jurors at first had returned to the cour troom saying they couldn’t reach a verdict. Judge Robert Merhige told them to try again. “To have any decision shows that a lot of com promise was made,” said Pitts. “I’ve tried to reason why certain people got awards. Nathan wasn’t a member of the Communist Party but Bermanzohn was and he got a reward. I haven’t been able to find the logic in it.” Please see page A3 Arena From Page A1 iseum committee and president of the local NAACP chapter, also opposed previous coliseum bonds. In 1985, he plans to push them and wears a black and yellow button that says “Vote Yes.” Hairston was not available for comment when recently con tacted about the issue. However, he did discuss his position on the coliseum during a meeting of blacks on the coliseum committee last week. Hairston said during the May 31 meeting that he’s satisfied that the issues that made him oppose the coliseum in the past have been resolved. He was referring to housing for low-income people in the city, jobs for black workers and the unlikelihood of a property tax in crease if the bonds pass. “1 thought that housing and jobs should take precedent over a coliseum,” Hairston said of his past concerns. Blacks will get jobs if the bonds pass, he said. “The city cannot build a $24 million col iseum without black people get ting jobs,” Hairston said. Hairston also said the city’s $2 million housing program ad dresses the needs of low- and moderate-income people. “The city plans to spend $1.3 million on housing per year in the future,” he said. Tatum said he didn’t support a new coliseum in the past because it didn’t address the real needs of blacks in the community. “We had no ties to the col iseum,” Tatum said. “It was for the city and white people. I wanted to see h|)w it would benefit blacks.” In addition, Tatum said, blacks, at that time, did not total ly understand the coliseum bonds. He said he can understand now how the building of a coliseum can benefit blacks. “We are seeking management positions in the coliseum struc ture,” he said, “... not just janitorial jobs. Tatum also said black firms will have the opportunity to bid on coliseum construction con tracts. And he said he is “90 percent sure” that the promises made to blacks in 1985 will be kept. On his change of attitude con cerning the coliseum issue, Tatum said, “I don’t want people to think that I have turncoated.” Simmons agreed that the scenario has changed. “Everything they (the city) wanted to do in past bond referendums wouldn’t benefit the black community,” she said. “There was nothing they promis ed that would attack the problem of housing and jobs.” She said people who supported the bonds in the past knew that the jobs ■ they-promised were “several years down the road.” “Black people perceived it as happening the very next year,” Simmons said. Now she is not only for the col iseum, but working for it. Sim mons said her change of attitude is based on her belief that the en tire community, including blacks, will benefit from the building of a new coliseum. “Black organizations will be able to sponsor concerts in the coliseum,” she said. “Also blacks can make money through selling concessions.” Simmons said she also believes black firms can help build the coliseum. “We (blacks) can sub mit bids and get subcontracts,” she said. She said her main concern is the creation of ongoing jobs for blacks at the coliseum. “I’m looking at key and decision making positions,” she said. llllllllllllllllllllllll■lllllllllll■llllll■ll■llllllll■■lll■lll■ll■■lll■llllll■l■■■l■lll■l■l■lllllillllllll■llllllllllllll■■ll■lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll Democrats From Page A1 lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll■llllll■llllllllll■lllllllllll has to throw black voters over board to get the white voters back,” Hart said. “It would be a profound and moral mistake.” Hart said Democrats must reaffirm their commitment to civil rights, economic oppor tunity and the concerns of whites and blacks across the nation. “What it means for us is that we have to be a party of all races, of all genders, of all economic classes,” he said. For the Democrats to rebui'd the party after two sound defeats. Hart said, the party must clearly com municate to the people the dif ference between a Democrat and a Republican. “People have forgotten which party brought a lot of the successes of the past,” he said. “Young people don’t see the difference. They think the Democrats are a bunch of old fogeys who are out of touch with the 80s and 90s. We have to remind people of the dif ference.” Hart said the Democrats have to offer candidates who can communicate, as well as new proposals that respond to the changing times. Hart termed the more con servative mood of the nation as the hidden agenda of the Reagan administration. “The attacks on civil rights and affirmative action