“CHAPEL HILL — John Edwards once again asked a federal judge Tuesday to acquit him of all criminal charges stemming from his recent trial.

A jury acquitted the former Democratic presidential candidate on one felony count of receiving illegal campaign contributions, but deadlocked on the remaining five counts. Federal officials are weighing whether to retry Edwards on the five unresolved charges.

Last week, U.S. District Court Judge Catherine C. Eagles ordered new briefs on whether two of the charges should be tried in a different federal court and whether prosecutors played an improper role in a civil lawsuit over ownership of a sex tape of Edwards and his mistress.

In new filing obtained Tuesday by ABC11, Edwards’ defense tells the judge that prosecutors got the venue wrong when they charged Edwards with accepting illegal campaign contributions from his wealthy friend Fred Baron in 2007 and 2008. It contends the only money linked to North Carolina was a chartered flight out of RDU that Baron paid for.

That’s technically Wake County, in the Eastern District of North Carolina – not the Middle District where he’s charged.

But, it’s a phone call Edwards made to his former aide Andrew Young that has prosecutors sticking to the charges. They say that in that call Edwards told Young to contact Baron to arrange that RDU flight in for his then-pregnant mistress.

If the judge sides with the defense, two of the charges would have to either be dismissed or tried elsewhere. The prosecution has until next week to respond.”

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Douglas McNabb – McNabb Associates, P.C.’s
Federal Criminal Defense Attorneys Videos:

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To find additional global criminal news, please read The Global Criminal Defense Daily.

Douglas McNabb and other members of the U.S. law firm practice and write and/or report extensively on matters involving Federal Criminal Defense, INTERPOL Red Notice Removal, International Extradition Defense, OFAC SDN Sanctions Removal, International Criminal Court Defense, and US Seizure of Non-Resident, Foreign-Owned Assets. Because we have experience dealing with INTERPOL, our firm understands the inter-relationship that INTERPOL’s “Red Notice” brings to this equation.

The author of this blog is Douglas C. McNabb. Please feel free to contact him directly at mcnabb@mcnabbassociates.com or at one of the offices listed above.

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“CHAPEL HILL — John Edwards once again asked a federal judge Tuesday to acquit him of all criminal charges stemming from his recent trial.

A jury acquitted the former Democratic presidential candidate on one felony count of receiving illegal campaign contributions, but deadlocked on the remaining five counts. Federal officials are weighing whether to retry Edwards on the five unresolved charges.

Last week, U.S. District Court Judge Catherine C. Eagles ordered new briefs on whether two of the charges should be tried in a different federal court and whether prosecutors played an improper role in a civil lawsuit over ownership of a sex tape of Edwards and his mistress.

In new filing obtained Tuesday by ABC11, Edwards’ defense tells the judge that prosecutors got the venue wrong when they charged Edwards with accepting illegal campaign contributions from his wealthy friend Fred Baron in 2007 and 2008. It contends the only money linked to North Carolina was a chartered flight out of RDU that Baron paid for.

That’s technically Wake County, in the Eastern District of North Carolina – not the Middle District where he’s charged.

But, it’s a phone call Edwards made to his former aide Andrew Young that has prosecutors sticking to the charges. They say that in that call Edwards told Young to contact Baron to arrange that RDU flight in for his then-pregnant mistress.

If the judge sides with the defense, two of the charges would have to either be dismissed or tried elsewhere. The prosecution has until next week to respond.”

————————————————————–

Douglas McNabb – McNabb Associates, P.C.’s
Federal Criminal Defense Attorneys Videos:

Federal Crimes – Be Careful

Federal Crimes – Be Proactive

Federal Crimes – Federal Indictment

————————————————————–

To find additional federal criminal news, please read Federal Criminal Defense Daily.

Douglas McNabb and other members of the U.S. law firm practice and write and/or report extensively on matters involving Federal Criminal Defense, INTERPOL Red Notice Removal, International Extradition Defense, OFAC SDN Sanctions Removal, International Criminal Court Defense, and US Seizure of Non-Resident, Foreign-Owned Assets. Because we have experience dealing with INTERPOL, our firm understands the inter-relationship that INTERPOL’s “Red Notice” brings to this equation.

The author of this blog is Douglas C. McNabb. Please feel free to contact him directly at mcnabb@mcnabbassociates.com or at one of the offices listed above.

Yes, John Edwards is a bad man who lied and cheated, but like I said from day one, there was no way to prove he did anything criminal. Jurors acquitted Edwards of only the most obvious count, dealing with a $200,000 check Bunny Mellon wrote as the campaign was collapsing in 2008, a check that wasn’t cashed until after the campaign ended. Clearly, that money was not intended as a campaign contribution as it wasn’t even cashed until after.

