Serving The People Of Madison County Since 1 90 1
Vol. 87 No. 6
Thursday, February 5, 1987
25c
No Verdict In Chandler
Case; Mistrial Declared
By BILL STUDENC
Editor
After two weeks of testimony,
deliberation and weather-related
delay, a Madison County jury found
itself unable to reach a verdict Mon
day in the trial of Andrew "Junior"
Chandler, charged with sexually
abusing seven pre-school children
last year.
Superior Court Judge James A.
Beaty Jr. declared a mistrial Monday
afternoon after jury foreman Richard
Thomason told him that the jury was
hopelessly deadlocked.
The seven-woman, five-man jury
had deliberated all day Saturday and
for nearly three hours Monday on the
fate of Chandler, a 29-year-old former
van driver for the Madison County
Transportation Authority.
"There are strong convictions on
both sides, which I don't believe are
going to change," Thomason told
Beaty.
After the trial, jurors would not
discuss the case, but one court official
said the jury had split 9-3 for convic
tion of Chandler.
Jurors returned to the courtroom at
about 3 p.m. Monday after spending
all morning listening to the court's
reporter read a transcript of
testimony given earlier by five of the
alleged victims, and from an expert
in the detection of child sexual abuse.
Jurors said they could not remember
Postal
Station
Burned
From Staff Reports
Fire destroyed the rural postal
station at Walnut early Wednesday
morning in a blaze officials believe
was intentionally set.
The station, located at
Brigman's Store in the Walnut
Community, burned to the ground,
said Marshall Fire Chief Jimmy
Ramsey. The building was de
clared a total loss.
Kamsey has asked the N.C. State
Bureau of Investigation to assist in
the investigation of the fire, and
said arson is suspected.
Firefighters found the remains
of flammable material at the front
door of the store, an indiction that
arson may be to blame, Ramsey
said.
The fire department received
the call at 2:14 a.m. Wednesday
and was at the scene by 2:30, ac
cording to reports. It took fire
fighters about 30 minutes to
extinguish the blaze and begin to
retrieve mail from inside the build
ing.
Ram'sey called the SBI at 4 a.m.,
and two SBI agents were at the
scene of the fire by 8 : 30 a. m .
Marshall Postmaster Jim
Craine was able to retrieve the ma
jority of the mail that had been put
up on Tuesday but not yet picked
up by postal patrons, said Ray
mond Stines of the Marshall Post
Office
Some of the mail did sustain fire
damage, Stines said.
Walnut residents who have been
picking up their mail at Brigman's
Store will be served by the Marsh
all Post Office until further notice,
he said.
The N.C. postmaster will also in
vestigate the fire.
"It ain't nothing but a bunch of crooked politics."
Andrew "Junior" Chandler
"For att practical purposes, a mistrial by means of a bung
Jury just means the state can bring it to trial again. We
intend to exercise that right. "
Jim Baker, assistant district attorney
all of the children's testimony, pro
bably because that testimony had
come two weeks earlier.
Chandler and his wife, Debra Lynn,
who was by his side throughout the
entire two-week trial, sat quietly as
the Jury filed back into the courtroom
Monday. Chandler gulped down a
glass of water, while members of his
family filled the seats behind him.
Chandler showed no noticeable
emotion as Beaty declared the
mistrial.
"It ain't nothing but a bunch of
crooked politics," Chandler said after
the mistrial as he and a large group of
relatives and friends made their way
through a crowd of onlookers,
reporters and television cameras that
had gathered in front of the cour
thouse.
"It's a hardship on the family and
that's all it is," said Gary Gunter,
Chandler's cousin. "It's a frame-up to
begin with. That's the way it always
was and that's the way it will be if
they bring it up again."
Assistant Attorney General Ellen
Scouten, the state's chief prosecutor
in the case, asked Beaty to rule on a
motion to move the trial away from
Madison County. But Chandler's at
torney, Talmadge Penland, said it is
very unusual for the state to seek a
change of venue, and successfully
argued for time to prepare a response
to Scouten's motion because it was "a
total surprise."
Beaty has set a hearing in Yancey
County Superior Court in Bumsville
on Monday to rule on the location of
Chandler's second trial. That hearing
will be in front of a different judge.
Scouten asked that the next trial be
moved because of security problems
and threats that surfaced during the
first trial. She also said the trial had
generated too much publicity for the
retrial to be held in Marshall.
Tensions had increased at the cour
Reese Steen
...suggests change
thouse throughout the course of the
trial. On day one, only two deputies
were stationed in the courtroom. But
on the final day of the jury's unsuc
cessful deliberations, five state
troopers, Madison County Sheriff
Dedrick Brown, four of his deputies
and two State Bureau of Investigation
agents were on hand.
Authorities say that the families of
the children had received threats dur
ing the trial, and a member of
Chandler's family was seen making
threatening moves at one of the alleg
ed victim's parents.
Beaty, before adjourning Monday,
warned Chandler and his family
against harrassing any of the alleged
victims or their families, or any of the
state's witnesses.
"I don't know why they bother,"
one man said as he waited to be sear
ched before going into the courtroom
Friday. "If I were going to shoot him,
I'd stand up on the hillside."
Attorneys for both sides expressed
frustration and determination at the
mistrial.
"We didn't get the verdict 'not guil
ty,' and that's what we were going
for," Penland said. "But they (the
prosecution) did not get the verdict
'guilty.' "
"For all practical purposes, a
mistrial by means of a hung jury just
-Continued on back page
Photo by Bill Studrnc
Andrew "Junior" Chandler, with members of his family,
makes his way down the steps of Madison County Courthouse .
Commissioners May Seek Authority
To Fill County Board Vacancies
By BILL STUbENC
Editor
The Madison County Board of Com
missioners, apparently concerned
about the failing health of one of its
members, is considering changing
the way that vacancies on the board
are filled.
