Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 8A
BARROW JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2008
Body found continued from 1A
Police videotaping continued from 1A
REMAINS FOUND
The remains of the boyd found earlier this week have
still not been identified. Photo by Susan Norman
The human remains and
clothing were in such poor
condition that investigators
could not determine the gen
der or race of the victim. The
severe decomposition also
made it impossible to tell
immediately when the per
son died.
Law enforcement officials
expect to know more details
after they receive the results
of an autopsy.
The case was classified as
a homicide investigation.
Two people walking in
the woods behind a house
in the 900 block of Atlanta
Highway near Statham
found the body at about 5
p.m. Sunday.
Because the body was
discovered near nightfall, it
was impossible to process
the scene Sunday evening,
said Major Murray Kogod, a
spokesman for the Sheriff’s
Office.
The scene was secured that
evening and the body left in
place until Monday, when
the area around the body was
checked for evidence and
the remains were sent to the
Georgia Crime Lab for the
autopsy, he said.
“We do have some indica
tion that it may have been
foul play. That’s all I can
say right now,” Kogod said
about the case.
No ID was found with the
body.
Kogod said the Sheriff’s
Office needs public’s help in
identifying the victim.
“Our main focus right now
is identifying who this is.
Anyone who believes they
may have any information
whatsoever, such as knowl
edge of a missing person,
should call the Barrow
County Sheriff’s Office at
770-307-3083.”
Students arrested continued from 1A
“Upon viewing the video,
I observed Landy fight and
wrestle with Ms. Mansberger
after being separated from the
fight,” Deputy Yoder wrote in
a report of the incident.
“Landy continued to act in
a violent and tumultuous man
ner towards Ms. Mansberger,
pushing against her and spin
ning her around in an attempt
to reengage in the fight...,”
the deputy wrote.
The struggle continued
beyond the cafeteria.
“Landy continually pushed
against and at one point spun
Ms. Mansberger around in
an attempt to reengage in a
fight with (the other student),”
Yoder wrote.
The incident ended when
assistant principal Brian Moore
restrained the older student
and took her to the principal’s
office. She was then arrested
and transported to the Barrow
County Detention Center.
TWO OTHER
JUVENILE ARRESTS
Two other 16-year-olds were
charged in Barrow County last
week in incidents unrelated to
schools.
A female was charged on
Nov. 13 by the Barrow County
Sheriff’s Office with false
report of a crime, false state
ments in writings and conceal
ment of facts, and possession
of a controlled substance.
A 16-year-old male was
also charged on Nov. 13 by
the BCSO with obstruction of
officers, giving a false name
and false information to police
officials and false report of a
crime.
Auburn couple continued from 1A
“The weapon has not been
recovered, but we did man
age to find three casings out
side,” Lapsky said. “I know
she had three bullets in her;
he had one bullet in him.
She had several pass-through
wounds where the bullet
enters and exits the body.”
The casings from the
.25-caliber pistol were found
outside the rear of the resi
dence, according to a police
incident report.
“They were located below
the air conditioning unit,
where there were a number
of holes entering the resi
dence,” the report states.
An initial suspect known to
the victims has been cleared.
Police at this point do not
have any idea who fired the
gun.
“We do not know who did
it. We collected evidence
from the scene. As soon
as the victims are capable
of talking, we are going to
conduct interviews,” said
Lapsky.
According to the police
report, the shooting occurred
at about 3:49 a.m. Nov. 15.
The victims initially didn’t
know what hit them.
The woman’s daughter
said she heard a loud bang
moments before her mother
yelled to her to come into
her room.
“When she saw her mom,
her mom stated she was
bleeding but did not know
why,” states the report. “Mr.
Borg also stated to me he
thought he heard a real gun
shot go off just before he felt
bleeding.”
Lapsky said he does not
know of another double
shooting in Auburn’s his
tory.
“The last time we had a
shooting in Auburn, where
somebody was actually hit,
was in 2001.”
videotape has remained
sealed and has never been
reviewed by anyone, she
said.
DEFENDS
RECORDING
District Attorney Rick
Bridgeman defended both
Wolff and the videotaping.
He said the videotape was
not made for use as evi
dence, but in order to protect
the integrity of “original evi
dence” that could have been
damaged or destroyed by the
defendant.
