Newspaper Page Text
HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
'Potential variables'
play a part in arrest
Dear Mr. Rockefeller,
During a traffic stop,
my daughter was arrest
ed for trafficking in
cocaine. These drugs are
not hers, and the driver
told the police this* after
their arrest. Why is she
being charged?
Dear Reader, As I have
stated before, I hate it
for the families being put
through the emotional
ringer when a loved one is
arrested. Your question has
more potential variables
than you might realize, but
let me see what I can do to
answer your question.
To begin, you need to
understand the distinction
with being arrested for a
crime, being charged, and
being prosecuted.
An arrest is only based
on “probable cause,” which
has nothing to do with guilt
or even the decision wheth
er or not to prosecute your
daughter.
The fact of an arrest
should not necessarily be
all that troubling.
The decision whether or
not to prosecute is exclu
sively up to a district attor
ney, which is supposed to
be based on principles of
“justice” being foremost,
as opposed to the media or
public opinion. Prosecutors
are ethically barred from
even prosecuting cases
where they believe some
one is guilty, if there is
no reasonable likelihood of
conviction.
If you recall, with the
Duke University Lacrosse
case, there was clearly
“probable cause” to arrest
the Duke students, based
‘Let’s win this one for Tommy’
T.L. Hanna High
School in Anderson,
South Carolina, had
their “Radio.”
We had our Tommy.
They made a movie about
“Radio,” starring Cuba
Gooding, Jr., as the chal
lenged young man who
becomes the unofficial mas
cot of the football team,
bringing inspiration and
good cheer to those around
him.
We could make a movie
about Tommy too. Tommy
started hanging around the
practice fields at Clinch
County High School some
time in the 19905. He lived
nearby and soon was help
ing then-Coach Cecil Barber
around the field and in the
locker room. During home
games, he would sometimes
don a jersey and be our tall
est, only gray-haired ball
boy.
A couple of scenes that
stick out in my mind would
have to be included in our
Tommy movie:
We had a big game at
home, against one of our
EVANS
From page 4A
local offices. I learned that
most people wanted their
elected officials to listen to
them.
Whether they got what they
asked for was not as relevant
as being shown the courtesy
of being heard.
Not anything is perfect
anywhere. I keep up with
what goes on in many of
the more populous counties
in Georgia and find myself
grateful to live in Houston
County. We do not need the
acrimony, discord and dis
trust that is going on in
other fast growth counties,
such as ours.
Critics can find fault.
Monday morning quarter
backing is an art. Our elect
ed officials are just human
beings. From where I stand,
I like what I see.
For anyone who is dissatis
fied, there always is another
election.
I^l
jNp
Jim Rockefeller
The ‘Law’ man
on the
initial
outcry of
the pur
ported
victim,
but it
soon
became
clear
that they
were
innocent of any crimes.
The prosecutor, Mike
Nifong, allowed himself
to become swept up in a
media frenzy and made
a mockery of his role as
an ethical prosecutor; he
went to jail because of this.
However, no one could
really stop him until those
poor kids had their reputa
tions ruined.
How is this relevant to
your daughter’s case? Her
arrest is not necessar
ily the problem, a possible
prosecution is. And, as to
that, she is subject to the
district attorney’s whims.
In theory, the fact that she
was not the driver of the
car, and driver confessed
to owning the drugs would
suggest that the charges
should be dropped against
your daughter. This often
does happen in traffic stop
cases, e.g., if one of the
occupants of a car takes
the blame for the drugs,
the other occupants are
eventually let go.
Yet, this is not a given.
Where the drugs were
found, the quantity of
drugs, your daughter’s
past criminal history, the
driver’s past criminal his
tory, and any intelligence
culled by law enforcement
Len Robbins
Columnist
airpub@planttel.net
fiercest
rivals.
While the
team was
warm
ing up,
Tommy
had a
seizure
of some
type on
the field.
While medical professionals
were treating him, the team
went into the locker room to
hear their pregame speech.
Coach Barber checked on
Tommy before he went into
the locker room. Tommy
was fine, the medics told the
coach as they tended to him
in the ambulance.
Coach Barber, though,
being the ultimate motiva
tor, saw an opportunity.
“Guys, I just talked to the
paramedics,” he told the
team with emotion in his
voice. “And I don’t think
Tommy’s going to make it.
Tommy loves the Panthers,
and there is nothing Tommy
would want more than for
you to go out there and win
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before the traffic stop, are
all relevant issues.
In fact, possession of
drugs can be “joint and
several” (meaning the
same drugs can be deemed
to be in the possession of
more than one person).
Additionally, possession
can be “actual” (on the
person or in their car) or
“constructive.” The latter
occurs where drugs are
found in a place where it
can be inferred a person
has “knowledge” of the
existence and location of
the drugs.
Hence, if in your daugh
ter’s case, the drugs were
found in the trunk, or even
the glove compartment,
she is less likely to be pros
ecuted, but if they were
found under the passenger
seat where she was sitting,
she is in quite a bit more
trouble.
