Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / April 25, 1996, edition 1 / Page 6
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6A NEWS The Charlotte Post April 25, 1996 Mfume to visit Charlotte By John Minter THE CHARLOTTE POST Kwesi Mfume visits Charlotte today as part of the NAACP's planning for its 87th national convention, which will be held this summer in Charlotte. Mfume, national NAACP president and chief executive officer, will meet with local NAACP officials and the Blue Ribbon Planning Committee formed to raise money to bring the convention to Charlotte. The former Baltimore, Md., congressman and chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, was named head of the NAACP in February. Charlotte City Council mem ber Ella Scarborough chairs the committee, which includes a more than 30 busi ness executives and communi ty leaders from the Charlotte area. First Union Bank vice president Lenny Springs, an NAACP National Board mem ber, is on the Blue Ribbon committee. The nation al convention will be July 5-11. Mfume and other national NAACP officials will meet with the committee at 4 p.m., after which he will attend a welcoming reception at the Radisson Plaza Hotel. He is also set to attend the local NAACP monthly membership Mfume meeting at the First Baptist Church-West, 1801 Oaklawn Ave., at 7 p.m. Some 350 volunteers have already signed up to help with the convention. At least 150 more are needed, said Wright Hunter, chair of the conven tion host committee. “I’m getting more volunteers every day,” Hunter said Wednesday. “I'm waiting on several more lists to be brought to me from organiza tions, fraternities and sorori ties. We are looking for at least 500 to 800 volxmteers.” Hunter said anyone interest ed in volunteering can contact him at 392-1791. “We would like for all volun teers to be NAACP members or join before the convention,” Himter said. OMB nominee meets President’s approval PHOTO/THE WHITE HOUSE President Clinton and Office of Management and Budget director-designate Franklin Delano Raines (left) listen during a press conference introducing Raines’ selection. Raines is currently vice chairman of the Federal National Mortgage Association. If confirmed by the Senate, he would be the first African American to serve as director. Gunman ordered to pay $43M By Larry McShane THE ASSOCUTED PRESS NEW YORK- Twelve years after he shot four black youths on a subway train, Bernhard Goetz was ordered Tuesday to pay $43 million to the one left paralyzed by his final bullet, the one he told: “You don’t look so bad, here’s another.” The Bronx jury of four blacks and two Hispanics deliberated 4 1/2 hours before ruling unanimously that the white subway gunman, who was portrayed as a murderous racist during the trial, had acted recklessly and without justification in shooting Darrell Cabey, now 30. The jury awarded Cabey $18 million in compensatory dam ages and $25 million in puni tive damages. Cabey had sought $50 million. The chances of Cabey ever collecting are slight. Goetz’s notoriety and legal bills have left the 48-year-old self- employed electronics expert with little money. But Cabey’s lawyer, Ronald Kuby, said the jui^s decision “sends a message to all racists with guns who think young black lives are worth nothing - they’re worth a lot.” The verdict came nine years after a criminal trial in which a mostly white jury acquitted Goetz of attempted murder and convicted him of illegally possessing a gun. He served 8 1/2 months in jail. Neither Cabey nor Goetz was in the courtroom for the verdict; Goetz reportedly took the subway home. Goetz’s lawyer, Darnay Hoffman, said he wouldn’t appeal. Goetz planned a Wednesday news conference. Cabey’s mother, Shirley, told 'The Associated Press in a tele phone interview: “I just want people to know, the world to know, my son did not do any thing to (Goetz). He was just sitting there. It wasn’t a money matter. I want the world to know my son didn’t do anything to that man.” In closing arguments, Kuby cited remarks Goetz made about the four youths that he “wanted to kill them all” and “could have gouged their eyes out.” Kuby said: “It is as damning a chronicle as one could ever have How much more proof do you need?” His voice rising, Kuby said: “I don’t care how much you award in punitive damages. Bankrupt him. Mfike sure he never enjoys life as a rich man. Make sure if he wins the lottery, Darrell Cabey wins the lottery.” Hoffman reminded the jury that Cabey was quoted in a 1985 newspaper interview as saying that his friends were about to rob Goetz because he “looked like easy bait.” Hoffman admitted that Goetz’s own words “damned him tremendously,” including his remark that Cabey’s moth er should have had an abor tion and his reference at a community meeting in 1980 to “spies and niggers.” “He’s a nerd, a geek, a peck- erwood, a cracker,” Hoffman said of his own client. But Goetz was “not some cool, cal culating racist,” just a fright ened man, the lawyer said. The subway gunman case held national attention for more than a decade, making (joetz a S3mibol of the nation’s twin obsessions: race and crime. The National Rifle Association donated $40,000 toward Goetz’s legal expenses. Goetz shot Cabey and three other unarmed young men on Dec. 22, 1984. He later said the four were about to rob him. The young men said they were only panhandling when they asked him for $5. Goetz has said that before shooting Cabey, he told the 19-year-old: “You don’t look so bad. Here’s another.” Cabey was paralyzed and suffered brain damage. He uses a wheelchair, and his family says he has the mental capacity of an 8-year-old. Earlier this month, Goetz took the witness stand for the first time and chillingly recounted the shootings. He said “that shine” in victim Troy Canty’s eyes and “that smile” made him snap. Court papers show Goetz’s annual income fell from $100,000 a year to about $20,000 in the years since the shooting, and he went through $60,000 in donations and $250,000 of his own money on legal costs. But Kuby said last week that he believed Goetz had a $100,000 inheritance now held by relatives. And under state law, Cabey could collect 10 percent of Goetz’s earnings for the next 20 years. During the trial, Hoffman, trying only his second case, sat statuelike as a smirking Goetz volunteered damaging testimony under harsh ques tioning from Kuby. Hoffman was so silent that the judge once interjected, “Sustained” even though Hoffman had made no objection on behalf of his client. Hoffman rested his case after only two hours and two witnesses - a psychiatrist who testified about reactions under stress, and columnist Jimmy Breslin, who related Cabey’s “easy bait” remark. For more than a decade, Kuby had worked on the case with his longtime law partner, civil rights attorney William Kunstler, who died in 1995. Ghana delegates visit city Continued from 1A nine are government officials.” The Ghanians visited sites pertaining to city planning, real estate, road maintenance, water and sewer maintenance, neighborhood and government interaction, personnel man agement, and sanitation. They were given a tour of Lance Inc.’s manufacturing plant on South Boulevard, where they got to see first-hand the process of making snack prod ucts from raw materials. “We have learned many things here,” said Sub-Chief Nana Boakye Ansah Debrah. The contingent also traveled to the High Point Furniture Mart, one of the largest furni ture markets in the world, because delegate Alex A. Asibuo owns a furniture busi ness in Kumasi. The delegates will continue touring until they leave Saturday. Their itinerary includes Johnson C. Smith University and the West Charlotte Business Incubator. PUT YOUR BUSINESS IN THE STREETS WITH Charlotte TINA’S UNIQUE HAIR DESIGN 4409-E N. TRYON ST. GRAND (J^PENING SPECIAIj, Styles $20 oo Perms $30afl - WALK-INS WELCOME- CALL FOR APPOINTMENT 3^3-^200 BOOITl RIM Al. S.SO’VWcfk Carpet & Rug Mill Outlet Why Pay More For A Floor? NO WAX INTERFLEX VINYL $T99 m SQ.YD. •EASY TO INSTALL •INSTALL OVER OLD FLOOR FINANCINC MR. .AM) .MR.>. 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The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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April 25, 1996, edition 1
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