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ATHENS, GA 30602-
‘
Carolina and The CSRA
May 6-12, 2004 Vol. 23, No. 1158
.
Purdues failed
- homework
- assignment
According to Lt. Gov.
- Mark Taylor the state
~'is in shambles and if
_ Georgians are to get
- any relief Republican
- Govw. Purdue must
- read the “How to be a
‘Governor” manual.
Page 3A
Pass the buck
Those accused of
torturing Iraqi prison
~ ers say they were only
following orders while
top officials say those
- implicated acted
alone. Burt according
to one U.S. Senator
. the abuse runs farther
and deeper. Page
_ Bittersweet
“victory
o anice eil
arrived for Marcus
- Dixon with the over
tuming of his 10 year
prison sentence but
- with so many laws on
~ -against black males,
how many other Mar
- «us Dixons are currently
PageßA
ARTBEAT
~ Love gone awry
Oscar award win
~ ning actress Halle
~ Berry and R&B
crooner Eric Benet are
officially calling it
quits. Berry recently
~ filed for divorce in a
Los Angeles Superior
_-Court Page 1B
- Job well done!
-and community activist
\been named as the VA
‘Medical Center’s
employee of month.
INDEX
ARTbeat .......... 1B
City/Regi0n......3A
Happenings ....2B
wmumm
Court overturns
SeX crime sentence
By MARK NIESSE
Associated Press Writer
ATLANTA (AP) -The Georgia Supreme Court on
Monday, May 3 overturned an imprisoned black high
school football player’s conviction and 10-year prison
sentence for having consensual sex with a younger
white classmate. :
The court ruled 18-year-old Marcus Dixon should
have been prosecuted just with the lesser charge of
misdemeanor statutory rape rather than also aggravat
ed child molestation for having sex with the 15-year
old girl at their high school.
Aggravated child molestation comes with a manda
tory decade-long sentence in Georgia.
Dixon has claimed he was targeted with a throw
away law because he’s a black man who had sex with
a white girl. His case drew national media coverage
and protests from the NAACP.
Dixon was a high school senior a year ago when he
was acquitted on rape charges but found guilty of
aggravated child molestation.
In its 4-3 decision, the Georgia Supreme Court
didn’t rule on whether the 10-year sentence was cruel
James Brown statue on ice
e N
Photo by Theresa Minor
A miniature replica of the James Brown statue which was
presented to the “Godfather of Soul” during a November,
2003 biock party in his honor.
Beard, Kitchens launch District 1 bids
By HALEY A. DUNBAR
Augusta Focus Staff Writer
Two women will make a
bid for the District 1 com
mission seat in the July 20
special election. One,
incumbent Commissioner
Betty Beard, jump-started
her campaign with the fan
fare of a barbeque fundraiser
complete with a parade of
supporters touting her mer
its. The other, newcomer
Pam Kitchens, began her
effort with a quiet trip to the
municipal building to pay
the $419.07 qualifying fee.
Although varying in their
approaches to announce
their intentions, both
women say they have what it
takes to serve the District 1
constituency.
“In me you will have that
independent voice that says
we want a better way of life,”
Beard told a room of some
200 supporters gathered at
the Julian Smith Casino Pit.
The event, held the night
before the District 1 Com
missioner qualified, featured
speeches from many offi
TIR I IR R R RN~
Subscribe to the Augusta Focus, Call (706) 722-4222, extension 225
See Court page 12A
cials, including Rep. Henry
Howard and six county
commissioners
“This lady may have just
joined the commission four
months ago but she has been
involved with the decision
making process of this gov
ernment for years. She
stood faithfully by her hus
band, Lee, and always knew
what was going on with this
body and with the people of
this city. She is committed
to the same causes that he
was,” said Williams.
His sentiments were
echoed repeatedly in the
remarks of other Beard sup
porters who all championed
the idea of her “continuing
the legacy of her late hus
band”, Commissioner Lee
Beard. Beard was appointed
to her husband’s seat in Jan
uary after he succumbed to a
brief battle with cancer — a
fact that Rep. Howard said
should be enough to keep
Kitchens from vying for the
position.