Hopefully, this explains
a few things for you.
Ultimately, you will want
to hire a decent criminal
defense attorney to protect
her rights, family finances
permitting. I wish you both
the best of luck!
Local attorney Jim
Rockefeller owns the
Rockefeller Law Center
and is a former Houston
Co. Chief Assistant District
Attorney, and a former
Miami Prosecutor. E-mail
confidential legal questions
toajr@rockefellerlawcenter.
com. Visit www.rock
efellerlawcenter.com
for Frequently Asked
Questions and Jim’s blog,
The Rockefeller Report.
tonight... for him. So, let’s
win this one for Tommy!”
The team then stormed
out of the locker room,
screaming “Let’s win this
one for Tommy!” As they
dashed to the field in a pas
sionate, fiery frenzy, fans
had lined up and were giving
the players “high-fives.” The
last person in the line was
Tommy, who had apparently
recovered more quickly than
Coach Barber expected.
j
WALSH HONDA
2056 Eisenhower Pkway • Macon, GA 31206
OPINION
Capitalizing on
your natural talents
Are you a leader who
wants to enhance
your skills? Do you
work to develop the capa
bilities of those under your
authority? Are you guiding
your organization toward
genuine excellence?
Help is available for indi
viduals to capitalize on their
natural talents as they work
to enhance learnable leader
ship skills.
Now, Discover Your
Strengths, by Marcus
Buckingham and Donald
Clifton, in 2001. The book
guides readers to an inter
net-based assessment of
their natural talents, the
“Strengths Finder Profile.”
The Gallup organization,
developer of the assessment,
studied the information
learned from the two diil
lion individuals who took the
“Profile” in the past six years.
Gallup generated enhance
ments that are described
in this year’s publication of
Strengths Finder 2.0, by Tom
Rath. Purchase of this new
book allows the reader to
experience the improved ver
sion of the on-line assess
ment.
For several years, I have
advocated that leadership
teams use Now, Discover Your
Strengths as a basis for some
very affirming team enhance
ment activities. Based on
recent experience, I am now
advocating that future cli
ents use Strengths Finder
2.0 and its enhanced on-line
assessment tool.
Most of the material
describing the 34 talent
themes is carried over from
the original book. However,
Strengths Finder 2.0 is 2/3 of
That same season, after a
game against another heat
ed rival, players and coaches
were shaking hands on the
field after the game. Tommy
got in line with the players
and coaches, and when he
got to the head coach of the
opposing team, he shuffled
up to the man, said “good
game” meekly and stuck
out his hand. When the
coach reached for Tommy’s
See ROBBINS, page 6A
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Dennis Hooper
Leaders Building
Leaders
the cost of
the origi
nal (retail
cost of S2O
vs. S3O;
discount
ed cost of
sl2 vs.
$18). This
can result
in quite
a savings
for a team
of individuals, since a copy is
required for every member
who takes the assessment.
Conducting the on
line assessment identifies
your five dominant talent
themes (of the 34 listed in
the book). Access to the
“Strengths Finder Profile”
requires an alphanumeric
access code, available only
with the purchase of a book.
I’ve asked representatives
of the Gallup organizatipn
if I can buy a block of access
codes. They do not allow
that approach - a book is
required for every partici
pant. (Interesting market
ing technique, huh? It’s
great for the publisher; not
so good for my clients!)
The book also provides a
listing of 10 suggested “Ideas
for Action” associated with
each talent theme. These
are ideas that an individual
strong in that particular tal
ent theme should consider
in seeking to more routinely
apply those talents in his or
her daily woi;k.
The improved assessment
generates a personalized
“What Makes You Stand
Out?” report based on your
individual choices made
during the assessment pro
cess. This description could
Assessing Your
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be shared with you boss
for collaborative thinking
about how to better apply
your natural talents.
My one regret with
the new book is that the
extremely interesting infor
mation in the first 75 pages
of Now, Discover Your
Strengths was not carried
over. Of course, if one of the
objectives of the publisher
was to reduce the price of
the book, they had to leave
some material out.
Because of the value of
the information contained
in those 75 pages, however,
I am recommending to my
clients that they purchase
at least one copy of Now,
Discover Your Strengths.
Most of my work with
developing leaders is in
the area of learnable skills.
Everything referenced
above deals with unchang
ing natural talents, not
learnable skills.
However, these two books
and the “Strengths Finder
Profile” have allowed my
clients to understand where
their natural abilities lie, so
that we can explore where
and how their talents can be
most effectively enhanced.
Stated another way, the
natural talent themes identi
fied by the “Strengths Finder
Profile” provide a firm foun
dation upon which learn
able leadership skills can
be built.
Dennis is a local certi
fied leadership develop
ment coach, helping mid
dle Georgia leaders build
organizations of excellence.
Contact him at 478-988-
0237 or dhooper2@juno.
com.
F. Dennis Hooper
Certified
Leadership Development Coach
Building leaders and
organizations of excellence
(478) 988-0237 dhooper2@juno.conf
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