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Our Communities Since 1901
Thursday, 8?ptember24, 1987
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Judge Declares Mistrial In W allin Case
By BILL STUDENC
Editor
Madison Tax Collector Harold
Wallin, charged with failing to collect
interest and penalties from 92 delin
quent taxpayers, will have to wait to
have his day in court.
After listening to a half day of
evidence Monday in the trial of
Wallin, District Court Judge C. Philip
Ginn declared a mistrial, saying a
special session of Madison County
District Court would be necessary for
the trial.
Ginn cited a crowed court docket as
his main reason for declaring the
mistrial.
"I told the fellows (defense and
district attorneys) early on that if the
case was going to take a long time, 1
didn't want to try it. We had other
criminal cases scheduled that I con
sidered of greater importance than
the crimes Involved in this case,"
Ginn told Hie News Record after his
ruling.
"They had assured me that it would
only take two or three hours to try it,
but wehn we get into it, I realized it
would take much longer than that,"
he said.
Ginn estimated that it would take
about three days for the trial of
Wallin. ' " ??
'We had other criminal eases scheduled that I considered of
greater Importance than the crimes Involved la this case. '
District Court Judge C. Philip Ginn
"We will need to set a special ses
sion for the trial," he said. "I don't
want us to get back in this same situa
tion again."
Wallin has been charged on the
misdemeanor offense of willfully fail
ing to discharge his duties. Two
charges against Wallin stem from his
alleged failure to collect 9240.60 in
penalties on late tax during July 1965
and and $357.47 in February 1986.
The District Attorney's Office, in
two misdemeanor statements of
charges issued last month, listed a
total of 92 occasions in which Wallin
allegedly failed to collect interest on
delinquent tax - 22 in July 1965 and 70
in February 1966.
Amounts of uncollected interest
range from 5 cents to $49, according
to the statements.
During testimony prior to the
declaration of a mistrial, tax clerk
Janice L. Caldwell testified that tax
payers had paid interest in nearly all
of the transactions listed in the
charges against Wallin.
Caldwell testified that in some in
stances, the taxpayer had made a
partial payment of tax one month,
and came into the office later to pay
the difference. In those cases, in
terest was included in the partial
payments, she said.
In other instances, the interest was
paid, hut was recorded in county tax
books as principal, Caldwell said.
"Often the tax was listed and the in
terest was listed in the same
column," she said.
Caldwell indicated that in all but
two or three cases, tax and penalties
had been paid in full.
During questioning from Assistant
District Attorney Gerald Wilson,
Ginn recessed court for nearly 30
minutes while he, Wallin, Caldwell,
Wilson, State Bureau of Investigation
Agent Claude Greene and Wallin's at
torney, Joseph Huff, went downstairs
to the Tax Collector's Office to look
over county tax records.
After a lunch recess, Ginn declared
the mistrial.
Republicans Pick Church
For School Board Seat
By BILL STUDENC
Editor
The executive committee of the
Madison County Republican party
has chosen Jewel Church of Hot Spr
ings as the newest member of the
Madison County Board of Education.
Church replaces Jimmy Dean
Hensley, who announced his resigna
tion Sept. 8 but then changed his mind
and asked that he be reappointed to
the school board.
The Republican executive commit
tee, during a meeting last Thursday,
decided by a M vote not to allow
Hewley to keep his seat on the board.
Church assumed her new duties as
a member of the Madison County
Board of Education at a special
meeting Monday night (See related
story).
Church, an ex-Democrat, was fired
in 1S7S as principal of Hot Springs
Elementary School on charges she in
flated enrollment figures at the
school.
Hensley did not attend the ex
ecutive committee meeting, saying
he did not want his pretence to put
any pressure on committee membes
But when contacted Friday, he said
he was disappointed by the commit
tee's decision.
"I feel hurt and betrayed by some
of the members of the executive com
mittee. They rung my phooe off the
wall until I resigned, and not one of
them had the decency or the guts to
ask me how I felt or what I wanted,"
he told The News Record.
"The only thing I promised to do
when elected was be fair and honest,
and that's exactly what I tried to do
when I was on the board, but evi den
tally that's not good enough for some
people," Hensley said.
Although disappointed by the com
mittee's decision, Hensley said he
wasn't surprised.
"I didn't play politics at all. I didn't
pull for the Republican party as much
as some wanted me to. I made my
decisions based on what was good for
the school system, not on what was
best for the Republican party, and I
-Continued on Page 3
Jewell Chu-ch
Hensley To Board:
No Hard Feelings
By MARGARET A. STUDENC
Staff Reporter
Monday was a day of beginnings
and endings for the Madison County
Board of Education with the official
acceptance of Jimmy Dean Hensley's
resignation and the induction of new
board member Jewel Church.
Hensley, who had resigned from
the board on Sept. 8 and then failed in
his attempt to regain his spot on the
board after a change of heart, spoke
to the board and persons present at
the meeting.
"This (speaking to the board about
the resignation) is the hardest thing
I've ever had to do, but I owe it to the
board members, the people who
elected me and to myself,'' Hensley
said.
"I'm not mad at anyone," he said.
Hensley said he had made one pro
mise when campaigning for the board
position, which was to be fair and
honest with no politics involved. "I
have lived up to that promise," he
said.
Hensley ended by saying that he
still loves the kids of Madison County
and will still do all that he can for
them.
