Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / April 16, 1987, edition 1 / Page 4
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Geter Claims Education Best For Handling Injustice By Jalype 8trong P"** **^***gf ng Kdltor Imagine you are a young, col lege educated black man. At age 26, you're employed aa an aero space engineer making $24,000 a year. Your career is off to a great beginning and, as far aa your per sonal Ufa, there's a beautiful home town girl you're planning to mar ry. life seems to be spread before you as one nice, easy mad. Then one day you're arrested. You're innocent and have what you perceive as air-tight alibis. However, you can't convince law enforcers of jtour innocence. You're charged with a crime you did not commit. Suddenly you find yourself tried, convicted and final ly sentenced to life in prison. Perhaps it's difficult for you to imagine such an adverse upheaval in a lift that held such promise, but' these are exactly the drcumstanc se that did happen to Lenell Geter five years ago. V' .. «. * in ureenville, Texas, in 1982, Geter was fhlsely arrested and given a life sentence for armed robbery. He spent 16 months in prioon before public outcry pres sured authorities to grant him a new trial. Following a national publicity campaign that claimed Geter was a victim of radsm, he was free on $10,000 bail in December 1983. By April 1984, before his new trial be gan, another suspect was implicat ed and Geter was cleared of all Vjjjargw^ . . • •>*. Today, two years after his exon eration, Geter is in high demand as a public speaker. He was in Char lotte last week as the featured speaker for Friendship Baptist Church's "Career Day" program. During an interview at the Ra disson Plaza Hotel, Geter spoke about how the ordeal he went through is behind him, except in the way it has changed his His. Bills Pass To Reduce Prison Crowding With unprecedented unanimity and Speed, the North Carolina leg islature has approved sweeping legislation aimed at keeping state control of the crowded prison sys tem. Two bills passed, one capping the prison population at'18,000 and the other appropriating $15 million for emergency prison housing and parole officers. Special Deputy Attorney Gener al Lucien Capone III praised the Legislature's quick action. "It •hows your willingness to do what's needed, and Fm already seeing the effects of it before * Judge McMillan," he said. McMil lan is die federal judge monitoring the $12 million consent agreement in the Charlotte region. ~ But legislators realise that much mors needs to be done. "All we've dons is bought a little time," said Anne Barnes, House eo-chair of the Special Committee on Prisons. "We've got to have a more com prehensive, systematic approach to corrections policy in this state." ConiUsion is also prevalent, as sheriffs try to figure out how the' cap legislation affects their crowd ed jails. "Even the people in the Department of Corrections are contUsed about how this is going to work," said one source who asked to remain anonymous. Statement of Condition North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company December SI, 19t6 i ' ‘ ;>r ?vr.i * „* ' ASSETS CMh s 1,761342 Bonds U.S., Canadian and Other Government $62,468391 State and Municipal 7390359 Railroad 993,481 Public Utility: U.S. and Canada 25,432,286 Industrial and Miscellaneous 17,927,875 . 114312,492 Stocks Preferred $ 969,616 Common 6,199312 7,168928 Mortgage Loans Conventional $22343,233 Insured or Guaranteed 13,703315 36347368 Real Estate Propertie* for Company Ute $ 5,761,027 Other Properties 1/473,129 . f 7234,156 Policy Loam 4367*55 Investment Income Due and Accrued 2,726,673 Premiums in Course of Collection 28,953361 Cash Value—Policies on Officers 569,611 Other Asseu 10,496,915 TOTAL ASSETS 8214338,601 ■IJ'< '■* , ■■■ , . ;■ a., lib a1 ■ LIABILITIES Statutory Policy Reserve* $ 130,774,915 Policy Claim Liabilities 33>624,779 Dividends to Policyowners 4,320,185 Interest, Rents and Premiums Paid in Advance 581,744 Taxes and Accrued Expense 2372j039 Employee Benefit Reserves 632,231 Mandatory Security Valuation Reserves 1,265,568 Group Contingency Reserve 15,518,146 Other Liabilities _ 3,944,968 TOTAL LIABILITIES $1 <>3.034,575 CONTINGENCY RESERVE AND SURPLUS Appropriation for Contingencies 3,000,000 Unaaeigned Surplus 18,504,026 Total Surplus 21^04,026 TOTAL LIABILITIES AND SURPLUS_<214,538,601 1 NSl RANGE in FORCE »0.8O3^2L(M¥) Winfred O. Bryeon, Jr. Baltimore, MD BertCoWna Durham, NC Noah H. Bennett, Jr Durham, NC William A. Clement Durham, NC BOARD OF DIRECTORS William J. Kennedy ill Chairman I. Owen Funderbill* Mr*. Louise K. Lawson Atlanta, CA Chicago, IL Nathan T. Garretl W. Wayne Perry Durham, NC Durham, NC Cicero M. Green, Jr. LeRoy T. Walker Durham, NC Durham, NC HONORARY Joaeph W. Goodloe Macro A. Sloan Durham, NC Durham, NC Alfred M. Pelham Am T. Spaulding Detroit, Ml Durham, NC Charin D. Wrtu, M.D. yice Chairman Durham, NC Elmer Young, Jr. Philadelphia, PA Charier C. Spaulding, Jr. Durham. NC Mm. Viola C. Turner Durham, NC NORTH CAROLINA MUTUAL UPI INSURANCI COMPANY MUTUAL PLAZA DURHAM, RORTH CAROLINA 