75 cents Winston-Salem Greensboro High Poii^ For Reference Vol. xxv No. 27
CH RGt -:B?
wvsTnv'r Sx # q For 25 Years, The Choice for African American News and Information e-mail address: wschronOnetunlimited.net
. WINSTON .SALEM NC 2 7,0,-2 7 55 ^ V
Convicted Baptist leader to speak in Winston 1
Lyons
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
. Facing a possible seven-year
prison sentence and a second trial,
the Rev. Henry Lyons, convicted of
racketeering and grand theft, is pon
dering his uncertain future in a safe
haven - the church.
The president of the National
Baptist Convention USA, who last
Saturday was found guilty of swin
dling millions of dollars, spent Sun
day preaching to his congregation at
Bethel Metropolitan Church in St
Petersburg. Fla.
Tim Saturday, Lyons will speak
during a Sunday School conference
in Winston-Salem at New Bethel
Baptist Church.
"I talked with his secretary
today," said Matthew Moore, who is
one of the organizers of Saturday's
conference: "She said he was definite
ly coming here on Saturday."
The event, which is sponsored by
the Rowan Baptist Association, a 90
church organization with members
throughout the Piedmont, has stirred
some controversy.
Moore, who has known Lyons for
more than 20 yean, said some mem
bers of the group balked at the idea of
g the embattled minister leading a wor
ship service:
"Oh, Lord yes," Moore said.
"Some people don't want him to
come. I think he should come.
"He% sort of like Clinton. Hek a
great president, but he just got tan
gled up in something that he just
couldnx get out of"
Last Saturday, Lyons was found
guilty of grand theft in the disappear
ance of almost S250.000 from the
Anti-Defamation League of B*Nai
B'rith - money intended to rebuild .
burned black churches in the South
including at least one in trade. ' i
The six-member jury acquitted
Lycos' co-defendant and alleged mis
tress, Bernice Edwards, on the racke
teering charge, the only count she
faced.
Lyons, 57, flanked by his attor- j
neys, showed ik> reaction as the judge
read the verdicts. He was fingerprint
ed and is flee on bond pending his i
sentencing hearing which began i
Tbesday.
Prosecutors accused Lyons and
?r ? i .
Edwards of stealing more than $4 I
million from corporations wanting to -
sell cemetery products, life insurance
policies and credit cards to the con
vention's 8.5 million black members
They said the pair duped the com
panies by promising a membership
mailing list that did not exist - at one
point, according to testimony, even
making up lists from $90 computer
ized phone disks that led one compa
ny to send letters to such non-Baptists
as a grand dragon of the Ku Klux
Klan and a Catholic priest.
SrrlfOM on A10 J
Sweet goodbye
/Km
?|! "tl
^^L. ^ <?? ?kj
PTY74 m^IXI I
ijfJu^ni^L
PETiimTTYTI "4 * ? ?
HIIIivivV'i ..??kii
?9B1H
Photo by Bruce Chapman
WSSU Chancellor Ahrin Schexnider, second from loft, helps tho Komi hold up tho CIAA Championship bannor.
? ' j u '
After 6 years,
CIAA heads
to Raleigh
By DAMON FORD
THE CHRONICLE _
Turn out the lights - the party's
over.
After six years of calling Winston
Salem home, the CIAA basketball
tournament packed its bags for the
final time in Lawrence Joel Coliseum
last Saturday night.
The nations oldest round ball
tournament will now take a three year
hiatus to the state capital.
"I'm really excited about the
CIAA moving to Raleigh," said
Pamela Ulasi, a~ vendor from Raleigh
and owner of Neckties Unlimited.
?"As you know we have several colleges
? there and Raleigh has built this new
convention center, which will hold us
and we'ne really excited ... We've been
waiting Apr it a long time."
CIAA Commissioner Leon Kerry
says he's ready for the move, as well.
"...The key thing for the Raleigh
area is we've got three schools located
in that area," Kerry said in an inter
view with Consolidated Media
Group. "Our major thrust there is to
get the students involved and pick up
our different fan base which includes
students, alumni and non-CIAA
fans."
Kerry said he likes Winston
Salem, but "change is good." *
"...The city has been good to me
and they've been good to the CIAA,"
he said. "I didn't have to argue. I did
n't have to fuss or nothing. Everything
they promised they gave. It's been a
pleasure to deal with them, and from
my end, you don't see that...We went
to another level in Winston-Salem
and this is going to make Raleigh
raise their level a little bit higher."
Just six months ago the Winston
Salem CIAA Steering Committee
submitted a bid along with several
pther cities including Raleigh, Fayet
teville and Richmond, Va: to see who
would take the tournament into the
new millennium.
Though Winston-Salem's package
was worth more than $2 million, the
Twin City came in second to Raleigh.
"We were confident we had an
? 'i ?
See Goodbye on A10
In city's last year, Rams capture CIA A title |
By SAM DAVIS
THE CHRONICLE ' " .
"... '?)}
A team of- destiny?
That's what you might say about
Winston-Salem State if you Were one
of the 13,721 fans in attendance at
Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial
Coliseum.
A hometown audience provided
the perfect backdrop and the Rams
gave them a treat as the CIAA Basket
ball Tournament made its final
appearance in Winston-Salem. The
tournament moves on to Raleigh for
the next three tournaments.
Winston-Salem State pulled off
two stunning upsets, including a semi
final victory over Virginia Union to
capture the tournament champi
onship. The Rams defeated Elizabeth
City 89-71 in the title game to capture
their first CIAA championship since
1977. I
The Rams, made 38 of 44 free
throws, including 21 of 22 in the final
3:36 to hold off Elizabeth City.
