Newspapers / The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, … / Nov. 21, 1991, edition 1 / Page 8
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IN BRUNSWICK COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT Testimony Begins In Capitol Murder Trio I BY I'KKRY POPK Testimony continued in Bruns wick County Superior Court Tues dii> as a Columbus Couni\ teen-ager laces the death penalty, charged as a coconspirator in the murder of a sheriff's deputy. In opening arguments Monday, de I ense attorney Mike Willis told ju rors that Michael Thomas Brown. 17. hail in) idea thai his accomplice would actually shoot and kill Columbus County Sheriff's Deputy Bob Hinson. Unison. 59, died Irom three gun shot wounds to the head on June l(> while answering .1 lake break-in call to the Brunswick community around midnight. Aquino Williams, 17. also laces a first degree murder charge but can not receive the death penalty because ol hiv age. In .1 separate trial. District Attorney Rex Gore will seek life in prisim lor Williams bul ask jurors lor the death penalty if Brown is found guilt> ol first decree murder. Citing pre-trial publicity. both tri als were moved to Brunswick County. Jury selection took two weeks for die case thai is expected to continue into next week. "There was no conspiracy here, as the suite will attempt to show." said Willis. "Michael Brown did not Iv lieve for one minute that Aquino Williams would do what he said ho would do." In his opening arguments, prose cutor Thomas Hicks painted a dif ferent picture, telling juror* that Brown placed the fake break-in call to the Columbus County Sheriff's Department and rummaged through the dead deputy's pockcts looking lor money after Williams fired the fatal shots. Alluding to Brown's confession given to SHI agents following the arrest. Hicks outlined how the deputy's shotgun was Liken from the patrol car and then hidden in Brown's home. Copies of Brown's statement were given to jurors following SBI Agent Kelly Moser's testimony. Judge Narlcy L. Cashwell ruled the BALLOT UNDER SCRUTINY Dosher Candidate Gets Hearing BV TKKRY I'OI'K A candidate who lost her bid for re -elec lion to the Dosher Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees says the haiku was Hawed and that a new election should be held. Evelyn "Teal" Butler will argue her case before the Brunswick County Board of Elections Wednes day. Nov. 27. at 2 p.m. Not all candidates, she said, were aware that persons could file for ei ther a six-year seat or unexpired four-year term on the Kurd. Had she known. Ms. Butler said she would have opted for the four-year seat. Instead. Eugene B. Tomlinson Jr. was the only person who filed lor the tour-year seat. He ran unopposed and won. Tomlinson had been appointed to fill the unexpired term left vacant by Doug Ledgetl. who resigned. Four other candidates filed for the two regular six-\ear terms and were set apart on the ballot from Tom linson. Voters in Smithville Town ship were told to vote for one in Tomlinson s category and for two candidates that filed for the six-year seals. Cub Barbee and incumbent Charles B. Johnson won those seats. Ms. Butler, elected to the hoard in 1980. believes voters entered the polls thinking the race was a plurali ty election, that the lop three candi dates v ould w in seats on ihe hoard, with die two highest earning six year terms. She claims that is how the elections were held in the past. The board must decide if an irreg ularity occurred. "There probably was one am! it probabls affected the outcome," said Robert Sena. Ms. Butler's atiorney. Ai a special meeting lasi Thurs day, board members Glenda Walker, Billy Benton and One Gore met briefly in executive session with County Attorney David Clegg. w ho serves as counsel to the board. "We feel that we do have proba ble cause." said Benton, who made the motion to hold the hearing. Serra asserted that in 1485. candi date Charles Rogers won an unex pired term on the hospital tmard. bui was not set aside on the ballot from other candidates. Rogers had been appointed to fill a seat held by Lorraine Bellamy, who died. "I think this board would have to look at what would be the usual manner in which board members were elected," said Serra. adding that the Nov. 5 ballot violated "the usual manner" for Dosher elections. However. Clegg said state law de mands that persons specifically file for unexpired terms and that those seals be