17701 LenellGeter Photo By Culvtn Ftfjtoon "I am just one little guy who was abused, and is standing up for his rights." ' ' "I acknowledge the ordeal, which I call a lemon,"' he b^gan. "I suffered a lot of pain and endured quite a fait in the experience. I had to rely on the positive experiences from my family and friends. "But that lemon' is turning into lemonade inasmuch as I am now educating people; exposing the fact that there are inequities in the system. "I am encouraging young peo ple to seek an education," said Get er, who explained that he is unofll dally on a lecture circuit, speaking at programs across the country which concern youth and educa tion. "People who've been calling on me fool I have the experience to odiiy the need for education, pri marily for the purpose of trying to prevent the wrong I went through from happening again. "I encourage and motivate the young to obtain knowledge so anyone hoping to profit ofT injus tice would be sorely discouraged," Geter maintains. A native of Denmark, South Carolina, and graduate of South Carolina State College, Geter be lieve# hie educational background was an asset in his coping with the miscarriage of justice that tempo rarily wrecked his life. "Education and achievement is the best approach for handling any type of injustice," Geter relat ed. "Martin Luther King success Tully handled major injustices us ing those ingredients. In doing so, he presented the best format for solving inequities: Confront, ex pose and get results. It can be worked out through the system." Geter admitted he does not fore see himself becoming a major civil rights leader along the lines of Martin Luther King. But he pant ed, .ppt that the ordeal he went through, consequently, thrust him into a type of leadership role and he intends to live up to it tie elaborates, "I had a good life before the ordeal. However, it was a life limited to my personal self and my family-not because of selfishness. But because my scope, experience and angle on life did not dictate my speaking to people at different functions across the country. No one knew me. "All that changed after the or deal I went through," Geter con cedes. "And I feel I have to do something about it. I’m not the type of person to stand by and do nothing." Motivational speeches on edu cation is just one of the actions Geter isnow involved with. *6o carries the message to the public of the need to support scholarship funds. Last Sunday, Geter made a request to the con gregation on behalf of the C.W. Kerry Scholarship Fund. "Many young people and adults have benefltted from the pro gram1," he remarked. "I want to en courage individuals and grdUps to continue their donations so no de serving person will be turned away from college for lack of fluids." Additionally, in another area of utmost concern for him, deter has opened the deter Justice For All Foundation, a referral service for prison inmates who could possibly be innocent. • "It’s an agency that helps, at the request of the innocent, render in vestigation and legal support," he explains. "The foundation pro vides names of attorneys, civil rights agencies, Justice Depart ment officials and others who as sist people facing criminal charg es. "I am investing a lot of time to th* foundation," maintain* Geter, who is employed with E-Systems, -v the military and electronics con tracting company where he worked prior to his arrest and in carceration. Upon his release from prison in 1984, Geter married Marcia, the young woman who stood by him throughout his two-year ordeal. The couple still resides in Green ville, Texas, and now have a one year-old daughter named Margui ta. Through the public activities he has taken on, Geter continues to squeese from the "lemon" of his life a sustaining nectar he hopes will benefit others. Nonetheless, he does confess that the time wretched from his life still bothers him. "Am I bitter?" Geter responds. "Certainly I am. I am human. And I also have to say, I get depressed. Sure it sometimes bothers ms at night-these are all characteris tics of being human. "But God has blessed me not to exist predominantly in that nega tive realm. "So I will continue as a normal, average citizen. I will continue to be an engineer-the best I know. I will go on with my foundation," he assures. In a soft-spoken but thoughtful manner, Qatar downplays all the attention he has received, saying, “I am just one little guy who was abused and is standing up for his rights. "My purpose now is to admon ish that no one should let anyone ride his or her back. They can only do it if you bend over and allow it to happen.” / Photo By Colvin FvrQuoon LeneU Geter poeee with hie wife, Mania and daughter, Marquita. DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOU CAN PICK UP THE LATEST ISSUE OF THE CHARLOTTE POST? AT ANY ONE OF THESE COVENIENT LOCATIONS • GO BY TODAY! 1321 LaSAl.l J! 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The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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April 16, 1987, edition 1
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