It seems like from their interviews jurors were split on the other counts, some leaning towards finding him guilty, others leaning towards acquittal, but the one thing they all agreed on: the evidence was just not there. Jurors say prosecutors were unable to meet the burden of proof needed to convict Edwards. The biggest problem: much of this money was funneled through his campaign aide, Andrew Young, and then given to his mistress, Rielle Hunter, to help cover-up the affair. Scandalous, no doubt, but how does that sound like money intended for his presidential campaign and not just a personal gift? One juror, Sheila Lockwood, even said, “he didn’t get the money. So I just didn’t think he was guilty.”

Now, prosecutors are tasked with deciding whether to retry the case. My advice: quit before you embarrass yourself even more! The only reason to retry the case is if there truly was just one or two holdout jurors standing in the way of a conviction. And even then, the only way to retry a case successfully is to simplify the charges, as we saw after former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich’s first case ended in a mistrial on 23 counts. The second time around, prosecutors focused on the main charges that he sold Barack Obama’s senate seat, as opposed to tackling a litany of charges like in the first case. The problem here is there’s no way to simplify the charges.

The case was whether or not he knowingly and illegally misused campaign funds for the cover-up and the case was doomed from the start. Baron passed away and Mellon was too old to testify so the only person who could connect the dots and tie the money to the campaign was Young, and between the fact that he first claimed paternity of Hunter’s child and later wrote a book about the scandal didn’t help his cause. Young was an unreliable witness, and he was the star witness? No wonder Edwards turned to his lawyers after the prosecution rested and asked “that’s their case?”

Federal Elections Commission workers were even willing to testify for the defense that Edwards did not violate campaign finance laws, though judge Catherine Eagles banned much of their testimony. The FEC completed their investigation and found Edwards had not misused campaign funds, so why did prosecutors keep on with their misguided effort? Like everything in this case, it all came down to politics. George Holding, the U.S. Attorney at the time Edwards was charged in 2011, is now running for congress as a Republican candidate and what better platform to run on than to be known as the man responsible for indicting John Edwards. With Holding now on his own campaign trail, the remaining prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s office were left to try a case that should have never been brought forth in the first place.

John Edwards could have sparred himself the media circus of the case by accepting a plea deal, which would have sparred him any jail time, but would have required he give up his own license to practice law. Yet, Edwards knew this case was a waste and even commended the jurors Thursday, saying the decision was “an exemplar of what jurors are supposed to do.” Edwards also told reporters “While I don’t believe I did anything illegal or even thought I was doing anything illegal I did an awful, awful lot that was wrong,” but added “I don’t think God’s through with me. I really believe he thinks there’s still some good things I can do.” I’m not sure what the future holds for Edwards, lets just hope he, like this waste of a trial, is slowly forgotten!

Thursday’s verdict of not guilty on one count and a mistrial on five others bore out criticism from the earliest stages of the case that it was a reach, that prosecutors went after the ex-U.S. senator without the kind of evidence that justified the charges that he masterminded a scheme to use campaign donations to hide his pregnant mistress from the public and his terminally ill wife.

“As noted by nearly every campaign finance lawyer who considered the matter, this was a lousy case,” said Melanie Sloan, executive director for the campaign finance watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. “All the salacious details prosecutors offered up to prove that Edwards is, indeed, despicable, were not enough to persuade the jury to convict him.”

Several jurors said there just wasn’t enough evidence. On network talk shows Friday, even jurors who thought Edwards was guilty on at least some counts said the prosecution wasn’t able to prove it.

“We tried to put our feelings aside and what we were doing was just looking at the facts to come up with a verdict,” juror Cindy Aquaro said on NBC’s “Today” show.

Edwards faced six felony charges involving nearly $1 million provided by two wealthy political donors that was used to help hide the Democrat’s mistress, Rielle Hunter, as he sought the White House in 2008. He faced a maximum sentence of up to 30 years in prison if convicted on all counts.

To convict Edwards, prosecutors needed to show not only that the candidate knew about the secret payments, which he denied, but that he knew he was violating federal law by accepting them. But the government was unable to produce any witness who said Edwards knowingly violated the law. Even former Edwards aide Andrew Young testified that Edwards told him he had consulted campaign finance lawyers who assured him the money was legal.

A former trial lawyer, Edwards was so unimpressed with the testimony against him that when the government rested, he turned to a member of his defense team and asked dismissively, “That’s their case?”

When it was their turn, his lawyers presented just two days of evidence. Edwards elected not to take the stand in his own defense.