do not represent the views of the na tion,” Hart said. “However, they do represent the policymakers of the nation. I think they came into office with a hidden agenda to regress 20 to 30 years of pro gress in a variety of areas: civil rights, cleaning up the en vironment and creating a more just and fair society. Of course, they didn’t announce this.” Hart said the current ad ministration is quietly im plementing this regressive pro cess through the Justice Department and through ap pointments to the Civil Rights Commission. He said that charges by black Republicans that Democrats take black voters for granted are incorrect. “We don’t take black voters for granted,” he said. “We are the party of both black and white. “I don’t think most white Americans are racists,” Hart said. “I don’t think most white Americans want to regress on civil rights. I don’t think most white Americans want to keep minority Americans in an inferior status.” Hart said the Democratic Party seeks to have all Americans progress equally Please see page A16 Assistant DA to Daulton: ‘You blew if By ROBIN ADAMS Chronicle Assistant Editor Observations while covering the Darryl Hunt trial: • Assistant District Attorney Richard Lyle was not pleased Friday with the testimony of Winston- Salem police Detective J.l. Daulton. Lyle was overheard during a recess telling Daulton, “You blew it. We been schooling you for months and you blew the whole damn thing in front of everybody.” Local hairdresser Minnie Ervin told the ' it is impossible for a black person to go frV'*? one minute to a Jheri curl 15 minutes lato t!'** process, said Ervin, requires a chemical that can take anywhere from two to four • Throughout the trial, presiding Judge p Cornelius exhibited perfect courtroom Whenever the jury-left or entered the couJ™"’?’ Cornelius made a nnint toonii The comments were picked up by a courtroom microphone and heard by most of the reporters covering the trial. me courtroom Potnt of standing until J members had all lefVor were- all seated Even H1 ing the jury section process, cinelius stooH- pote.ntial jurors/entered and'exited the courtrooml And, once each witness finished his testimo ! Cornelius always thanked him politely, ? When asked about the statement. District At torney Donald K. Tisdale said that what Lyle meant by the statements is that Dauiton had been “short and uncooperative” with the defense attorneys while being cross-examined. Daulton has been the principal investgator of the Sykes murder for the police department. • Unlike the other attorneys in the Hunt case anT Hunt himself, Tisdale never wore a suit to court H either wore a dark blue or light blue blazer anH khaki pants. “ “ • A statement by one of the prosecution’s witnesses prompted the defense Friday to call a hairdresser to the stand to explain different types of black hairstyles to the jury. Roger Weaver, an auditor at the Hyatt House, had testified that he saw Hunt come into the Hyatt Aug. 10, 1984, the morning of the Sykes murder, to use the restroom. Weaver said the man he saw wore a curly, “Michael-Jackson-type”, hairstyle. Other key pro secution witnesses had testified that the man they saw minutes earlier had his hair braided. The black members of the audience laughed aloud as Weaver made his observation, but the defense and prosecution attorneys didn’t seem to get the joke. • Fred Jenkins, founder of the law firm represented Darryl Hunt, is not one of Hunt torneys, but he appeared in the courtroom al daily once testimony started. The elder Jenkii behind the defense table and often passed noi his son, Gordon Jenkins, and his son’s oat Mark Rabil. The elder Jenkins’ help may have paid off for Rabil. At the beginning of the trial Rabil had dif ficulty phrasing his questions. Judge Cornelius often chastised him for testifying for the witnesses' and the prosecution objected to many of his ques tions. As the trial progressed, Rabil’s performance im proved and the objections to his questions decreas' ed. Please see page A3 iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii llilllllllilllll■llllllllllllllllllllillllllllllllllllllllillil■■ll■ll■■ll||||||■lll■l|||||■ll■lll■■llllllli■lli■lllllllllill■■lllllllll■■llllllllllllll■llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllillllllllllllllllllllll The Winston-Salem Chronicle is published every Thursday by the Winston-Salem Chronicle Publishing Company, Inc., 617 N. Liberty Street. Mailing Address: Post Office Box 3154, Winston-Salem, NC 27102. Phone: 722-8624. Se cond Class postage paid at Winston-Salem, NC 27102. Subscription: $13.52 per year payable in advance (North Carolina sales tax in cluded). Please add $1.00 for out-of-town delivery. PUBLICATION USPS NO. 067910. 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Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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