Newspaper Page Text
FRIDAY
April 29, 2005
Vol. 112, No. 152 | Athens, Georgia
Partly cloudy.
High 78 | Low 60 | Saturday 73
ONLINE: www.redandblack.com
An independent student newspaper serving the University of Georgia community
ESTABLISHED 1893, INDEPENDENT 1980
COOL DOG
>- Georgia’s mascot
slobbers his way into our
hearts. PAGE 12
Nelms acquitted of arson
TIMELINE OF EVENTS
>- July 23,2003: A fire on the second floor of the Main
Library causes more than $12 million in damages.
>- July 29,2003: Acting on a tip, investigators interrogate
Jason Allen Nelms, and after two interviews lasting
several hours, Nelms is arrested.
>- Aug. 27,2003: Nelms is indicted in Athens-Clarke County
Superior Court on two counts of first degree arson.
>- Sept. 16,2003: Nelms pleads not guilty to both
charges at his arraignment.
► Feb. 9,2004: A motion to question Nelms' sanity filed
in September 2003 is reviewed in court by his attorney,
Gerry Brown.
>- Nov. 1,2004: Judge David Sweat rules tapes of the
interrogation sessions admissible as evidence.
>- April 19,2005: First witnesses are called in Nelm’s trial.
► April 28,2005: Jason Allen Nelms is acquitted on both
counts of arson.
— Staff reports
DAVID MARCK | The Red & Black
A Jason Nelms flashes a thumbs up after a Clarke
County jury exonerated him Thursday of all charges
in the 2003 fire in the University’s Main Library.
By JOHN CALDWELL
jcaldwell@randb.com
After nearly two years as an
Athens-Clarke County inmate,
Jason Allen Nelms was
released Thursday.
A Superior Court jury
acquitted Nelms Thursday of
two counts of first degree
arson in connection with a fire
in the University’s Main
Library nearly two years ago.
“Mr. Nelms, you have been
exonerated by the jury,” said
Judge David Sweat before say
ing Nelms would be escorted
by deputies back to the prison
to collect his belongings and
then be “released immediate
ly.”
Nelms smiled and rested
his head on his fingertips in
relief as the judge thanked the
jurors for their service.
Nelms nodded and smiled
to jurors as they filed past his
seat and shook defense
attorney Gerry Brown’s hand
before leaving the courtroom
around noon.
In recess after the verdict,
District Attorney Ken
Mauldin, the chief prosecutor
in the case, said despite his
loss, he still has “great faith” in
the criminal justice system.
“I always have a great deal
of respect for the jury,” he said.
“They didn’t feel there was suf
ficient evidence.”
He said the investigation
into the fire, which has cost
the University at least
$12 million, would not be
reopened.
After embracing his client,
Brown promptly left the court
house and did not return
phone calls to his office later
that day.
Among those on hand were
several law enforcement
officials, including University
Police Chief Jimmy Williamson
— both witnesses in the trial
and key members of the team
that investigated the fire and
apprehended Nelms.
After hearing the verdict,
Williamson said he respected
the jury’s decision but added,
“I feel differently, or I wouldn’t
have made the arrest.”
In nearly seven hours of
deliberation that ran into
Thursday morning, jurors
requested to review three
hours of taped interviews
between Williamson and
Nelms that Brown labeled
throughout the trial as
coercive and manipulative.
“It’s been almost two years
now,” Bill Potter, head
University librarian, said. “We
would have wanted closure,
but you look forward, not
backward.”
GEORGIA REMEMBERS
PHOTOS BY MELISSA GOLDEN The Red * Black
◄ Gainesville College
sophomore Mary
Kathryne Miller and
University sophomore
Kinsey McBride
mourn the loss of
Amanda McBride last
night outside the
Chapel during the
University’s annual
remembrance
ceremony. The
memorial, which
honors students,
faculty and staff who
have passed away
during the last year,
was opened with a
speech from
University President
Michael Adams.
“Sharing our grief, I
believe, is an
important part of
life,” he said.
Readers announced
the names of the
deceased as Arch
Society members lit
candles for each
person. For more
information on the
ceremony, see
Page 3.
‘Somebodies’ brings to life
alumnus director’s vision
By NINA HEMPHILL
For The Red & Black
University graduate
Hadjii Hand is seeing his
dreams play out on the big
screen.
Hand wrote the script for
“Somebodies” five years ago
in addition to several
others, but after several
revisions, “Somebodies” was
the script he decided to
film.
“Writing has always been
an interest of mine since
high school,” said Hand,
who received his degree in
1998 in telecommunication
arts. “I could do without the
directing. But it just
happens when you write (a
script) you want to see that
vision (carried) out.”
“Somebodies” is a come
dy about the coming of age
of a young college student,
and although the film is
running in the festival cir
cuits, it isn’t in wide release.
The tale may relate to
the lives of many college
students, but Hand makes
it known the movie is not
about him.
“Somebodies” was filmed
entirely in Athens and fea
tures local talents including
professional comedians and
some of the University’s
own. Shooting for the film
started in October 2004 and
lasted three weeks.