“This is a case that should define the difference between a wrong and a crime … between a sin and a felony,” Edwards’ lead attorney Abbe Lowell told the jury during closing arguments. “John Edwards has confessed his sins. He will serve a life sentence for those.”

Presented with no damning evidence and no obvious victim beyond the public’s trust, jurors couldn’t see their way to convicting the charismatic ex-candidate. Prosecutors are unlikely to retry the case, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the decision will undergo review in the coming days.

Kieran Shanahan, a former federal prosecutor and Raleigh defense attorney who attended the trial, said he thought the prosecutors took their best shot with what was ultimately a very weak case.

“They got their best witnesses, their best evidence and the judge ruled in their favor on all major evidentiary issues,” Shanahan said. “In the end, the jury just didn’t believe them.”

Steve Friedland, another former federal prosecutor who watched the case from inside the courtroom, said the jury’s verdict was not surprising, considering the government had no smoking gun to prove Edwards guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

But, he predicted, Edwards won’t fare as well in the court of public opinion.

“Regardless of the decision, he still is Exhibit A for how we do not want our leaders to behave,” said Friedland, now a professor at Elon University School of Law. “This is a huge victory for him, and big burden off his shoulders, but a hollow one given his astounding fall from grace.”

From the start, lawyers for Edwards painted the prosecution as politically motivated. The investigation was originally spearheaded by George Holding, the then-U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

Appointed by President George W. Bush, Holding made a name for himself with criminal probes of high profile Democrats, including the state’s former governor. When President Barack Obama came into office, Holding managed to forestall being replaced by a Democrat for years while the Edwards investigation was ongoing. He eventually resigned in 2011 as Edwards was indicted and soon announced his candidacy for Congress, winning in the GOP primary last month.

The final decision to prosecute Edwards was made by the Obama administration and the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section. Once highly admired, the section’s reputation suffered after a corruption conviction against former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska was overturned in 2009 after it was found prosecutors knowingly concealed exculpatory evidence and allowed false testimony to be presented at trial.

The case against Edwards was tried by three prosecutors sent down from Washington and one prosecutor from Raleigh who had served as Holding’s second-in-command. They presented 14 days of testimony and evidence, with Young their star witness.

An aide once so loyal he falsely claimed paternity of Edwards’ baby and helped hide his mistress from the media for nearly a year, Young turned against his former boss and testified for the prosecution under an immunity agreement. Though the government’s case recounted how Edwards repeatedly lied about his affair to both the American people and his cancer-stricken wife, the defense countered by shredding Young’s credibility on the witness stand and using financial records to show the former aide and his wife kept most of the money at issue in the case, funneling it into the construction of the couple’s $1.6 million dream home.

Before Edwards’ prosecution, no federal candidate had been tried over payments from a third party that flowed to a mistress. Sloan said the lack of resolution in the case will likely leave candidates and regulators confused about what is and is not a legitimate campaign expense.

“The U.S. criminal justice system requires fair notice of what is and is not against the law,” Sloan said. “Sadly, the Justice Department seems to have forgotten this fundamental American precept. Luckily, the jury remembered.”

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

He is on trial charged with six counts of violating federal election laws, alleged to have used  campaign contributions to cover up his affair and his pregnant mistress. More from The New York Times:

He is being tried on six felony charges, four involving whether he accepted illegal campaign contributions. He also faces charges of conspiracy and making false statements.

The government contends that Mr. Edwards knowingly accepted nearly $1 million from two wealthy donors and used it to hide his affair with Rielle Hunter and the daughter the couple conceived. Ms. Hunter once made videos for Mr. Edwards’s campaign.

The money was used to support Ms. Hunter, the baby and Andrew Young, a campaign aide who claimed paternity, as they spent months traveling to cities like Santa Barbara, Calif., and Aspen, Colo., trying to hide from the news media.

Because the information would have surely torpedoed Mr. Edwards’s campaign, the government argues that the money was a campaign contribution and its use a conspiracy.

The defense contends that the payment was largely a scam by Mr. Young and his wife, Cheri, to siphon hundreds of thousands of dollars from the banking heiress Rachel Mellon to build a $1.5 million house in Chapel Hill.

Other payments went to cover the medical expenses of Ms. Hunter and to keep Mr. Edwards’ affair with her secret. Mr. Edwards went along with this plan, a defense lawyer said, to avoid humiliation for himself and his wife, Elizabeth. (Elizabeth Edwards died of breast cancer in December 2010.)

If he is convicted on all six counts, Mr. Edwards, 58, faces up to 30 years in prison and $1.5 million in fines.

The jury has been deliberating for days.

