Office to aid community opens
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
Wake Forest University School of Law
. has officially opened the Smith Anderson
Office of Community Outreach within the
newly transformed Worrell Professional
Center, 1834 Wake Forest Road.
The Office houses the Law School's
Pro Bono Project and Public Interest Law
Organization.
The Pro Bono Project began as a con
centra ted effort to provide legal informa
tion to a community that was underserved
and, in some cases, uninformed about the
legal process. Under the guidance of
Outreach Director Professor Beth Hopkins
and Pro Bono Project Coordinator Denise
Hartsfield, students involved in the Pro
Bono Project and the Public Interest Law
Organization gain hands-on experience
vital to their development as citizen
lawyers, and continue to seek new hori
zons to reach individuals in need of legal
assistance.
The Public Interest Law Organization
promotes Wake Forest's tradition of train
ing lawyers who serve not only their
clients, but also their communities, state
and nation. PILO works with the Office of
Career and Professional Development to
create an easy-to-access repository of
information for students seeking intern
ships, externships and fellowships.
The opening of the Office was made
possible through the financial generosity
of Raleigh law firm Smith Anderson and
many of its attorneys.
"Our firm, at its core, is deeply com
mitted to promoting a culture of pro bono
service and the betterment of our commu
nity," said alumnus Gerald Roach.
For more information about the Wake
Forest University School of Law, visit
http://law.wfu.edu/. For more information
about Smith Anderson, visit www.smith
law.com.
Abused
from page X)
Based on The Chronicle's preliminary
investigation of numerous files from the
Forsyth County Clerk's Office, she may be
right.
There are two versions of what hap
pened to Napoleon Hall Wilson, 81, of
Winston-Salem in August 2005 - one
through interviews, the other through pub
lic documents.
Mr. Wilson was a proud military veter
an and widower who was known for being
industrious, fiercely independent, and
kind. He owned property and had been
successful in business. His family respect
ed his generosity and work ethic. They
believed that in his waning years, Wilson's
advanced age required family care, man
agement and companionship.
According to documents, Napoleon
Wilson was seen much differently by psy
chiatrists at Wake Forest University
Baptist Medical Center (WFUBMC),
social workers at FCDSS, and ultimately,
Theresa Hinshaw, then an assistant clerk
in the Forsyth County Clerk of Superior
Court's Office.
In an August 23, 2005 letter to clerk
Hinshaw, Dr. Joseph Williams of the Dept.
of Psychiatry at WFUBMC, wrote Wilson
"...was admitted to the adult psychiatric
unit on August 18,2005 after law enforce
ment became concerned about his mental
status." Dr. Williams went on to state that
".. .the patient had called 911 several times
complaining of the garbage collectors in
his community trying to do harm to him."
Dr. Williams went on to state that Mr.
Wilson, "...had demonstrated increased
agitation, confusion and memory loss over
the course of the past month," adding that
Wilson's "caretaker" indicated that he had
not been keeping up with his medications.
The letter maintained that Wilson had
had dementia since 2000 and a history of
seizures that bring about a ".. .state of psy
chosis."
"Because of these mental and cogni
tive limitations, it is our opinion that Mr.
Wilson is not capable of conducting
health, personal and business affairs in a
responsible manner," Dr. Williams contin
ued in the August 2005 letter. 'Therefore it
would be in his best interest to have a
guardian appointed to oversee these deci
sions."
"There are no known family members
available to do this," Dr. Williams con-'
eluded in the letter to asst. clerk Hinshaw.
By Williams' own admission, Mr.
Wilson had been in their care at the psy
chiatric unit since August 18th, allegedly
brought in by law enforcement, but by the
time the doctor wrote that letter on August
23rd, no family members living. in
Winston-Salem had been contacted by
either the hospital or police, even though
Wilson's "caretaker" was familiar with
them.
Six days later, that notarized ? letter,
entered on August 29,2005, was used in a
"Petition for Adjudication of
Incompetence and Application for
Appointment of Guardian or Limited
Guardian and Interim Guardian" to the
Forsyth Clerk's Office.