With a deep history in
motion picture production,
Pamela Kohn, a program
specialist at the Grady
College of Journalism and
Mass Communication, and
her husband Nate Kohn, a
telecommunications profes
sor, both co-produced the
work and were deeply
involved in the film’s devel
opment.
“(Shooting the film) was
great and very easygoing,”
Pamela Kohn said. “He had
a real sense of want he
wanted to do. Being the
writer, director and per
former, he had a lot to jug
gle, but he managed it
incredibly well.”
Telecommunications pro
fessor Dwight Brooks said
he remembers reading the
initial script of
“Somebodies” and has seen
its progress from script to
film.
>- See FILM, Page 10
Donor threatens lawsuit
over Foundation funds
By SARA PAUFF
spauff@randb.com
A University alumnus and
donor said Thursday he would
take legal action against the
University Foundation if his
contribution was turned over
to a new cooperative organiza
tion.
“As a donor of a fund, I’m
very interested in who the
stewards of that fund are,”
said Robert Miller, who start
ed a fund in 1984 used by the
Honors Program for summer
projects. The fund has since
grown to about $200,000,
he said.
Miller said he sent an
e-mail to the Foundation,
informing the body of his deci
sion a few days after the
Board of Regents instructed
the University to sever ties
with its fundraising arm and
form a new cooperative
organization.
He said he would be very
concerned if the endowment
were turned over to the
people who he said misspent
money in the 2003 audit of
University President Michael
Adams’ expenditures.
The audit mostly found
fault with Foundation
policies over Adams’ use of its
funds.
Miller’s e-mail about possi
ble litigation was cited as the
reason for closing a meeting of
the Foundation Board of
Trustees Wednesday.
Although trustees declined
to discuss what happened at
the meeting, Trustee Otis
Brumby, publisher of the
Marietta Daily Journal, has
said he didn’t think the threat
of a lawsuit was imminent and
that the closed-door discus
sion got off subject.
► See FOUNDATION. Page 5
Reed sets political sights high
By BRIAN McDEARMON
mcdearmon@randb.com
His Republican backers
know him as a great boon to
the GOP — a brilliant political
strategist who has served his
party loyally.
Democrats know him as a
cut-throat ideologue, who sees
the seat of lieutenant governor
as the first rung on the politi
cal ladder to the White House.
Since he graduated from
the University in 1985, Ralph
Reed has been a prominent
player in the state and nation
al political scene, and next
year, Georgians will decide if
he will succeed Mark Taylor as
the next lieutenant governor.
Four years after earning a
bachelor’s in history, he was
tapped by Pat Robertson to be
the political
pointman
for his faith-
based inter
est group.
Reed
said during
his stint as
leader of the
Christian
Coalition,
he used the
same face-
t o - f a c e
brand of
politicking he practiced as a
student leader on campus.
“I really learned grassroots
right here,” Reed said of his
days as chairman of the
College Republicans when he
manned tables in front of
Memorial Hall, signing up
students to support Reagan in
his bid against then-president
Jimmy Carter.
Reed led the Christian
Coalition for eight out of the 16
years since its formation, and
today, with millions of mem
bers nationwide, it is a heavy
weight among Washington
special interest groups.
Among the “victories”
listed on the Christian
Coalition’s Web site
(www.cc.org) is the defeat of
a bill that included a “pro
abortion” amendment.
Getting a vote on an
amendment outlawing same-
sex marriage and passing a bill
giving states the choice
of displaying the Ten
Commandments in public
buildings are among its goals
for the next session.
► See REED, Page 5
REED
Dogs improve focus, confidence
EMILY CRAWFORD | The Red & Black
a Left-handed pitcher Mickey Westphal pitches
during Wednesday night’s 11-8 victory over Georgia
Tech at Turner Field in Atlanta.
By DAVID PITTMAN
dpittman@randb.com
Head baseball coach David
Perno isn’t calling his team’s
performance over the last
week a turnaround just yet.
However, he admits his
team is playing better than it
had earlier in the season.
Georgia upset No. 7
Georgia Tech 11-8 Wednesday
night at Turner Field in
Atlanta. And even though the
team won only one of three
games at No. 21 Ole Miss over
the weekend, Perno said after
wards he felt it was the best
three games his team has
played all season.
The Bulldogs led in the
ninth inning of all the games.
On Friday and Saturday, Ole
Miss scored two runs in the
bottom of the ninth inning in
both games to win.
Georgia now must turn its
attention to No. 13 Alabama
when it travels to Tuscaloosa,
Ala., for a three game series
starting tonight at 7:30
through Sunday.
Perno said the team is
playing with more urgency,
focus and confidence.
“It’s an attitude. It’s a men
tality. It’s nothing other than
success breeds confidence,”
Perno said. “When you go out
there and play well or play at a
high level, that breeds confi
dence. And I guess they’ve got
a different air of confidence
BASEBALL
vs. Alabama
When: Tonight at 7:30
Where: Sewell-Thomas Stadium
about them that we haven’t
had.”
>- See BASEBALL, Page 11
News: 2 | Opinions: 4 | Variety: 7 | Sports: 11
INSIDE TODAY
Crossword: 5