Twists & turns … GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Edwards, attorneys back in courtroom after judge tells jurors to keep deliberating—
Ed Henry (@edhenryTV) May 31, 2012

The jury was deadlocked and was sent back to deliberate yet again earlier today.

BREAKING: Judge Catherine Eagles sends jury back for more deliberation. Count 3 only unanimous decision.—
  (@1360WCHL) May 31, 2012

BREAKING: Judge Eagles sends jury in for further deliberations.—
  (@1360WCHL) May 31, 2012

More news from #edwardstrial: After a short deliberation, jury passes another note (we don't know what it says) to the judge…—
  (@1360WCHL) May 31, 2012

Twitchy will monitor and update as soon as a verdict comes in. In the meantime, Twitter users are amusing themselves during the wait.

Edwards jury: "PSYCHE! Made you look, you owe me a Coke."—
Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) May 31, 2012

BREAKING: #Edwards jury has taken advantage of Groupon for oil painting lessons.—
Stephen Green (@VodkaPundit) May 31, 2012

LOLZ! RT @MajoratNJ Judge tells #Edwards jury if they reach verdict on all 6 counts today….Mayor Bloomberg will deliver Big Gulps—
Tammy Bruce (@HeyTammyBruce) May 31, 2012

RT @CuffyMeh: WARNING: If Edwards is convicted, expect a riot of handsome, southern horndog ambulance chasers to erupt in America's cities.—
Melissa Clouthier (@MelissaTweets) May 31, 2012

UPDATE:

EDWARDS TRIAL: NOT GUILTY on county 3, HUNG JURY on all other counts — ABC News NC team—
Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) May 31, 2012

UPDATE:

Judge has ruled a mistrial on the 5 other counts in the Edwards case #BreakingNews—
ABC World News (@ABCWorldNews) May 31, 2012

Some reaction, as only Twitter can.

Edwards should give his two americas speech outside the courthouse—
Sam Stein (@samsteinhp) May 31, 2012

Don'cha just wish You could get away with anything you wanted to do regardless of law? If Edwards is not guilty, I'm a freaking saint!—
Sandy (@tnacgal) May 31, 2012

Political career back on! RT @ExJon: ★ EDWARDS 2016 ★—
Joe Brooks (@joebrooks) May 31, 2012

Regardless of the verdict, the fact remains: John Edwards got a women pregnant while his wife was battling cancer. And he was once VP nom.—
RB (@RBPundit) May 31, 2012

Cable news verdict: GUILTY of speculating endlessly until the Edwards verdict came in. Edwards: GUILTY of being an asshat. #NEXT—
  (@GottaLaff) May 31, 2012

Don't worry. #Edwards is still guilty of being a total douche.—
Stephen Green (@VodkaPundit) May 31, 2012

RT @rorycooper: Note for Editors: John Edwards was the 2004 Democratic Vice Presidential nominee.—
Bethany Mandel (@bethanyshondark) May 31, 2012

The Office of Justice for Silky Ponies? RT @JimPethokoukis: Edwards: "Which office do I go to get my reputation back?"—
Tammy Bruce (@HeyTammyBruce) May 31, 2012

RT @BlameTelford: I'll tell you what John Edwards in not guilty of: being a good husband.—
Melissa Clouthier (@MelissaTweets) May 31, 2012

The Office of Don't Cheat on Ur Stage 4 Cancer-Striken Wife? MT @JimPethokoukis Edwards: "Which office do I go to get my reputation back?"—
Tammy Bruce (@HeyTammyBruce) May 31, 2012

Remember in 2008 when Hillary & Obama went to the John Edwards mansion to beg for his endorsement & both walked away from him? Yeah…—
Dr. Schadenfreude (@PoliticsOfFear) May 31, 2012

And trending.

RT @TrendsDC: 'mistrial', #edwards & #edwardstrial are now trending in #DC trendsmap.com/us/washington—
Lachlan Markay (@LachlanMarkay) May 31, 2012

UPDATE: Edwards speaking live.

John Edwards is speaking live on @CNN TV now. "There is no one else responsible for my sins," he says.—
  (@CNN) May 31, 2012

Now Bloomberg should ban John Edwards from uttering another word—
mike (@THEmikedoyle) May 31, 2012

John Edwards: While I do not believe I did anything illegal … I did an awful, awful lot that was wrong – live video bit.ly/JZQZLw—
Breaking News (@BreakingNews) May 31, 2012

"I did an awful, awful lot that was wrong." – John Edwards—
Anthony De Rosa (@AntDeRosa) May 31, 2012

Wow, Edwards: "And finally, my precious Quinn, who I love more than any of you could ever imagine…I am so grateful for Quinn…"—
Mike O'Brien (@mpoindc) May 31, 2012

John Edwards: "Finally my precious Quinn, who I love more than any of you could ever image.." speaks of the child w Hunter—
Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) May 31, 2012

Twitter puts politics aside and is united in not wanting to hear him. Of course, the Left didn’t mind hearing him when he was their nominee for vice president.