The documents show the petitioner
being a "Maryanne Keller" of "UCBH -
Risk Management." That petition lists
Wilson as "an inpatient in the facility
named above," and his address as "Sticht
Center," referring to the J. Paul Sticht
Center on Aging and Rehabilitation, part
of the Wake Forest School of Medicine.
The petition goes on to state that
Wilson "...has dementia, paranoia and
agitation..." referring then to the
"attached letter" from Dr. Williams.
Page two of that petition notes that Mr.
Wilson "lacks capacity" for all indicated
areas of "independent living," adding that
"caretaker lives w/him."
Finally, under a section titled
"Recommended Guardian(s)," it is written
that if the caretaker is not interested, "...
then FCDSS."
A receipt shows that a "Maryanne
Keller" paid the required $40.00 filing fee.
On that same August 29, 2005 date,
clerk Hinshaw issued a notice for a Sept.
15, 2005 hearing on the incompetence
petition, and "Order Appointing Guardian
Ad Litem," a clerk-appointed attorney
who is supposed to legally advocate for
the patient. That document, which is not
file-stamped as entered, showed that attor
ney Fred P. Flynt III was appointed.
If Mr. Wilson did not want attorney
Flynt, he had the legal right to hire his own
attorney to represent his interests in that
Sept. 15th hearing. By all accounts,
Wilson had the means because he wasn't
indigent. ?
Another "Notice" on the incompetency
hearing for appointing a guardian dated
August 29th, 2005 only lists the caretak
er's name and Winston-Salem address -
the address Napoleon Wilson reportedly
"lived at - as being formally notified to "...
appear and offer evidence as to whether
the Respondent (Wilson) is an incompe
tent adult and a guardian should be
appointed."
The caretaker is not a relative, yet her
name is the only one listed to appear.
It is now eleven days since Napoleon
Wilson was brought in to the hospital,
according to Clerk of court records, and
yet there is still no documented effort on
the part of law enforcement, the hospital,
the Clerk's Office, or later, according to
Wilson's cousin, Sandra Jackson, the
guardian ad litem supposed to be advocat
ing for him, to locate any family in the
area.
Ms. Jackson, now in her 50's, not only
lived at the same address in Winston
Salem then as she does now, but has also
been an employee of the city's sanitation
department for over 27 years. In addition,
she was already a guardian of an adult
family member at the time, meaning her
records were already on file at the Clerk's
Office.
But more importantly, Ms. Jackson
told The Chronicle, the caretaker in ques
tion was actually a woman named "Sarah
(The Chronicle is withholding her last
name)," Napoleon Wilson's girlfriend of
several years who was known very well by
Jackson and communicated with her often.
Wilson and Sarah were living together
years after his wife had deceased.
So why didn't any official, from any of
the institutions involved, ask Sara if Mr.
Wilson had family in the area and how to
contact them? Sandra Jackson says that, in
fact, they did know, because Sarah did tell
at least the hospital since she had to be in
contact with doctors about his medication.
"She told them he has a niece who
could take care of him," Ms. Jackson told
The Chronicle, noting that she had always
thought of Mr. Wilson as an "uncle," and
referred to him as such, even though they
were actually cousins.
In fact, on Sept. 15,2005, Ms. Jackson
says she accompanied "Ms. Sarah," to the
Forsyth Hall of Justice, Room #243 as
directed, but when they got there, they
were told that the special proceeding had
already taken place, and FCDSS had been
appointed guardian of person for
Napoleon Wilson.
Sandra Jackson says that what hap
pened next was nothing less than a horror
show, with her being denied being able to
see her cousin for three months, taking
pictures of his injuries from alleged abuse
at the all-white facility he was being kept
at; and ultimately being denied her appli
cation to become his guardian.
The ordeal, she believes, allegedly
contributed to his death.
In Part Two, Ms. Jackson tells her side
of the story, and why she believes that
FCDSS and the Clerk's Office allegedly
conspired to work against Napoleon
Jackson's family.
