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VOLUME 16 No. 809
it’ in the WNBA
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Los Angeles Sparks’ Lisa Leslie, right, and New York Liberty’s Kym
Hampton leap for the ball during the opening tipoff during first
half of the inaugural game last Saturday, June 21, at the Great
Western Forum in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Michael Caulfield)
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Dr. Betty Shabazz, widow of Malcolm X,
speaks on the steps of City Hall in New York,
Dec. 16, 1992 as part of a rally calling for
racial harmony. aabazz, who witnessed the
assassination of her husband, Malcolm X,
and became a civil rights figure herself, died
Monday, June 23, 1997, of burns suffered in
a fire allegedly set by her 12-year-old
grandson. She was 61. (AP Photo/Ed Bailey)
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~Religion: Black churches in crisis -P6B —
Television: Blacks and Jews - They can get along - P.6A
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JAILBREAK
B Sheriff blames
overcrowding, inmate
vandalism and man
power shortages for
creating conditions
that led to jailbreak.
By Sarena James
Augusta Focus Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
As Sheriff Charles Webster stood
holding the 38-foot “rope,” made
of several discolored bed sheets
tied tightly together, and gawking
at the thin toothpick-likebarsthat
were unevenly pulled apart, he
shook his head at the movie-like
escape scheme and said, “We made
mistakes.”
Sheriff Webster pointed to the
problem of overcrowding, insuffi
cient manpower, and thetampered
and bent bars that encompassed
the crime scene.
James Phillips, Bobby Lee
Roberson, and Ernest Vaughns
escaped from the Richmond
County Law Enforcement Center
at 1:10 a.m. Monday morning. Ac
cording to Sheriff Webster, the
convicts gained access from the
Augustan in legal limbo due to poverty
By Frederick Benjamin Sr.
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
. AUGUSTA
Larry Roberson, can’t get out of
jail because he doesn’t have very
much money. But Mr. Roberson is
not just another prisoner whocan’t
King: LBJ must have known
about MLK assassination plot
B Death of civil rights
leader was part of
government conspiracy,
King family believes.
ATLANTA
(AP) A son of Martin Luther King
Jr. said he believes that his father’s
assassination was part of a govern
ment conspiracy that the late Presi
dent Lyndon B. Johnson must have
known about.
“Based on the evidence that I've
been shown, I would think that it
would be very difficult for some
thing of that magnitude to occuron
his watch and he not be privy toit,”
Boxing great
Muhammad Ali, right,
pats the head of The
Artist formerly known
as Prince and an un
pronounceable symbeol,
during a meeting in
Washington Tuesday,
June 24, 1997, prior to
a news conference
" where they were to
announce plans for a
benefit concert in
October. Money raised
from the show will be
donated to organiza
tions around the world
that promote religious
and cultural tolerance.
(AP Photo/Karin Cooper, Rogers &
JUNE 26 - JULY 2, 1997
Webster: “We messed up!”
Dexter King said Thursday on
ABC'’s Turning Point.
The program explored conspiracy
theories about King’s assassination
and also provided a surprising twist
to one theory promoted by the lawyer
for James Earl Ray, who pleaded guilty
a year after the April 1968 slaying.
Ray’slawyer, William Pepper, has
claimed that former Army Maj. Billy
Eidson was part ofa plot tokill King
and Eidson was murdered during a
cover-up. To Pepper’ssurprise, ABC
brought out Eidson and introduced
him to Pepper.
“Idon’t want toshake your hand.
I just want to look at you,” Eidson
told Pepper. He then asked Pepper
toretract statementsina 1995b00k
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3 inmate
: mischief.
cell area to the recreation room
because the lock on the door was
broken. They then tied a rope
around the bars in the recreation
room, pulled them apart, scaled
down the outside wall, and jumped
approximately 25 feet from the
second floor landing where Sheriff
Webster’s office is. Vaughns was
captured early Monday afternoon,
after a tip from his mother and
sister. As of Wednesday afternoon,
Phillips and Roberson were still
free. :
At a Monday afternoon press
conference at the Richmond
County Law Enforcement Center,
Sheriff Webster said, “We messed
up.”
A tour of the fifth floor cell area
revealed 34 pallets occupied by
inmates because of overcrowding.
make bail for whatever reason.
In Roberson’s case, he would
love the opportunity to make bail.
Although he has been in the Au
gusta-Richmond jail since March,
he has yet to appear before a judge
— with legal representation — so
that bail could be set.
that implicated Eidson in the King
slaying.
Pepper apologized for reporting
that Eidson was dead, but said his
theory hasn’t changed.
“Not only am I sticking by it, but
one of my sources is so livid ... that
he wants to come into court and
testify,” Pepper said.
Ray was sentenced to 99 years in
prison after he pleaded guilty. He
retracted his confession days later,
and has been trying to win a trial
ever since.
The King family has supported a
trial for Ray, saying they believe he
is innocent and King’s death was
probably the result of a govern
ment conspiracy.
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Three escapees jumped from the second-story landing
(above) to the bushes below (lower left). Photo by Sarena James.
“Each individual is not on lock
down in a cell,” said Webster com
menting on the fact that on the
night of the jailbreak it would not
have been unusual to see someone
wandering around. “If all these
inmates had not of been on the
floor,” said Sheriff Webster, “then
perhaps the guard would have
noticed the strange movements.”
The 340-bed jail housed more than
500 inmates on Monday.
In Mr. Roberson’s case, the sys
tem set up in the county to deal
with indigent citizens has with
ered away. The first court-ap
pointed attorney assigned to rep
resent him, told him that links to
the prosecutor’s office prevented
him from giving legal counsel. The
Deputy D. Caughman was the
guard on duty at the time of the
jailbreak. Sheriff Webster re
sponded to the criticism of having
only one guard in the watchtower.
“We can not afford to pay our
deputies overtime,” said Webster.
“If they work over a certain num
ber of hours,” continued Webster,
“we pay them back with time off.
See JAILBREAK, page 3A
next public defender told him that
he was personal friends to the cop
Mr. Roberson allegedly attacked.
His third court appointed attor
ney never stood by hissidein court,
nor did any legal legwork on his
See PRISONER, page 3A
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AUGUSTA, GA