Newspaper Page Text
Andrae Crouch
charged with
cocaine possession
Page 1
Angus ta News - Keut eui
Volume 12 Number 33
Man, 24, marries woman, 83;
Publicity lands him in jail
CARLETON, Mi.—Curtis Petty
was basking in the limelight with his
new bride—a woman 59 years his
senior—whom he married Oct. 15.
But as the couple made the
newspapers, law enforcement of
ficials were raising their eyebrows.
On Thursday, Nov. 2, Petty, the
lovebird, became a jailbird.
Petty, 24, and his bride Mary, 83,
were the subjects of a Detroit Free
Press story and photographs
published Nov. 2. They were pictured
hugging and cuddling in Mrs. Petty’s
home in Carelton in Southeast
Michigan.
Andrae Crouch jailed on cocaine charge
Grammy Award-winning gospel
singer Andrae Crouch was arrested
early Friday and booked for in
vestigation of possession of cocaine,
authorities said.
Crouch, 40, a five-time Grammy
winner, was stopped about 2 a.m. on
the Marina Freeway in Marina del
Rey by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s
deputies who said he was travelling
“in a very erratic manner,” said Sgt.
Was race a key factor in
of Tom Bradley in California?
There were about 500,000
Democrats and independents who
voted for Republican George Deuk
mejian for governor last Tuesday, not
so much because they were for him
but because they were against
Democrat Tom Bradley.
In a race that is decided by 52,295
Mercury Morris convicted
for trafficking cocaine
Eugene “Mercury” Morris, former
star running back for the National
Football League’s Miami Dolphins,
was convicted last week on one count
of trafficking cocaine and two counts
of possession of the drug.
In a surprise move co-defendant,
Vincent Cord, announced Tuesday
that he was pleading guilty and will
testify against Morris. In exchange
for his testimony, Cord will have all
but one charge against him dropped.
Morris’ defense attorney, Ron
Strauss, said the turn of events was a
shock to him and Morris. He
requested a mistrial, but Circuit
Court Judge Ellen Gables said no.
“Co-defendants flip all the time.
You know it and I know it,” she told
Strauss.
Morris and a third co-defendant,
Edgar Kulins are charged with con
spiracy, trafficking, selling and
possessing cocaine. Cord was also
facing the same charges, now he is
only charged with delivering the
Naturally, the story gained a lot of
attention. Monroe County authorities
were especially interested.
They identified Petty as an accused
walkaway from a halfway house in
nearby Monroe where he was serving
a 2-to-15-year sentence for breaking
and entering a neighbor’s house.
One of the witnesses who had
testified against Petty at his 1980 trial
was none other than the woman he
married a month ago, Mary Hillman
Petty.
“It was the same man,” county
probation and parole supervisor Tom
Moyer said in comparing Petty to the
Steve Finley.
A small amount of white powder
and a five-inch plastic straw were
found in the car, Finley said.
“It was 0.05 grams of cocaine,”
Finley said Friday afternoon. “It’s
already been tested, and it’s
positive.”
Crouch was jailed, but was later
released on $2,500 bond, Finley said.
votes out of 7.5 million cast, any
number of reasons can be advanced
for the outcome.
Was it because Bradley is black and
a significant number of Californians
rejected him on racial grounds?
A Times survey of more than 2,940
voters as they left the polling place
cocaine to Morris.
For more than five hours Brinson
identified tape recordings of conver
sations he had with Morris to pur
chase two kilos of cocaine for
$120,000.
The deal to purchase a pound of
cocaine for $29,000 was set for Aug.
18 at the home of Morris, whose
speed and agility dazzled Dolphin
football fans for years. On that day
Brinson weighed the cocaine in
Morris’ bedroom. He then took the
cocaine to his car in order to give
Morris the money for the sale. But
when he began to count the money
sirens began to wail, he testified.
Before the police arrived, Brinson
said Morris took the brown bag con
taining the cocaine out of the trunk of
the car and threw it across a fence and
into a canal.
Morris is expected to testify at his
trial, and when he takes the stand “he
will tell the truth,” Strauss said.
Miles Davis wed
to two wives
at the same time?
Page 3
newspaper picture.
Petty was arrested promptly and
taken to the county jail for a correc
tions department hearing for “major
misconduct.” If found guilty, he
could be returned to a halfway house
or “to what we would call a more
secure institution,” Moyer said.
County prosecutor Micheal Labeau
said his office was looking into
possible prosecution for escape, but
added no determination will be made
until the case has been reviewed.
Moyer said it is not hard to escape
the Monroe halfway house. Petty was
sent there in May 1980 after serving
Because the bond is preset for the
charge, the singer did not have to ap
pear before a judge, Finley said.
“We’re not making any comment
right now because he doesn’t have an
attorney, and we want to make sure
everything is done right,” said
Crouch’s spokesman, Ramone Hir
vey. “It doesn’t make sense for him
to try to defend himself now...until I
hear from an attorney.”
sought to investigate.
Here is how it went:
The Los Angeles Times Poll —con-
ducted under the direction of LA.
Lewis—discovered that 33 percent of
the electorate were Democrats who
voted for Bradley, and 32 percent
were Republicans who voted for
Deukmejian—the so-called straight
party-line vote.
Fifteen percent of the electorate
were Republicans and independents
who voted for Bradley, and 17 per
cent were Democrats and indepen
dents who voted for Deuk
mejian—the so-called crossover vote.
In sum, Deukmejian got 49 percent
of the total vote, Bradley 48 percent.
Three percent went for the minor
party candidates.
But what is important is the break
down of those crossover votes.