Hensley' s replacement on the
board, Church, was nominated by the
Madison County Republican Party's
executive committee last week (See
-Continaed oa Page 3
" Mars Hill
Face Murder
From Starf Report*
Two Mars Hill brothers are being
held in Madison County Jail pending
extradition to Greene County, Tenn.,
on murder charges stemming from a
Friday night barroom brawl.
Jeffrey Eugene Massey, 17, of
Turkey Branch Road, Mars Hill, has
been charged with second-degree
murder in connection with the death
of Herbert Norton, 34.
Massey's brother. James Bruce
Massey Jr., 22, also of Turkey Branch
Road, Mars Hill, has been charged
with aiding and abetting second
degree murder, according to arrest
warrants filed in Madison County
Courthouse.
The brothers were arrested by the
Madison County Sheriff's Depart
ment Saturday on the charges after
being contacted by the Greene Coun
ty Sheriff's Department.
According to authorities, a fight
broke out at about 8 p.m. Friday at
the Starllte Club on the Asheville
Highway in Greensville. Norton died
after having his throat slashed in the
fight, according to authorities.
The Massey brothers, handcuffed
together, appeared in Madison Coun
ty District Court on Monday, where
they received court-appointed at
torneys to represent them during the
extraction process.
District Court Judge C. Philip Ginn
appointed Forrest Ball to represent
Jeffrey Eugene Massey, and Joseph
Huff to represent James Bruce
Massey Jr.
Madison County Sheriff Dedrick
Brown said he attempted to convince
the brothers not to fight extradition,
but was unsuccessful.
An extradition hearing will be held,
but has not yet been scheduled, Huff
said.
The Massey* remain in Madison
County Jail on $50,000 bond each.
?
Two Madison County nten were
sentenced last week to three years in
prison for attempting to snatch the
purse of an elderly woman at the
Asheville mall.
John Eric Ramsey of Mars Hill and
Johnny McCarter of Hot Springs
pleaded guilty in Buncombe County
Superior Court last week to attemp
ted common law robbery
The two men were charged with
knocking down Maglee Ray, 64, and
her sister, Mildred Ledford, 79, at the
Asheville Mall and attempting to
swipe Ray's purs*.
Five students from Reynolds High
School saw the incident as they drove
by In a van. The boys jumped out of
the van and subdued Ramsey and Mc
Carter.
The students held the men until the
authorities arrived
'^'.T "T
Constitutional Costume
BILL STUDENC PHOTO
District Court Judge Robert H. Lacey
dean ed 1780#-era garb while presiding over
conrt is Marshall last Thnrsdiqr. Lacey , and
Judges across North Carolina, recessed
court at 11 a.m. for a brief ceremony in
coauaemeratien of 200th anniversary of the
U.8 Constitution. Churchbelb all over the
nation rug for 200 seconds Thursday after*
noon as part of the festivities ? one second
for each year siace delegate* signed the
constitution la Philadelphia on Sept- 17,
1787.
\ : :* , , r . v. V" 'I .
Weaverville Won't Require
Manager To Move Into Town
Hjt ST., ;i .1 ?..> J'.''-' -r ? ,*? i'i I '
?>"?c
Weaverville Town Manager
? | Home won't have to mU his
Flat Creek and move Into the
town llmiU - at ieaat not
immediately J
The Waaverville Towr Council
Monday to rescind an or
1 In July requiring the
within the corporate limits, and the
fif' chtpf within the North 1
npkjyees are recruited. that <r?
quiring them to Uve in the town
> a requirement (join
in be said. -
jgested that the coundl
should either givt a compelling
reason for requiring certain
mnlovees to 1
But Co Iman
ht igktaOy mi
pc
prefer o lei
move inside the (own limits within 90
days - by the middle of next month.
Rathtmrn has since been fired a*
police chief, and Home would be the
only employee sffecUd by the or
SBI Won't Extradite
Ex- Police Chief
I*5 |T~rr ;
By MARGARET A. STUDENC
surr Reporter
Although R has ben mare than
l#Br months since (ormer H< >! Spi
ings Police Chief John Barrett was
formally charged with driving
while impaired, it appears that
charge will not come to trial.
Barrett is living in Florida, ac
assistant director of Uw fttfierlfer
office of tin SBI, warrants on
ml><? aannr charges do not in
quire extradition irom other
states
Injured
[Trucker
May Sue
DOT
From Staff Reports
The N.C. Court of Appeals has pav
ed the way for the settlement of a
$100,000 lawsuit filed by an Ohio
trucker injured in 1985 when his rig
plunged over the side of U.S. 25-70
near Hot Springs.
Michael Zimmer, 31, of Covington,
Ohio, sued the state of North Carolina
after he was forced to take U.S. 25-70
as a detour when a rockslide closed
Interstate 40 through Haywood Coun
ty on March 5, 1885.
The N.C. Department of Transpor
tation has attempted to have the case
dismissed, but the N.C. Court of Ap
peals ruled last week that the matter
should be heard by the state In
dustrial Commission.
DOT has the option of appealing
that ruling to the N.C. Supreme
Court, said Bill Stephenson, commis
sioner with the state Industrial Com
mission.
State officials have about two
weeks to make that decision,
Stephenson said.
Zimmer has claimed that the 1-40
detour on U.S. 25-70 near Hot Springs
was improperly prepared, resulting