Oh dear God John Edwards nobody wants to hear from your "voice" right now. Nobody.—
Joan Walsh (@joanwalsh) May 31, 2012

Super, John Edwards with a mic on national TV again. Point, Mayan calendar.—
Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) May 31, 2012

Edwards now gets what he's always wanted his entire public career: attention.—
Luke Russert (@LukeRussert) May 31, 2012

Ugh RT @JimPethokoukis: Edwards on his jury: "Very, very impressive"—
Melissa Clouthier (@MelissaTweets) May 31, 2012

I just threw up in my mouth. RT @AP: BREAKING: Edwards chokes up, calls 4-year-old daughter conceived with mistress `precious'—
Touré (@Toure) May 31, 2012

Chris Matthews thinks about Edwards’ career.

GOP fantasy! RT @ethanklapper: Chris Matthews: It sounded to me like [Edwards] was not giving up his political career.—
Jonah Goldberg (@JonahNRO) May 31, 2012

Those with a soul think about his daughter.

Only person who comes out of this looking good: Cate Edwards … hard to be hard to sit through the trial.—
Ed Henry (@edhenryTV) May 31, 2012

Kate Edwards, bless her heart. Not a fun ride for her.—
Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) May 31, 2012

Indeed.

The jury in the federal campaign finance case against former Senator John Edwards said Thursday that it had found him not guilty on one of the six counts against him, and the judge declared a mistrial on the others.

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The verdict came on the third count, which involved donations from the heiress Rachel Mellon. Mrs. Mellon gave more than $725,000 to help Mr. Edwards during his 2008 presidential campaign, during which large sums were spent to cover up an affair between Mr. Edwards and a former staff videographer, Rielle Mellon, with whom he conceived a daughter.

The third count involves a $200,000 check Mrs. Mellon wrote in 2008 as the Edwards campaign was collapsing. The check was not cashed until after the campaign had ended.

Earlier in the day, the jury sent a note to the court saying, “We have finished our deliberations and have arrived at our decision on counts one through six.”

But pressed in the courtroom by the judge, Catherine C. Eagles, the foreman said the jurors had reached a unanimous verdict on one count only. The verdict was not announced at that time.

The court, which had braced for what appeared to be a full verdict, appeared unprepared for the jury’s partial decision during the ninth day of deliberations.

Judge Eagles then sent the jurors out of the courtroom and asked each side how to proceed.

The prosecution recommended that the judge send the jury back to deliberate further. “The government’s view is it appears they are not finished,” said David Harbach II, the lead prosecutor.

Abbe Lowell, the head of Mr. Edwards’s legal team, noted that the jury had already taken twice as much time as the defense used to present its case and that deliberations had taken almost as long as the prosecution took. Mr. Lowell recommended that she accept the verdict on the third count and declare a mistrial on the rest.

Shortly after 3 p.m., the judge said she had decided to ask the jury to return to its deliberations for the afternoon.

Speaking before the jurors returned for her instructions, she said, “I want to make it clear to them they are not prisoners in there.”

Once the jurors had returned to the courtroom, she delivered what is known as an Allen charge, which essentially tells a jury that no other panel is likely to be as competent as this one in reaching a full verdict.

She said she knew that they had deliberated diligently, adding, “I do not intend to force any of you to abandon your deeply held views.”

About an hour later, the jurors returned and the one not-guilty verdict was announced. After considering how to proceed, the judge declared a mistrial on the other five charges.

from:  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/01/us/edwards-jury-returns-not-guilty-verdict-on-one-count.html

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John Edwards was born on June 10th, 1953 according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_edwards

June 10th, 1953

June 10th

6 + 10 +2+0+1+1 = 20 = his personal year (from June 10th, 2011 to June 9th, 2012) = Trial.  Jury.  Verdict.  Not guilty.  Mistrial.

20 year + 5 (May) = 25 = his personal month (from May 10th, 2012 to June 9th, 2012) = Exciting.

25 month + 31 (31st of the month on Thursday May 31st, 2012) = 56 = his personal day = Difficulty deciding.  Stalemate.

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comprehensive summary and list of predictions for 2012:

http://predictionsyear2012.com/

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discover some of your own numerology for FREE at:

http://numerologybasics.com/

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learn numerology from numerologist to the world, Ed Peterson:

https://www.createspace.com/3411561

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Sex Numerology available at:

https://www.createspace.com/3802937

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – The Minneapolis Urban League is getting ready for its annual gala, which is being held on Thursday evening.