Os the Democrats and independen
ts who went for Deukmejian, 8 per
cent said they felt the government was
doing too much for blacks and other
minorities.
Conversely, of the Republicans and
independents who went for Bradley, 5
percent said they felt the government
was giving too little attention to
blacks and minorities.
That 3 percent difference, possibly
the difference between pro-black and
anti-black voters, could account for
200,000 votes, more than enought to
reverse the winner and loser.
The survey found that the most
significant group were those non-
Republicans—the Democrats and in
dependents—who said they were
motivated more by the desire to vote
against someone, rather than for their
_____ Usta
Tom Bradley
defeated by
anti-black vote
Page 1
November 20,1982
about four months of his sentence at
Southern Michigan Prison at
Jackson.
“You just walk away. It is a prison
though. It’s considered a prison by
Michigan law,” he said.
Curtis and Mary Petty have known
each other since he was 11 and his
family lived two houses from her
home. She told the Free Press they
became romantically involved when
he was painting her fence.
The couple said they eloped Oct. 15
to Toledo, Ohio.
(From The Afro-American)
Hirvey would not say where
Crouch was Friday, and there was no
telephone listing for the singer in
Woodland Hills, where he lives.
Last February, Crouch won a
Grammy Award in the category of
best contemporary soul gospel per
formance for his album Don’t Give
Up. He also won Grammys in 1976,
1979, 1980 and 1981 for his contem
porary gospel recordings.
defeat
ultimate choice.
In other words, those who first
rejected Bradley and then turned to
Deukmejian.
That group amounted to about
500,000 voters, or about 7 percent of
the total vote cast for governor. What
kind of people were they? •
More male than the electorate as a
whole, much more Anglo, more in
the income bracket of $25,000 a year
and above than the whole electorate,
more from Los Angeles County and
from Northern California, excluding
the Bay Area.
They identified themselves largely
in the middle-of-the-road ideological
category.
And there is one more significant
factor: Almost half the 500,000 said
they own handguns, whereas only one
in three of the total electorate fits that
category.
And about 50 percent of them said
crime was the most important issue in
the race, compared to 44 percent who
gave that answer among the whole
electorate.
So there was a disproportionate
number who owned handguns and
who felt crime was the most impor
tant issue.
Next, 61 percent of them said they
believe government pays too much at
tention to blacks and other
minorities. That compares to only 33
percent among the entire electorate.
And 79 percent of them voted
against Proposition 15, the handgun
control initiative, which was soundly
defeated Tuesday. That compares to
the 58 percent margin by which the
measure was defeated.
(From The Los Angeles Times)
Less than 75 percent Advertising
Shameful policy ends
We were delighted that the
Augusta National Golf Club
has finally changed its caddy
policy which had the effect
of creating and perpetuating
a plantation image of black
people at the Masters. This
was particularly true prior to
1975 when Lee Elder became
the first black ever to play in
the Masters Tournment.
Prior to that time all the
golfers were white. All the
caddies were black. It projec
ted blacks as servants in an
international event. It was
strictly Old South. To the
few black spectators at the
tournament it was both
striking and humiliating.
And there was no
justification for it. The
Augusta National forbade
golfers from using their own
caddies. They had to use
local caddies and the caddies
that were hired were always
Elect Gaskins
When Henry Howard lost
his bid to be elected to the
Richmond County Board of
Commissioners, it was ob
vious that that was a great
loss to the black community.
We think that —at this
point—it will be an even
greater loss if we don’t
return to the polls to elect
Bill Gaskins to the county
commission.
Had Howard lost and
Gaskins won, we believe that
Tuskegee mayor is
league speaker
Johnny L. Ford, mayor of
Tuskegee, Ala., will be the guest
speaker at the 12th annual Awards
Banquet of the CSRA Business
League Nov. 19 at 7 p.m.
The banquet will be held at the
Augusta Hilton Convention Center
on Ellis Street.
A najive of Tuskegee, Ford was
elected the first black mayor in
Tuskegee’s history in 1972. He was
re-elected mayor in 1976 and in 1980.
He is the president of the National
Conference of Black Mayors and
chairman of Operation PUSH’S
negotiating team to insure fair trade
between the black community and
corporate America.
In 1972 he founded the Alabama
Conference of Black Mayors which
eventually became the National Con
ference of Black Mayors.
A 1964 graduate of Knoxville
College, Ford earned a master’s
degree from Auburn University. He is
a member of Kappa Alpha Psi
Fraternity, the Free and Accepted
Prince Hall Masons, and the Booker
Iy Morris
convicted for
trafficking drugs
Page 1
Editorials
888 l * mb
Johnny L. Ford
T. Washington Elks Lodge, and he
became a campaign strategist for the
late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy.
After Kennedy’s assassination, he
returned to Tuskegee to coordinate
that city’s Model Cities Program
before launching his own political
career.
black.
Black people rarely spoke
out against the policy
because caddies would
sometimes pick up as much
as $5,000 for the week’s
work. And few people wan
ted to be responsible of
depriving them of that op
portunity. With unem
ployment the way it is no one
would want to see these men
out of work.
We are happy to learn that
the caddies —who will be
replaced by the golfers’ own
caddies —will be employed in
other jobs at the Augusta
National.
It was very noticeable to us
that no one mentioned the
racial factor in the rule
change, and that is not sur
prising. However, it was a
policy that never should have
been enacted, and we are
glad to see it go.
we still would have had a
person on the commission
whose philosophy would be
consistent with the goals of
the black community.
Should Gaskins lose, we
don’t believe that we would
have a voice on the com
mission.
We can elect Bill Gaskins.
But it will be done only if we
go back to the polls in the
largest of numbers. Too much
is at stake for us to do less.