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February 7,1985 \bl. % No. 5 W | Sr |S 1 -f - ■fij 1 m 1 ffl pppj P i <ij|P — " ’ ■ 1 ipr ■ 11 ■Hi ^ £ J f ■ - . \ m i . i§88 s, iJjgg; : . v jy burnt bulletin boards at AGO Error May Reverse Conklin Death Sentence SHORTS NOVA Looks At AIDS Public television's award winn ing NOVA series will examine AIDS-Chapter I in a segment that will be aired on Channel 30 (WPBA) here in Atlanta at 8pm on Tuesday February 12th and again at 10am on Saturday February 16th. NOVA which is produced by WGBH in Boston is well known for its extremely attractive and well produced segments on a wide variety of subjects in the public interest. NCN^s producers say that they are offering this segment as a non- hysterical look at the pieces of the mystery that is AIDS. The segment will present inter views with doctors from the CDC here in Atlanta, as well as inter views with people involved with AIDS research in San Francisco, Washington, and France. The scientific parts of the show, which are designed to demystify the sub ject, are intercut with segments on several PWAs (persons with AIDS) in order to ground the show in reality. The producers have previewed the show to several gay groups who have been enthusiastic about both its content and metho^of presentation. Delay due to change in . printers see next issue for details Seven white, middle-aged men—the Georgia Supreme Court—heard arguments last week in Robert Dale Conklin's second attempt to overturn the First Degree Murder death sentence imposed upon him in June for the kill ing of Atlanta attorney, George Crooks. In a sensational trial which underscored the seamier side of gay life, graphic details of the two mens' sex lives were overshadowed by the gruesome facts of the victim's dismemberment—a botched attempt by the defendant to dispose of the body. Television pictures of police and detectives unloading some dozen black garbage bags containing the severed parts of the victim's body from the dumpster where Conklin tried to hide them haunted the courtroom. Although Georgia law considers at tempts to hide a corpse a separate crime from the actual murder, the Prosecu tion in the original trial hammered away at the goriness of the dismemberment. Only one of 144 color photograph- slides of the severed body parts the Pro secution attempted to introduce as evidence was ruled admissable under Georgia Law by Judge John R. Langford—that of the victim's head showing some of the wounds inflicted in the death struggle. Conklin insists he was fighting off a rape attack. However, when the Jury returned to the courtroom, a second slide showing the victim's head with the scalp peeled back by the Coroner to show bruises to Crooks' skull was briefly shown to the Jurors. This slide had been ruled inad- (continued, page 6) AGC Offices Vandalized Six times last summer the Atlanta Gay Center has been broken into and van dalized, including twice during January. Most recently, on January 19, vandals cut the Center's telephone lines and set fire to the bulletin boards in the hallway, as well as upsetting furniture and scatter ing brochures. They were not successful in breaking into any of the offices or classrooms, however. Just after New Year's Day, vandals rip ped out telephone cords, trashed the of fice space used by the The News, and damaged some of the newspaper's typesetting equipment. During the previous four break-ins, a refrigerator, a dock radio, and an AIDS information box were stolen, furniture was ransacked, door vents were kicked out, and attempts were made to break in to cabinets in the classroom areas and in to the Clinic. As a result of these inadents increased police patrols have been initiated and fingerprints and other physical evidence are being evaluated. Fblice have respond ed quickly and cooperaively to reports of the attacks and have proposed a number of security precautions which are being phased in with a view toward capturing those responsible. Although most of the steps are not being disdosed, precau tions include improved locks and physical "hardening" of doors and other accesses to the Center, more random visits at unscheduled times by a number of AGC Volunteers, officers, and staff personnel, and other kinds of surveillance of the building. The inddents have taken place during a period of expansion for AGC services and activities. "We never had much of a problem when we were less active" said Bill Gripp, AGC Board Chairperson. "Perhaps our programs are having an ef- fed that someone does not like. It seems evident that someone objects to our in creased services, but we do not know the source of the opposition so far" "We are determined that no person or group of persons will interfere with our activities or prevent us from meeting our commitments. We call on the lesbian and gay community to support us in resisting these assults and in maintaining our in creasing level of activities. With the con tinued support of the community, no onO can stop us" Gripp said. GeneKoland