set apart on the ballot. During the 1987 and 1989 races, there were no unexpired terms on the Dosher ballot. Clegg pointed to the Nov. 5 Shall otte aldermen race as an example where the same procedure was fol lowed for electing persons to unexpired terms. Joe Hewett Jr. had been appointed as alderman to replace Sarah Tripp, who became mayor last year. However. Hewett and six other can didates decided to register for a four-year term on the board. Two people, including incumbent Wilton Harrclson, registered for the two-year term. The seals were set apart on the ballot with no confu sion, said Clegg. Ms. Butler said she plans to sub poena witnesses for the Nov. 27 hearing, including the seven current members of the board. Testimony before the elections board, said Clegg. must be given under oath. SECURITY SYSTEMS RESIDENTIAL - COMMERICAL - INDUSTRIAL F9 PELEN, i?c Palmetto Electronics & Engineering Prolessional Sound <S Security " ?Burglar Alarms 'Closed Circuit TV ?Fire Alarms ?Sound & Intercom ^?Medical Alert -Digital Dialers (919) 754-5333 (803) 249-3333 LICENSED IN NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA 3769 Sen Mountain Hwy Little River, SC 29566 ew.1 I Ml BHUNSWICK BtACON Hi CRABBY- ODDWATER5 Restaurant and Bar Serving Dinner at 5 pm Tues. thru Sat u 579-6372 ? All ABC Permits Upstairs at Bill's Seafood . 'Crabby-Oddwalers serves only the freshest seafood from Bill's \Seafood. No seafood is cooked before you order it, so * please relax & allow time for preparation & we'll give you a meal worth wating lor. (Large parties are advised to call ahead) Fish, Shellfish. Shrimp, Steak, Chicken & More! Nightly Special Ibtiig if} Fresh Seafood Development, Inc. eU-h - ... "Your Professional Full Service Construction Company" "^ewag^Disposa^^^ate^^^^^it^^r^par^tior^^avin^ ?Consulting/Permit Application ?Designs, Plans' Installation* ?Conventional Septic Tanks/ LPP Systems* ?Drainage Plans Fill Dirt Plans ?Maintenance Agreements* ?Water Line Installations* ?Clearing* 'Chipping' ?Fill Dirt* 'Grading* ?Sock Tile Installation* ?Minor Paving* ?Home Driveways* ?Parking Lots* HomcANUM Ricky Parker - Owner ?r i 842-4003 Monday-Friday 9-5, Saturday by appointment only Hwy. 130, Holden Beach Rd., 4Yi miles from Shallotte^ NFIB* MEMBER confession aw Id he intrixlixed as cvidcnce. Micks told jurors that he would outline how Brown and Williams "had talked and planned of killing an officer, not Bob Minson in partic ular, but an officer, to get his gun." But Willis argued that there was no "meeting of the minds" between the suspects. He said Brown has abused alcohol since he was 15, having missed 40 or more days of high school last year. On the other hand. Williams had come to Columbus County from Detroit, after having been kicked from school as a result of a knife fight, saul Willis. He labeled Williams as a "tough kid Irom the inner city" and said on the night of the murder. Brown had "wanted to run (from Williams) hut was afraid to." It was an emotional first day of testimony as Columbus County Deputy Billy Hammond described how he approached Hinson's ear and found the officer slum|vd over in the front seat with blixxl on his shirt. The car had been parked behind some trash dumpsters near Aiqxirt Road in Columbus County. Hammond, who said Hinson was also his best friend, openly wept on the stand anil his hands shook as Hicks asked him to describe the murder scene. Judge Cashwell or dered a five-minute recess before testimony could continue. The deputy said he "hollered lor" Hinson but didn't gel a response al ter finding the patrol car. "I opened the door and saw where he had been shot," said the emotion al Hammond, as members of Hinson s family, sitting behind the defendant in the courtroom, cried. Photos and a medical examiner's drawings showed the deputy had been shot three times in the head with a .22-caliber pistol, just inches away. Building Another Bypass Workers are busy on the U.S. 17 bypass of Bolivia at Galloway Road. Construction crews began pav ing portions of the highway this week that will route traffic around Bolivia and the Brunswick County Government Center and connect with U.S. 17 south of Brunswick Community College. 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The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, N.C.)
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Nov. 21, 1991, edition 1
8
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