The keynote speaker this year is Andrew Young, a former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and a well-known civil rights leader.

Scott Gray, the president of the Minneapolis Urban League, talked with WCCO about what his organization is working on.

“It is a tough economic time and, you just said it, jobs are the most important thing people want when they walk through the door,” he said. “We run numerous training programs, matter of fact. We have a bus running up to Lino Lakes, training people for construction jobs. We have a number of other programs getting folks ready for jobs.”

The Minneapolis Urban League gala starts at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Minneapolis Convention Center. There will be a reception following.

Tickets are still available. They are $80 for members, and $100 for all others.

The jury in the John Edwards mistress and money trial entered its third day of deliberations today, pouring through more than a month’s worth of witness testimony and evidence.

The panel of eight men and four women has six felony charges to consider, each of which carries a maximum penalty of five years and a $250,000 fine. Edwards is accused of soliciting money from wealthy donors to conceal his mistress and love child during his 2008 bid for the White House.

In two days of deliberations jurors appear to have primarily focused on the second count of the indictment dealing specifically with money obtained from 101-year-old heiress and Edwards supporter, Rachel “Bunny” Mellon in 2007.

Meanwhile, Edwards is waiting out the jury’s decision from a second floor room of the courthouse. Reporters have spotted him pacing the room, looking out the window.

The government alleges in count two of the indictment that Edwards and his former aide Andrew Young illegally solicited the money from Mellon as part of the effort to hide his pregnant mistress, Rielle Hunter, during the 2008 Democratic presidential primary campaign.

Jurors were charged by federal Judge Catherine Eagles last Friday to first consider counts two through six of the indictment and consider the first count, dealing with conspiracy, last.

The counts the jury will consider in order are as follows:

 Count 2: Illegal Campaign Contributions

During 2007 John Edwards, while a candidate for federal office, knowingly and willfully accepted and received contributions from Mellon in excess of the $4,600 limits of the Election Act. (Mellon’s checks in 2007 totaled $525,000)

 Count 3: Illegal Campaign Contributions

Same charge and wording as count two but for calendar year 2008 (Mellon wrote one check in 2008 for $200,000.)

 Count 4: Illegal Campaign Contributions

Same charge and wording as count 2 but related to excess contributions from backer Fred Baron in 2007 ($61,942 in flights and hotel bills for mistress Rielle Hunter, Andrew Young and his family)

 Count 5: Illegal Campaign Contributions

Same charge and wording as count two but related to contributions from Baron in 2008 ($131,143 in flights, hotel bills, home rental for the Youngs and Hunter. The total also includes $10,000 in cash)

 Count 6: False Statements

Edwards concealed from the John Edwards for President Committee hundreds of thousands of dollars from Mellon and Baron causing the committee to file FEC reports which failed to disclose those contributions

 Count 1: Conspiracy

Edwards conspired with others to accept and receive excess contributions from Mellon and Baron. Edwards also concealed material facts from the John Edwards for President Committee causing the committee to file false and misleading campaign finance reports

The jury the spent two days looking just at the first charge, count 2, requesting from the judge a letter Mellon wrote in April 2007 that is sometimes referred to as the “haircut” letter. Mellon wrote the letter to Young, shortly after the press had seized on the news that Edwards had charged a $400 haircut to his campaign.

from:  http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/john-edwards-jury-deliberates-day/story?id=16403804#.T7u9EUVSTNk

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comprehensive summary and list of predictions for 2012:

http://predictionsyear2012.com/

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discover some of your own numerology for FREE at:

http://numerologybasics.com/

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learn numerology from numerologist to the world, Ed Peterson:

https://www.createspace.com/3411561

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Sex Numerology available at:

https://www.createspace.com/3802937

“Colleen Jenkins
Reuters

GREENSBORO, North Carolina (Reuters) – Jurors were set to resume deliberations on Monday in the federal campaign finance case against former U.S. Senator John Edwards, who is accused of using campaign funds to hide his pregnant mistress as he sought the presidency.

A jury of eight men and four women in Greensboro, North Carolina, considered the case for about 5 1/2 hours on Friday before breaking for the weekend.

They must reach a unanimous verdict to convict Edwards, a two-time presidential candidate and the Democrats’ 2004 vice presidential nominee, on any of the six felony counts he faces.

Jurors have nearly four weeks of testimony to weigh as they decide whether Edwards, 58, coordinated a coverup aimed at keeping voters from learning of his extramarital affair while he sought the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.