Photo by Tevin Sun son
A North Forsyth High School student, who wore this hoodie, had to be treated
at a hospital after being handled by a school resource officer.
Incident
fiempagFXr~
"I am glad that some
one was willing to step up
an share the video."
Winston
Salem/Forsyth County
Schools Chief of Staff
Theo Helm said the school
system was not at liberty to
discuss the situation.
"The matter is now
being handled by the police
department," he said. " As
a result, I really can't say
much about the situation,
only that a student was
injured."
It is unclear what action
has been taken against
White. According to multi
ple sources, White is a fair
ly new officer with the
Winston-Salem Police
Department.
According to Captain
Catrina Thompson of the
Police Department's crimi
nal investigation division.
White is still working at
North Forsyth.
"Officer Randall White
is still working in full
capacity at North Forsyth
High School," Thompson
continued. "The incident is
currently under internal
investigation."
Thompson did say
criminal charges are pend
ing against the two students
involved.
According to court doc
uments. Asahiah and the
other student involved in
the fight are to appear in
court on Dec. 9. Both stu
dents were charged with
affray and disturbance of
other citizens in a public
place.
In a video obtained by
an unknown source, White
seems to initially control
the situation by putting
Rogers against a wall.
Then it appears he then
proceeds to slam the
teenager to the ground.
Although it was on
Snapchat, that video has
since been removed from
all social media platforms.
After the incident,"
Asahiah said she asked
White for a simple apolo
gy, which she never got.
"I was in his office after
the incident and he contin
ued to walk in and out
while others tried to stop
the bleeding," she contin
ued. "When I asked him for
a apology, he said he had
already given me the ticket
and he felt he had done the
right thing."
When Sharon Rogers
finally spoke with White's
supervisor, hours later, she
was told that justice had
been served, and that the
police officer did his job.
"I asked him a few
times to get a better under
standing of what that
meant, but it was easy to
figure out," she continued.
"They believe he was justi
fied in his actions."
After seeing the video
multiple times, it is clear
that the officer could have
taken other actions to con
trol the situation, said
Asahiah's father. Jeffery
Rogers.
After seeing the video
for the first time, he was
visibly shaken up, he tried
to hold back tears.
"It hurts my heart to see
my daughter handled like
that," he continued. "I for
give the officer for what he
has done, but we want, and
need justice.
"If we don't speak out
about this situation it could
happen to someone else,
and we want to prevent this
from happening to anyone
else."
As of Tuesday, Nov. 10,
school administrators from
North Forsyth had not
returned calls from the
Rogers family or The
Chronicle.
Both students have
been expelled and told they
cannot return to North
Forsyth for the remainder
of the school year, although
original documents from
the school stated the stu
dents were only to be sus
pended for five days.
Sharon Rogers said
after days of trying to con
tact school administrators,
she has decided that it is a
lost cause, because they are
not responding.
"I have tried to contact
the principal and the school
since the day this hap
pened." she Continued.
"The next step for us is
finding a lawyer who can
help us.
"We want to make sure
children throughout the
school system are safe.
This seems to becoming a
trend in school across the
nation, and its time for it to
stop."
MudP es
NOITHWHT CHILD OfVUOMtfllT CMTttS
WbSfflt
*
Don't Get the Plui
The flu is a serious illness that can easily be prevented
with a flu shot
Everyone older than 6 months should get a flu shot every
year!
High Dose vaccine is available for those over 65 yrs.
Starting Oct. 1. flu shots ore always free at
Forsyth County Department of Public Heath
799 N. Highland Ave. Winston-Salem, NC
Clinic 3 Hours
M-W 8:30a-3:45p, Th 9:30a-6:45p, Fr 8:30a-11:45a
Forsyth County
5^^^^ I M'/furtrncrit of I'ubllc Health
Promoting Health, Improving Lives
For more information about the flu vaccine contact, the health department at
336-703-3100 or visit www.flu.nc.gov
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