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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 24, 1999)
Wednesday, February 24,1999 Supremacist convicted in slaying ■ John William King may get the death penalty for the 1998 dragging murder of James Byrd Jr. JASPER, Texas (AP) - A white supremacist was convicted of mur der Tuesday and could get the death penalty for chaining a black man to a pickup truck and dragging him until his body was torn to pieces in a crime that shocked the nation with its savagery. I The jury of 11 whites and one black took less than 214 hours to reach a verdict against John William King in the slaying last June of James Byrd Jr. Courtroom specta tors applauded and the victim’s rela tives broke into tears. The jury then began hearing evi dence on whether the 24-year-old laborer should get the death penalty or life in prison for one of the grisli est racial crimes in the United States since the civil rights era. “I am relieved,” said Stella Brumley, Byrd’s sister. “That’s all we wanted, was justice.” His son, Ross Byrd, said: “All I know is that there’s one down and two to go.” King was the first of three white men to go on trial in the slaying, which prosecutors said he carried out because he wanted “something dramatic” to gain credibility for a racist group he was organizing. King leaned forward when the verdict was read, shielding himself from cameras, then sat back in his chair with his fingers on his chin. One of his lawyers said King was not surprised by the verdict and considered himself the victim of a conspiracy. Byrd’s head and arm were found torn off after he was pulled nearly three miles while tied by his ankles with a 24*/2-foot logging chain. “Three robed riders coming straight out of hell - that’s exactly what there was that night,” prosecu tor Pat Hardy said in closing argu ments Tuesday. The evidence against King included a lighter engraved with a Klan symbol and King’s prison name, “Possum,” that was found along with cigarette butts at the scene; clothes stained with Byrd’s blood; letters in which King wrote 66 Three robed riders coming straight out of hell - thats exactly what there was that night." Pat Hardy prosecutor about organizing a racist gang; and King’s tattoos of a black man hang ing from a tree, cartoon characters in Klan garb, Nazi-type SS lightning bolts and Aryan power proclama tions. According to testimony, King talked with a fellow inmate a few years ago about “taking a black out” to prove himself as a white suprema cist. After his release in 1997, King tried to start a racist group, the Texas Rebel Soldiers, and was looking for an opportunity to make a name for himself, prosecutors said. King’s lawyers called only three witnesses who testified for less than an hour. King did not take the stand. His attorneys appeared to have conceded the conviction and planned to try to save his life in the punishment phase. They insisted that the racist writ ings did not prove the case against King and that the convicted burglar covered himself in racist tattoos as protection from blacks in prison. “I don’t deny he made some racial slurs,” attorney Haden “Sonny” Cribbs said. “Not that I agree with that. But that is his right.” King’s alleged accomplices, Shawn Berry, 24 and Lawrence Russell Brewer, 31, are awaiting trial and could also face the death penalty. I— Turkish government formally arrests Ocalan ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - At a secret hearing on a forbidding prison island, Turkey formally arrested the foremost Kurdish rebel leader on trea son charges Tuesday, paving the way for trial by a security tribunal. . Prosecutors said they would seek the death penalty. Abdullah Ocalan’s Turkish attor ney was barred from the hearing or conferring with his client, who has been under interrogation for a week without seeing a lawyer. Ocalan, 49, leads the Kurdistan Workers Party or PKK, a rebel army that has fought for Kurdish autonomy in Turkey^ impoverished southeast The conflict has claimed an esti mated 37,000 lives, with the toll growing daily. On Tuesday, the gov ernment reported the deaths of 14 rebels in clashes with Turkish troops in he mountains. Tuesday’s hearing was closed to the press and public. Its outcome was reported by he semi-official Anatolia news agency, which cited statements from the judge and prosecutors. Turkey has insisted that Ocalan’s trial in a security court with military judges will be fair. It has also warned against any outside interference, repeating Tuesday that foreign moni tors will not be allowed to attend. Ocalan’s lawyer, Osman Baydemir, said he complained to the Justice Ministry about being kept from his client and said he was wor ried that the rebel leader may have been subject to “wrongful interroga tion procedures.” In Strasbourg, France, the European Court of Human Rights said it was seeking a “speedy response” from Turkey to its queries about Ocalan’s access to lawyers. Russell Johnston of Britain, the head of the Council of Europe’s par liamentary assembly, canceled a visit to Ankara to check on preparations for the trial. He said Turkey told him he was not welcome. vfnnnfrino QuaaUona? Comments? A"fi$Sf£S s?k, J38HL. Opinion Editor: Cliff Hicks Sports Editor: Sam McKewon General Manager: ' Dan Shatdl A&E Editor: Bret Schulte Publications Board Jessica Hofmann, Copy Desk Chief: Tasha Kelter Chairwoman: (402) 466-8404 Asst Copy Desk Chief: Heidi White Professional Adviser: Don Walton, Photo Co-Chief: Matt Miller (402) 473-7248 Photo Co-Chief: Lane Hickenbottom Advertising Manager: Nick Partsch, Design Chief: Nancy Christensen (402) 472-2589 Art Director: Matt Haney Asst Ad Manager: Andrea Oeltjen Web Editor: Gregg Steams Classifield Ad Manager: Mary Johnson Asst Web Editor: Amy Burke Fax number: (402) 472-1761 World Wide Web: www.daiiyneb.com The Daily Nebraskan (USPS 1444)80) is published by the UNL Publications Board, Nebraska Union 34,1400 R St, Lincoln, NE 68588-0448, Monday through Friday during the academic year; weekly during the summer sessions.The public has access to the Publications Board. Readers are encouraged to submit story ideas and comments to the Daily Nebraskan by calling 1 (402) 472-2588. Subscriptions are $55 for one year. Postmaster: Send address changes to the Daily Nebraskan, Nebraska Union 34,1400 R St, Lincoln NE 68588-0448. Periodical postage paid at Lincoln, NE. ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT1999 THE DAILY NEBRASKAN Serbs settle with ethnic Albanians More talks to be held in March RAMBOUILLET, France (AP) - Serbs agreed in principle Tuesday to give limited self-rule to majority ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, but the two sides failed after 17 days of intense negotiations to conclude a deal for ending their yearlong con flict. More talks were scheduled for March. The partial settlement puts on hold, at least temporarily, NATO’s threats to bomb Serb targets if they don’t adopt the complex plan that would force them to withdraw troops from Kosovo and accept NATO peacekeepers. After four days of strenuous personal diplomacy, shuttling between the two sides, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright accepted less than she had insisted on. There was no provision for deploying NATO peacekeepers in the tense province to enforce the settlement, and the Serbs refused to give their consent to major ele ments of the self-rule sought by the ethnic Albanians. According to senior U.S. offi cials, the Sobs still insist on Serbian courts tor Serbs accused ot crimes, refuse to permit the ethnic Albanians to have a president and are unwilling to cooperate with a war crimes tri bunal looking into atrocities against civilians committed during the war that has claimed some 2,000 lives. “But we have broken the stale mate that hung over Kosovo for so long,” Albright said. The Albanians also hedged. They were given two weeks for “consulta tions” with people in the province and still are insisting on a referendum to vote for independence and seces sion from Serbia at the end of the three-year autonomy trial period envisioned by the accord formulated by the United States, Britain, France, Italy, Germany and Russia. 66 ... We have broken the stalemate that hung over Kosovo for so long” Madeleine Albright U.S. secretary of state The settlement also calls for a restoration of die cease-fire that was arranged by U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke last October and for the staged removal of Serbian troops and special police units -but only after a NATO force is deployed to enforce the agreement In order to put a halt to the pro tracted negotiations, which ran through two deadlines, the ethnic Albanians and Serbs agreed to anoth er round of talks in France, beginning March 15. “We have done a lot here even if ixra Umra am A am ah ^ om/1 nvu»,vuv.»vuvvuu»6u, British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, who co-chaired the talks with French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine. “We will use the next three weeks to convince the Serbs and to convince the Albanians that the agreement is a good bargain for both sides.” Meanwhile, the violence contin ued. In Pristina, Yugoslavia, five Serb policemen were wounded when sus pected rebels opened fire on Serb mourners, who gathered under police escort at the home of Mirko Milosevic, a civilian killed Monday allegedly by the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army. - .—“ ™ ■ -- III 1 N_t ___ _ I 1 ■ Lebanon Lebanese, Israelis square off; guerrillas ambush squad BEIRUT (AP) - Lebanese guerrillas ambushed an elite Israeli commando squad Tuesday, killing its commander and two officers and wounding five soldiers in a painful blow to Israeli forces in southern Lebanon. The troops were moving north of the Israeli-occupied zone when they ran into Hezbollah guerrillas. ■ Washington, D.C. U.S. fighters drop bombs on Iraqi command center The Associated Press - Two U.S. F-15 fighters each dropped a 2,000-pound bomb on a military command and control installation in Iraq Tuesday after planes patrolling the northern no-fly zone came under anti-aircraft fire, Pentagon officials Army Col. Richard Bridges added that in a separate incident, an unknown number of F-15s dropped 500-pound bombs on a multiple-launch rocket site used as an air defense facility. Both inci dents occurred near Mosul, Iraq. ■ Washington, D.C. Greenspan predicts economy will continue to flourish The Associated Press - Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Tuesday a “surprisingly robust” U.S. economy should continue growing this year but at a much slower pace than last And he dropped hints that if the slowdown doesn’t occur, die central bank is prepared to increase interest rates to make it hap pen. Delivering his twice-a-year report on Fed policy to Congress, Greenspan did not signal that a rate hike is imminent ■ United Kingdom Blair says Britain should prepare for euro LONDON (AP) - Prime Minister Tony Blair on Tuesday set the government to work on preparing to join the euro, a step bound to face opposition in Britain. Blair said the government’s policy was still to wait and see how the new European currency worked before mak ing a decision to adopt it He said prepara tions must begin to provide a valid choice. ■ United Nations U.N. report: Marijuana uses should be studied scientifically The Associated Press - In-depth and impartial scientific studies should be con ducted into marijuana’s possible medical benefits, a U.N. report recommended Tuesday. Only scientific evidence from the public and private sector can end the emo tion-charged political debate over using cannabis for patients, said Herbert S. Okun, a member of die International Drug Control Board ■ Peru Fujimori flies woman to hospital to give birth LIMA (AP) - Peru’s president assisted in an unexpected delivery when a woman gave birth on his heli copter, newspapers reported Monday. Alberto Fujimori was inspecting flood damage on Peru’s northern coast Sunday when the father of Marcelina Rojas, 23, asked him to fly his daughter to a hospital. Rojas gave birth to a 6.6 pound baby boy before the helicopter could reach Chimbote, 225 miles northwest of Lima.