Prosecutors said the scheme resulted in more than $900,000 from two supporters to be secretly funneled to Edwards’ mistress, Rielle Hunter, and his aide, Andrew Young, who during the campaign falsely declared paternity of the baby Edwards fathered.

The Federal Election Campaign Act states that excess contributions are illegal if they are made for the purpose of influencing an election for federal office.

Edwards’ attorneys acknowledged that the former senator from North Carolina knew about the $2,300 limit on contributions from individuals.

But they argued that the payments from heiress Rachel “Bunny” Mellon and trial lawyer Fred Baron were private gifts – not political contributions – made to support Hunter and to prevent Edwards’cancer-stricken wife, Elizabeth, from learning he had fathered a child with his mistress.

The charges against John Edwards include conspiring to solicit the money, receiving more than the $2,300 allowed from any one donor, and failing to report the payments as contributions.

Each count carries a sentence of up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.”

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Douglas McNabb – McNabb Associates, P.C.’s
Federal Criminal Defense Attorneys Videos:

Federal Crimes – Be Careful

Federal Crimes – Be Proactive

Federal Crimes – Federal Indictment

————————————————————–

To find additional federal criminal news, please read Federal Criminal Defense Daily.

Douglas McNabb and other members of the U.S. law firm practice and write and/or report extensively on matters involving Federal Criminal Defense, INTERPOL Red Notice Removal, International Extradition Defense, OFAC SDN Sanctions Removal, International Criminal Court Defense, and US Seizure of Non-Resident, Foreign-Owned Assets. Because we have experience dealing with INTERPOL, our firm understands the inter-relationship that INTERPOL’s “Red Notice” brings to this equation.

The author of this blog is Douglas C. McNabb. Please feel free to contact him directly at mcnabb@mcnabbassociates.com or at one of the offices listed above.

May 21, 2012

The jury in John Edwards’ campaign finance trial begins its second day of deliberations this morning in Greensboro, N.C.

The panel of eight men and four women spent about five hours behind closed doors on Friday as they began to weigh the evidence presented over nearly four weeks of testimony.

Shortly after they retired to the jury room on Friday, the jurors sent out a note to Judge Catherine Eagles, requesting a number of trial exhibits related to money provided by Virginia heiress Rachel “Bunny” Mellon in 2007.

The government alleges in count two of a six-count indictment that Edwards and his former aide Andrew Young illegally solicited hundreds of thousands of dollars from Mellon as part of the effort to hide his pregnant mistress, Rielle Hunter, during the 2008 Democratic presidential primary campaign. Count three of the indictment contains similar allegations, but is focused on checks Mellon wrote in January 2008, shortly before Edwards ended his quest for the nomination.

Among the exhibits the jury requested is a letter Mellon wrote in April 2007 that is sometimes referred to as the “haircut” letter. Mellon wrote the letter to Young, shortly after the press had seized on the news that Edwards had charged a $400 haircut to his campaign.

“I was sitting alone in a grim mood – furious that the press had attacked Sen. Edwards on the price of a hair cut,” Mellon’s handwritten note reads. “From now on, all hair cuts, etc., that are a necessary and important part of his campaign, please send the bills to me. It is a way to help our friend without government restrictions.”

Within six weeks of that letter Mellon began writing a series of personal checks that would eventually add up to $725,000 over seven months. The jury also requested copies of the first two of those two checks, which were funnelled to Andrew Young through an intermediary and eventually deposited in an account in the maiden name of Young’s wife, Cheri.

Edwards’ defense team has argued that Young was taking advantage of Mellon, bilking her out of the money with the pretense that it was for Edwards. They noted that the vast majority of Mellon’s money went to Young and his wife, who used much of it to fund the construction of their $1.6 million home.

After the jury’s request on Friday, an Edwards lawyer told a clutch of reporters in the courtroom that the deliberations could take a while. The jury appears, at least at the outset, to be taking a meticulous, count-by-count approach to their discussions.

Edwards is charged with conspiracy, accepting illegal campaign contributions and making false statements. If convicted on all six counts, he faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and $1.5 million in fines. Practically speaking, any prison term is likely to be well below the maximum.

In addition to the money sent by Mellon, the jury must also consider the support provided to Hunter by Edwards’ campaign finance chairman, Fred Baron, who funded a cross-country luxury odyssey for Hunter and the Youngs, after Andrew Young falsely claimed paternity of Edwards’ child.

And they also must consider the broader question of whether the financial support provided by Mellon and Baron constitutes an illegal contribution under federal election laws.