After being picked to finish last by
league coaches in the pre-season poll,
the Rams stormed to a second-place
finish in the Western Division regular
seasons standings. They added to
their credentials by taking an overtime
win over St. Paul's, and then knocking
off Union 64-56 in the semifinals to
set up a matchup with Elizabeth City
in the championship game.
Tyrone Thomas of WSSU was
named the tournament's MVP.
Thomas hit the jumper to send the
game into overtime against St. Paul's
to get the Rams into the semifinals. He
repeated his heroics by nailing a 3
pointer in overtime to give the Rams a
one-point victory.
TTie wily point-guard directed the
offense from his point-guard position
in the semifinal victory over the Pan
thers. He scored 13 points and dished
out three assists. ?
Winning the CIAA Tournament
and capturing the MVP award was the
perfect way for Thomas to end his
CIAA career.
"This is great for our program and
the city," Thomas said, after the cham
pionship game. "We had a lot to prove
because no one expected us to be here
(in championship game). We worked
hard and all of that paid off.
"We overcame a lot of adversity to
get. here," he added. "We wanted to
prove what kind of team we are and I
think we finally showed that we're a
good team." *
As far as the buzzer beaters to get
the Rams to the semifinal round,
Thomas said there was no doubt that
5?? CIAA on A11
DNA evidence
. \
may lead to
new Hunt trial
By T. KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE ... -
After spending more than five years in prison, ..
Darryl Eugene Hunt grasped firmly to freedom
with both hands when it finally came the day
before Thanksgiving in 1989.
While locked up, he had
converted to Islam and vowed
to bui|d the kind of life he had
dreamed of before he was
convicted of first-degree mur
der and slapped with a life
sentence.
Hunt had entered Win
ston-Salem State University
as a marketing major, with
nopes ot someday owning rns Hunt
own business. He told a
Chronicle reporter at the time, that he wanted to
marry and have "five kids and a big house."
But in August of 1990, the strong arms of "jus
tice" wrenched freedom from Hunt's hands. And
with a loud thud of a gavel, Hunt and his many
dreams found themselves right back where they
had started: in a cramped jail cell.
Hunt and his many supporters, however, have
held on to hope. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals
in Richmond, Va? recently agreed to hear Hunt'?
case. And if new DNA evidence is as compelling
as Hunt's supporters say, the court could order a;
new trial for him.
"We feel very encouraged," said S. Mark Rabil,
Hunt's longtime attorney. "It has been a very frus
trating 15 years, but that frustration has keep us
going."
The saga of Darryl Hunt - which has unfolded
into an tedious exercise in the American legal sys
tem - began in August of 1984.
The body of a young white woman, Deborah
Sykes, was found in a field off of West End Boule
vard on Aug. 10. Sykes, a copy editor for the Win*.
ston-Salem Journal-Sentinel, was robbed, rapecf
and then stabbed to death.
Hunt was arrested a short time later by the
Winston-Salem Police Department and charged '
with Sykes' murder. The police department and the
district attorney's office were apparently swayed by
a group of witnesses who linked Hunt to the crime.
Among those witnesses were Johnny Gray, a
man who claimed to have seen Hunt assaulting
Sykes, and Margaret Marie Crawford, Hunt's ex
girlfriend who changed her story and claimed that
Hunt had admitted being involved in the murder
along with a friend, Sammy Mitchell, who is also in
jail. \
Hunt was convicted of first-degree murder by
an overwhelmingly white Fofsyth County jury in
June of 1985 and sentenced to life at a prison in
Raleigh. '
"There was never any physical evidence used to
convict (Hunt). That's unfathomable." said Larry
Sec Hunt on A10
Ballance tackles problem of "DWB"
By ARCHIE T. CLARK II
CONSOLIDATED MEDIA GROUP
N.C. Sen. Frank Ballance, a
black Democrat from Warren
ton, introduced a bill last week
that would require law enforce
ment officials to
take better records
of traffic stops
making it possible
to determine if
"driving while
black" is a legiti
mate concern as
reported by black Ballane*
motorist.
In response to numerous
complaints that law enforcement
officials along major highways
seek out black motorist, Bal
lance introduced a bill that
would require troopers who
already keep records on some
traffic stops, keep detailed
records including age, sex and
race on all stops whether a cita
tion is given or the person is let
go with nothing done. The
Attorney General's office would
be responsible for a biennial
report to the General Assembly
on the information, as specified
by the bill.
Ballance's bill comes less
than one year after a Judge ruled
that a law enforcement official
wrongfully gunned down a black
college student during a routine
traffic stop in 1993. In June,
Deputy Commissioner George
T. Glenn II found that a state
trooper used excessive force
when he shot and killed Kenneth
Fennell after pulling Fennell and
his car rental over. The deputy
proceeded to search the car
without an apparent reason.
Glenn also concluded that some
one other than the slain motorist
introduced a gun found at the
scene of the incident. Along
with the decision, Glenn ordered
the state to pay Kenneth Brian
Fennell's estate $100,000, the
maximum judgment allowed in
such a case.
Statistics show such stops are
not uncommon. While blacks
make up only a third of the total
stops by drug interdiction teams,
a disproportionate number end
with the officer searching the
See Rottanc* on At 1
Man of a million suits
Mr. CIAA talk* fashion. For full ttory tarn paga A3.
t
CUD * m SUBSCRIPTIONS CALL (22*) 722-SA2* ? MASTERCARD, VISA AND AMERICAN EXPRESS ACCEPTED ? /