Newspaper Page Text
Monday, November 11
THE MAROON TIGER
PAGE 4
Womack Granted Bail but will Face Second Trial
By Saeed Ahmed
Staff Writer
After almost a year in
prison, Hajj Womack is finally
free — at least for now.
The 23-year-old
Morehouse alumnus and
honor student was released on
bail October 31, days after a
Fulton County jury acquitted
him on 73 felony counts.
Womack, however, faces a
second trial early next year on
three deadlocked charges.
Prosecuting Attorney
Shawn LaGrua, who earlier
said she will oppose all
appeals for bail, expressed
disappointment at Womack's
release, but said she will 'most
definitely' re-try him.
"I'm not going to let this
go," LaGrua said. "I believe
Mr. Womack is a dangerous
individual, and I owe it to the
community to try him again."
But at least one jury
member has said the evidence
against Womack is "flimsy"
and a second attempt will
only result in another mistrial.
"We deliberated the same
FILE
Free on bail, Morehouse
alumnus is now awaiting a
second trial to prove his
innocence.
issues over and over, but
neither the prosecution nor
the defense presented enough
evidence to sway us in any
particular direction," said the
juror, who did not wished to
be named. "If the case is tried
again, the outcome will be
same — a mistrial. There
simply isn't enough
evidence."
Indeed, the case against
Womack — who is charged in
a series of robberies which the
State claims were carried out
to stockpile weapons for a
religious "gang," the Five
Percent Nation — is based
primarily on the testimony of
his one-time roommate Roy
Norwood.
Norwood, who faces over
350 years in 17 armed robbery
charges, plea bargained for a
sentence of seven years and in
exchange testified that
Womack participated in some
robberies with him. In
subsequent testimonies,
however, Norwood
contradicted himself several
times.
And with the absence of
witnesses and physical
evidence against Womack, the
bi-racial jury of 7 whites and 5
blacks had little to go with for
a conviction.
The three unresolved
charges that remain are two
counts of armed robbery and
aggravated assault relating to
a December 4,1994, holdup of
a Kroger store, and one count
of gang conspiracy.
During the trial, the store
manager for Kroger identified
Womack as being in the store
minutes before the robbery,
and Womack himself admitted
he and other Five Percenters
had talked about robbing drug
dealers but denied carrying
out any robberies.
But Womack's attorney,
George Lawson, said these
facts alone do not make him
guilty.
"There still is no evidence
to suggest he conspired to or
committed the robbery, "
Lawson said. "They say they
found books on guerilla
warfare in Hajj's room, but
books don't rob people.
There's not a book being
charged with robbing [here]."
For now, Womack is
planning to start work with
the Journal of Negro History at
Morehouse, and is anxiously
awaiting the re-trail.
"His frustration is
understandable — he wants
all of this to be done with,"
said Alton Hornsby, Womack's
mentor and Chair of the
Morehouse History
Department. "But he is
confident as he has always
been. He knows he is innocent
and he knows his innocence
will be vindicated."
“If the case is tried again, the outcome will be same — a
mistrial. There simply isn’t enough evidence. ”
— A juror who did not wish to be named.
'The Student Government Association is Closed Until Further Notice'
By Obinna Eze Lewis
Contributing Writer
As election day came to a
close, so did the operations of
the SGA. The half-dozen signs
posted outside the SGA offices
read: "The SGA is closed until
further notice. No
reimbursements or class/
organizations appropriations
will be processed. All student
grievances should be forwarded
to the Student Senate @ Box 127.
No one in [the] SGA will return
to these offices until further
notice."
These actions follow a
November 5 Senate meeting at
which senators, in an almost
unanimous vote, passed a
motion made by Representative
Ken Newby "to rescind the
approval of all activities, events,
and release of funds initiated by
the Executive Board of the SGA
until a budget has been
presented to the Student Senate
for proper consideration."
However, Newby points out
that his motion "doesn't impede
any student organization or the
Student Senate from conducting
business as normal."
