Newspaper Page Text
8A Wednesday, December 5, 2018
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
NATION
Man says he will
prove he didn’t kill
Michael Jordan’s dad
CHARLES BENNETT I Associated Press
Chicago Bulls’ Michael Jordan serves his father, James,
a slice of birthday cake as his mother, Doloris, watches
during a party in honor of Jordan’s 26th birthday in
Chicago, III., Feb. 17, 1989.
BY MARTHA WAGGONER
Associated Press
LUMBERTON, N.C. —
For more than 25 years,
the man identified as the
triggerman in the death of
Michael Jordan’s father
has repeatedly declared his
innocence in the murder.
Now he’s going before a
judge to lay out evidence he
says proves that although he
helped dispose of the body,
he didn’t kill James Jordan
in the early-morning dark
ness one July day in 1993.
“I had nothing to do with
this man losing his life,
period. I wasn’t connected
to the murder. I came in
after he was already dead.
... The way I look at it is: I
denied his family the right
to a proper burial because
of what I did,” Daniel Green
said last week in an inter
view at the Lumberton
Correctional Institution in
Robeson County, the same
county where Jordan was
killed.
Jordan was killed July 23,
1993. His body was found 11
days later in a South Caro
lina swamp. It wasn’t iden
tified until dental records
confirmed it was James
Jordan. His body had been
cremated except for his
jaw and hands, which were
saved for identification.
On Wednesday, Green
goes to court, where defense
attorney Chris Mumma
and prosecutors from the
state attorney’s general
office will argue whether
he deserves an evidentiary
hearing that could lead to a
new trial. Mumma says this
is the first time a judge will
hear all evidence gathered
by the defense. The state
Court of Appeals upheld his
conviction in 1996, as did the
state Supreme Court in 1999.
Green was convicted of
first-degree murder. His
friend, Larry Demery, tes
tified that Green pulled the
trigger and killed Jordan
in a roadside robbery gone
wrong. Both are serving life
sentences.
Green, 44, was 18 when
Jordan was killed. He’s
probably best remembered
for a video in which he
rapped while wearing an
NBA All-Star ring and gold
watch that Michael Jordan
gave to his father. Green
says he got the j ewelry while
disposing of the body.
Superior Court Judge
Winston Gilchrist will hear
the arguments in Lee County
court in Sanford. Defense
filings make various claims.
Several people say they saw
Green at a family cookout at
the time Jordan was killed.
Other issues deal with blood-
evidence testimony, the
handling of Jordan’s shirt,
and ineffective trial and
appellate counsel.
Green said Demery left
the cookout to meet some
one for a drug deal and
he refused an invitation
to accompany Demery.
Green said he was just out
of prison for a conviction
that was later vacated, and a
girl “was kissing on” him so
there was no way he’d aban
don that opportunity.
Demery returned hours
later, Green said, and told
him he approached Jor
dan at a motel parking lot
because he mistakenly
thought Jordan was the drug
connection he was supposed
to meet. He said Demery
told him the two had an
altercation and Demery
killed Jordan.
If that’s true, then much
of what people think they
know about the murder is
wrong, starting with the
notion that James Jordan
was killed as he slept in his
parked Lexus along Inter
state 95.
“I don’t think anybody
knows the truth about what
happened to James Jordan
— the state or the defense,”
Mumma said.
Attorney Hugh Rogers,
who represented Demery,
said no physical evidence
tied either man to the
shooting.
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(CE
Should there be a social
media check to get a gun?
BY MICHAEL HILL f
Associated Press
MIKE HILL I Associated Press
In this photo taken from a video shot on Nov. 28, Mike
Carnevale places his hand on the back of Mark Hennesey
while instructing him at the American Tactical Systems’
indoor range in Green Island, New York.
ALBANY, N.Y. — Should
hateful tweets keep you from
getting a gun?
That’s a question many
have asked after suspects in
several horrific mass shoot
ings were found only later
to have left social media
hints of violence that went
unheeded for years. Now
a New York lawmaker has
introduced a bill that would
require police to scrutinize
the social media and online
searches of handgun license
applicants, and disqualify
those who publish violent or
hate-filled posts.
“We certainly want to
make sure we’re putting
weapons in the hands of the
right people and keeping
them out of the hands of the
wrong people,” said state
Sen. Kevin Parker, a Brook
lyn Democrat who added he
was inspired to act after the
Pittsburgh synagogue shoot
ing suspect left social media
rants that Jews were “chil
dren of Satan.”
Free-speech watchdogs
and even some gun-control
advocates have already
raised concerns about the
bill, which would require
handgun applicants to turn
over login information to
allow investigators to look at
three years’ worth of Face-
book, Snapchat, Twitter and
Instagram posts. Google,
Yahoo and Bing searches
over the previous year also
would be checked.
Licenses could be denied if
investigators uncover threats
of violence or terrorism or
the use of racial or ethnic
slurs.
Parker’s bill comes as
people are increasingly wary
about their online lives being
tracked. But social postings
are commonly checked
by everyone from human
resource workers to police
officers. A survey of more
than 550 police departments
several years ago by the
International Association of
Chiefs of Police found more
than half use social media for
listening or monitoring and
three-quarters of them use it
for intelligence.
While the prospects of
Parker’s bill passing are
uncertain, he has already
succeeded at one of his
goals of creating “fodder
for discussion,” including
pushback.
Tom King, president of
New York State Rifle and
Pistol Association, the state’s
NRA affiliate, said the bill
would be the beginning of
“the slippery slope of tak
ing away your First Amend
ment” free speech rights.
At the American Tactical
Systems gun range, a short
drive from New York’s Capi
tol, gun owners called the
proposal unnecessary and
intrusive.
“I don’t think the govern
ment should have access to
anybody’s history, especially
for pistol permits,” Steve
Wohlleber, who works at the
range. “And the state police
have enough to worry about
besides checking everyone’s
social media.”
David Pucino, a staff attor
ney at the Giffords Law Cen
ter to Prevent Gun Violence,
said that while he shared the
legislator’s goals, he thought
there were better alterna
tives, such as another bill that
would create a court order of
protection to bar people con
sidered dangerous from pos
sessing or buying guns.
Civil rights attorney Nor
man Siegel said he believes
bill language directing police
to consider “commonly
known profane slurs or
biased language” is too broad
to pass constitutional muster.
“A person could be preju
diced,” Siegel said. “That
doesn’t mean he’s not enti
tled to his Second Amend
ment right.”
On a practical level, the
measure would mean more
work for police in New
York who already check the
criminal and mental health
histories of handgun license
applicants.
Albany County Sheriff
Craig Apple, whose depart
ment processes a few hun
dred applications every year,
said “it’s definitely going
to bog things down a bit”
in a licensing process that
already can take from 120
days to a year to complete.
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