“What kind of person
would run against this still
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(AP Photo/Rome News-Tribune, William T. Martin)
Marcus Dixon is surrounded by wellwishers and media as he
leaves the Fioyd County Jail in Rome, Ga., Monday, May 3,
2004. Dixon’s release on his own recognizance came about
10 hours after Georgia’s highest court threw out the 10-year
prison sentence that followed his sexual encounter with an
underage girl.
By THERESA MINOR
Augusta Focus Staff Writer
Just six short months
ago, city officials couldn’t
praise recording legend,
James Brown enough as
he was about to be hon
ored for his “lifetime
achievements at the
Kennedy Center. Now,
the same officials are
apparently reneging on a
statue in Brown’s honor.
The statue was sup
posed to be unveiled on
Friday, May 7 as a birth
day tribute. Brown turned
71 this month. However,
Mayor Bob Young now
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grieving woman trying to fill
the seat of her deceased hus
band?” he asked. “That per
son doesnt even deserve to
have her name mentioned
and in fact, when you go to
the polls don’t even look at
that other name.”
But ‘that other name’, a
local accountant and finan
cial consultant, says her bid
for the seat has long been in
the works and had the late
Commissioner Beard com
pleted his term she would
have run against him next
year. Kitchens explained
that her decision to run
. FIFTY CENTS
says that has been put on
hold. Quoted in an Asso
ciated Press article Young
states, “We need to let
Mr. Brown settle those
issues in his private life
before we move forward
with a very public recog
nition of his professional
life.”
The mayor is referring
to the domestic abuse case
pending against Brown
after he allegedly hit his
wife during a Jan. 28 inci
dent. Since the $40,000
cost of the statue was
raised through private
donations, county com
missioners say their hands
U TS
L
Betty Beard
came in part from the prod
ding of members of the Old
Towne Association and oth
ers in the downtown com
munity who believe they
deserve better.
“A lot of us are not real
happy with the way the
commission has chosen to
ignore the Ist District.
There are abandoned build
ings all over the area and
those affect us all. The drug
traffic and other crimes that
take place in those properties
have a lot of elderly people
afraid to sit on their own
front porches. The laws on
Law under
scrutiny after
Dixon ruling
By THERESA MINOR
Augusta Focus Staff Writer
The state Supreme Court
reversal of the Marcus Dixon
aggravated child molestation
conviction is fueling debate
over Georgias sex crime laws.
In throwing out the convic
ton, Chief Justice Norman
Fletcher suggested that the
state’s sex crime laws were
vague and in need of revamp
ing — and that as the Dixon
case pointed out —the legisla
tion could lead to felony con
viction of teens who engage in
consensual sex.
Local attorney and former
state representative, Ben Allen,
says he warned lawmakers of
the potential conflict while
serving in the legislature.
“I think the legislature needs
to walk carefully in crafting
criminal legislation that deal
with youth,” Allen said. “It
See Law page 12A
are tied.
“The commission didn’t
rescind anything in terms
of our role in the statue,”
said County Commission
er Willie Mays. “The only
part we played was to
okay the location and we
have not taken that back.
In terms of the process
being put on hold, that is
the decision of the mayor
and the private donors
who raised the funds for
the statue.”
Meanwhile, Young says
that the statue is behind
schedule and will take at
least another six weeks to
complete.
the books regarding aban
doned properties need to be
enforced,” she said.
Kitchéns asserts that the
view from Commissioner
Beard’s condominium over
looking the Savannah River,
while in District 1, is not the
same view she and her
neighbors have from their
homes on 3rd, Walker and
surrounding streets. The
problem got so serious a few
months ago that she paid
two off-duty narcotics offi
cers to patrol a hot spot for
drug activity on Walker
Street. In two weekends, she
says, they arrested 40 people.
Admittedly, she has an
uphill battle ahead of her but
Kitchens says that even if she
doesn’t win the election, she
hopes to have pushed her
districts problems to the
forefront.
“Regardless of how things
turn out in July, I win. Itfsa
win-win situation,” she said.
Contact Haley A. Dunbar
at HDunbar@AugustaFo
cus.com.