Michael Young, a senator
who voted against the motion,
disagrees. He believes that
"[the Student Senate] is creating
extreme stagnation" as a result
of its actions. Rod Hardamon,
SGA Chief of Staff, concurs with
the above sentiment, suggesting
that the Senate's motion places
the SGA in a catch-22. "We
would submit a budget, but
[now] we can't," states
Hardamon.
In a report by Senate
Appropriations Chair Ike
Ummunah, he lambasted the
SGA for not cooperating with
the Senate's investigation of
Homecoming.
After the
report, Senate
Chair David
Bullock
attempted to
halt the
Appropriations
Committee's
investigation,
suggesting
that the matter should be
investigated by the Senate
Ethics Committee.
But when Senators
realized that Bullock had
appointed himself Chair of the
Ethics Committee as well as
head of the investigation, they
stood by Ummunah's
proceedings. In response to
accusations of a conflict of
interest between his roles as
Chair of the Senate, Vice
President of the SGA, Chair of
the Ethics Committee, and
proposed Chair of the SGA
investigation, Bullock
responds, "I think it was fair ...
as President of the Senate I
have that sole right."
What is clear, however, is
that the Student Senate has the
power to investigate the
matters at hand. Article VI,
Section 11 of the Student
Constitution gives the Senate
the power to "initiate any
investigation it deems
necessary and direct all
findings to the Student Court
for consideration." Similarly,
section 12 of the same article
states, "All proposed
expenditures from the SGA
account must be presented to
the Senate for consideration."
The Senate became equally
enraged when SGA President
Antonio Johnson
unsuccessfully attempted to
replace Senate Appropriations
Chair Ike Ummunah with Jason
Duncan, a Freshman
Representative who serves on
the Appropriations Committee.
Johnson explains, "We are
trying to do a diligent job of
selecting the best possible
people." However, Duncan
was never consulted or advised
of the nomination, nor did he
request to be placed in the
position. "I was just as
surprised as any of the other
Senators," states Duncan.
Duncan asserts further that
he would not have been a
puppet of the SGA if he had
been elected to the position.
"Some questions truly do need
to be answered concerning the
unchecked spending of student
funds by the
Executive
Branch of the
SGA," contends
the discarded
Appropriations
Chair nominee.
Aaron Chilton,
Honors
Program
Senator,
concurs, "I think that there are
things going on that I should
know about as a Senator and
the whole student body should
know about."
SGA President Antonio
Johnson initially responded to
the mounting tension between
the SGA Executive Board and
Student Senate with anger and
frustration. "I'm on leave. That
means that when they [the
Senators] decide to act like
adults, then we can talk. I
cannot submit a damn budget
until the Board of Trustee
Meeting," he bellowed.
However, later that night,
a more collected and reserved
Antonio Johnson pointed out
that he did turn over copies of
the SGA's proposed $515,693
budget to Senate Chair David
Bullock during the course of the
same November 5th Senate
meeting. It was Bullock's
decision not to present the
documents to the full Senate,
contends Johnson.
Students had very negative
words for the SGA regarding
the whole matter. Michael
Ford, a Junior Psychology
Major, states, "We shouldn't
need to force the SGA to reveal
things that should be public
knowledge. This makes
students lose faith in their
leadership." Damion Jones, a
Senior Psychology Major,
states, "The SGA is here to
serve the students. How does
closing their offices help to
serve the students?"
In the end, the Senators
who passed the motion stood
firmly by their actions. Paul
Winfield, Senator for three
organizations, sums up the
attitude of most of the Senators
present, "I feel the SGA's
Executive Board has gone
power crazy. They have totally
overruled the Senate as often as
possible. They have tried to
take our elected officials out of
office, and put in the people
they want to see. They have
totally run over our
Appropriations Committee
with regard to homecoming,
and I feel that enough is
enough."
“We shouldn’t need to force the
SGA to reveal things that should
be public knowledge. This
makes students loose faith in
their leadership. ”