Under North Carolina law, a vacan
cy on the board would be filled by the
county executive committee of the
former commissioner's political par
ty
Commissioner Reese Steen has
suggested that the county ask the
General Assembly to allow the com
missioners to fill that vacancy
themselves.
Steen's suggestion came Monday
night, during the first evening
meeting of the new board of commis
sioners.
Steen and Robert Capps, chairman
of the board, are apparently concern
ed about the health of fellow Commis
sioner John Hensley, who has missed
the last two board meetings due to il
lness.
"With John being as ill as he is, I
feel it's very important that we take
care of the county commissioners,''
Steen said. "We need a blanket law,
and if we support it and the people
support it, I think we'll get it."
Steen has drafted a letter to the
General Assembly asking that
Madison County be deleted from a
1962 law giving political parties the
authority to appoint a new commis
sioner to fill a vacancy due to resigna
tion or death.
Madison is one of 33 counties in
cluded in that law, which also in
cludes Buncombe. Yancey and
Haywood.
The 1982 law supercedes a 1977 law
giving that replacement power to the
board of commissioners. Seventy
seven of North Carolina's 100 counties
fall under that earlier law.
Although the 1962 law states that
the board of commissioners will ap
point a new member to fill a vacancy,
the board must accept the recom
mendation of the appropriate
political party.
Hte original law states that the
board of comissioners must consult
the county executive committee of
the former member's political party,
but does not say the commissioners
are legally bound by that
committee's recommendation.
Steen said he favors the 1977 law
because it gives elected officials,
rather than political parties, the right
to fill a vacancy on an elected board.
?Continued on back page
Change Could Mean $100,000
To Mars Hill Spillway Project
By ANNE KITCHELL
Staff Writer
The Mars Hill Board of Aldermen
will ask North Carolina officials to
approve the rerouting of the town of
Mars Hill's spillway, a move which
could save the town some 1100,000.
Mars Hill is in the midst of a
$300,000 project to rebuild its old
spillway. But Mars Hill officials are
now looking at rerouting the spillway
to run the water in a different direc
tion.
During the board's meeting Mon
day night, project engineer Gary
Davis suggested the town check with
state officials to see if they will ap
prove the amended project.
As currently planned, the project
calls for the old spillway to be com
pletely rebuilt and widened.
But Mars Hill officials have learned
that It may be tos expensive to start
from scratch and build a new
spillway.
The town has been under fire from
the N.C. Department of Natural
Resources and Community Develop
ment since last January to make
repairs to its spillway system
Funding for the project includes
grant money from the Appalachian
Regional Commission, $75,000 in
Senate Bill 2 money and a $50,000
allocation from the Madison County
Board of Commissioners
In a related development, project
developer, McGill and Associate*,
has conducted a study of the Ivy
River to determine the feasibility of a
joint water system between Man
Hill. Weaverville and Woodfin
Officials from the three towns will
meet Thursday to discuss the
possibility of state funds to finance
the much -discussed project.
During a public hearing concerning
the rezoning of property owned by
Seth Metcalf, the board unanimously
voted to rezone the tract from trailer
park to highway business.
In other action:
? The board discussed billing chur
ches for water and sewer. The town
does not currently bill churches.
"Legally, we're supposed to bill the
churches for their water use," said
Mars Hill Mayor Owen Tilson. "The
volunteer fire department was get
ting water for free, but now they pay
for it."
The board agreed to charge chur
ches the minimum residential rate
for water and sewer.
? Tilson read a letter asking for
Mara Hill to join the' Clean Up North
Carolina" campaign. Municipal civic
group will be asked to organize the
campaign set for April and
?Cwtlwed on back page
McTobacco? Experts Study Alternate Uses
?
i'.s Hl< H\RD Nlll M I v
TteiMMnir
t driv
Tctar youraelf ? McTo
made with
I. r. I hlghfil bui ti Ik to
tobacco uid served in a container
dyed with tobacco pi snts
Sound farfetched? f< w, it is. but
Jost come to pttt.
With tome federal officials calling
far ? smoke-free society and similar
health ha tard attacks starting on
chewing tobacco manufacturers,
some acta aUats at North Carolina
state University in Raleigh have be?
"It'i got lomi very good^
protential. Long said of the process
Most of the research was done at the
North Carolina Department ofl
HP 0{r
really mm," Long Mid
that there i |
mm
and the (act that i
a sufficient number ?f
| t the point at
t emW to ericalh
"there's not a great deal of ac
But Uno said he has
Ramsey, Jordan:
Super Subcommittee
To Be More Open
By BILL STUDENC
Editor
CHAPEL HILL - North
Carolina's two top-ranking
members of the Legislature pro
mised last week that an often
criticized group of powerful
Democratic legislators will no
longer meet behind closed doors.
House Speaker Llston B.
Ramsey of Marshall and Lt. Gov.
Robert Jordan agreed Friday that
the so-called "supersub" will be
much more accessible to the
public and the press than last
year.
"The speaker and I are commit
ted to seeing that the legislative
process is open from the very
beginning," Jordan said. "The
super subcommittee will be open
to the public."
member on eight-man committee.
Gov. James G. Martin, a
Republican, has been among the
most vocal critics saying that the
General Assembly has been run by
the all-Democrat supersub
In response to that criticism,
members of the supersub have
agreed that their meetings will be
open to the public during the com
ing legislative saaaluu.
Ramsey told 'a group of about
100 members of the N.C. Press
Association that he expected
notices to be posted of meetings of
the supersub
"I would hope so, but that would
be up to the chairman of that com
mittee, ' Ramsey said. "The
supersub will not settle any issue.
Anything they agree on must go
back to the full House and full