At the time of the record
ing on Oct. 8, Kirschenbaum
and his client, Samuel C.
Laird of Windsor Court,
Winder, were at the WPD
reviewing CDs that had been
prepared by the U.S. Secret
Service in connection with
the case.
After 20-40 minutes,
Kirschenbaum said he
noticed the video camera in
the room and that its lights
were on.
“The camera pointed
directly at Defendant Laird
and ... counsel so that Mr.
Laird’s reactions to the evi
dence would be recorded.
The camera also recorded
comments made by both
Laird and his attorney,” the
motion stated.
Kirschenbaum then
demanded that the camera
be turned off, but the request
initially was refused. As he
was dialing a judge’s sec
retary to request assistance,
the attorney said a WPD
officer turned off the cam
era. The officer then took
the tape out of the machine
and sealed it in an envelope
and the envelope was placed
in the department’s evidence
room.
The attorney said he asked
the Winder officer why the
meeting was being video
taped.
“They both (the WPD offi
cials) stated that they vid
eotaped the meeting at the
direction of Assistant District
Attorney Mary Beth Wolff,”
the motion stated.
In a meeting with
Wolff later that same day,
Kirschenbaum said he asked
her not to view the video
tape.
“Ms. Wolff stated that she
would not make that prom
ise and noted that she did
not think there was anything
wrong with the secret vid
eotaping of Defendant Laird
and counsel,” the motion
stated.
PROTECTION
OF EVIDENCE
Bridgeman said this week
that the session had been
recorded to protect the evi
dence, apparently the CDs.
He also said Laird’s lawyer
could not invoke attorney-cli
ent privilege for that meeting
because the evidence techni
cian remained in the room
with the evidence through
out the encounter.
“I think the law is pret
ty clear that the attorney-
client privilege only per
tains to when there is not
a third party in the room,”
Bridgeman said.
Bridgeman said the video
taping issue has not come up
in any other case since his
appointment in September
2007 at the district attorney
for the Piedmont Circuit.
“I don’t know that this
will come up again. It’s an
unusual case with unusual
circumstances.”
Winder Chief of Police
Stanley Rodgers said
Wednesday that he would
not comment on the case.
“That’s a judicial action,
and I don’t want to com
ment. I will just tell you it’s
not our normal practice to do
what’s alleged.”
The chief would not con
firm whose decision it was
to turn on the camera.
“I have no comment on
who requested it,” he said.
For his part, attorney
Kirschenbaum demurred on
the question of whether or
not Wolff had ordered the
taping.
“I’m not lying, and I’m not
commenting,” he said.
Ruling continued from 1A
The litigation between Century Center and
Braselton goes back nearly two years after the
developers objected to some city-mandated
infrastructure improvements along Hwy. 211,
saying the road might be widened in the future
thereby tearing out the improvements.
But Braselton leaders refused to give Century
Center a variance and the developers sued
Braselton in January 2007, saying the property
had not been annexed correctly into the city.
The move was apparently an attempt to with-
Early voting begins
draw from Braselton’s overlay district require
ments which the firm objected to following.
The court’s dismissal revolves around an
April 2007 hearing at which Braselton said
lawyers for Century Center had “perpetrated
a fraud upon the Court” with misleading tes
timony.
The judge agreed in July with that argu
ment and ordered the firm to reimburse the
city’s legal expenses, or face having the case
dismissed.
his week in Barrow
With Georgia’s Dec. 2 runoff
elections less than two weeks
away, early voting will begin
this week in Barrow County.
Early voting this week at the
Barrow County Administration
Building will end Friday and
advance voting will begin next
Monday. It ends Nov. 26. The
location for both periods of
in-person voting is the office
of the Barrow County Board of
Elections and Registration.
Anyone wanting to vote by
absentee ballot must make the
request no later than Nov. 26.
Only those ballots received by
Dec. 2 will be counted.
Candidates include:
•U.S. Senator: Saxby
Chambliss (R) and Jim Martin
(D).
Lauren “Bubba” McDonald Jr.
(R) and Jim Powell (D).
•Court of Appeals Judge:
Sara Doyle and Mike Sheffield,
both non-partisan.
•Public Service Commission:
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