At the close of the day the jurors informed the judge that they’d prefer to keep to a set schedule for deliberations, starting each day at 9:30 a.m. and calling it quits by about 4 p.m. The Middle District of North Carolina covers 24 counties and several of the jurors have long commutes to court each day.

from:  http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/john-edwards-jury-bunny-money/story?id=16393764#.T7pSOEVSTNk

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Bunny Mellon was born on August 9th, 1910 according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Lambert_Mellon

August 9th, 1910

August 9th

8 + 9 +2+0+1+1 = 21 = her personal year (from August 9th, 2011 to August 8th, 2012) = On the world stage.  For all the world to see.

21 year + 5 (May) = 26 = her personal month (from May 9th, 2012 to June 8th, 2012) = In the news.  Making headlines.

26 month + 21 (21st of the month on Monday May 21st, 2012) = 47 = her personal day = Name recognition.  Internationally known.

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comprehensive summary and list of predictions for 2012:

http://predictionsyear2012.com/

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http://numerologybasics.com/

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learn numerology from numerologist to the world, Ed Peterson:

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Sex Numerology available at:

https://www.createspace.com/3802937

Below are quotes from the late Barbara A. Thurmond of Augusta, Georgia – who examined the violence issue from all sides – and realized that it is a complex issue that requires a team effort to fix.

Stop the Violence Activist Barbara Thurmond co-founded Blacks Against Black Crime, Inc. in June 1991 with her sister Earnestine Covington.

Barbara Thurmond stood tall for human rights, victim’s rights, civil rights, stopping the violence, equity in education and banning assault weapons – and she also believed in personal responsibility for one’s actions and the need for firm family values taught by parents when children are small.

Thurmond also recognized that many external factors contribute to the violence in African-American communities like racism, poverty, no jobs, drugs, lack of education, and in many cases an apparent lack of respect for the preciousness of human life.

Thurmond and her group were sometimes labeled racist and polarizing but she loved everyone and fought for the lives of black youth – and all people.

Those who  accused Thurmond and the group of those charges, often refused to look at the entire picture of the violence crisis.

“We are realists,” Thurmond said.

“Volunteers working to save people from their own destruction,” she said.

Editor’s note: Barbara Thurmond was a mentor and a very wise person – and her quotes are just as important today in addressing black on black violence – and all violent crime – that persists as a leading cause of death and incarceration especially for young black men.

Barbara Thurmond fought for the rights of the crime victims who survive – and the thousands of blacks who have died in Augusta because of violence (just since the death of MLK) and the millions who have died across America

She tried to protect the children of all races:

“They were not just numbers – they were our lovers, our friends, sisters, brothers.

They were our sons and daughters.”

—
The quotes and thoughts of the late stop the violence advocate Barbara A Thurmond:
—

“In 1997 in Augusta, 79 percent of the homicides were the result of gun violence. Every two seconds a gun comes off the assembly line in America.”

In one year in America, 5,285 children were killed by handguns

Georgia wears the title of the gun belt and the gun-running state of the nation”

—

Keep assault weapons off streets – ban assault weapons

(The federal ban on assault weapons expired in Sept. 2004 – and efforts for a new ban has yet to even be voted on by U.S. lawmakers)

“The AK-47, Tec-9 and the Uzi are weapons of mass destruction used in America’s most notorious massacres.

Police are out-gunned – assault weapons are a threat to the safety of our dedicated police officers and the public.

Assault weapons are made to kill many people at one time.

Georgia is a high-volume gun state.

In 2003 Georgia ranked fourth in the nation in the number of high-crime gun stores that are responsible for at least 200 crimes between 1996 and 2000.

We need sensible gun laws, enforcement of existing laws and concerted local efforts to make our city, state and nation safer.

Blacks Against Black Crimes, Inc. joins with the Million Mom March, Georgians for Gun Safety and the Brady Campaign for Handgun Control in supporting the assault weapon ban and all efforts to reduce firearm injuries and death.

Why would anyone want these weapons back on the streets of America?”

—

“What has not changed is the disproportionate number of blacks who die as the result of violence.

We must address the leading cause of death of African-Americans.

It is painfully obvious to me that black-on-black homicide is a threat to African-Americans in Augusta.

African-Americans are six times more likely to be murdered than whites in Augusta.

Homicides account for more deaths of black men ages 25-44 than does heart disease, cancer or diabetes.

We cannot continue to ignore black-on-black homicides – Ignoring the problem won’t make it go away.

Black leaders, this is our war and we must stay on the battlefield, armed with courage, truth, persistence and faith.

Voting, economic empowerment and the removal of the Confederate flag are all important issues; issues that we all must be concerned about.”

—

“I was disappointed to learn that the Richmond County Board of Education decided to pull “Kaffir Boy” (by Mark Mathabane) from the reading list of a literature class at Hephzibah High School after complaints from a parent.

I was drawn into the daily lives of a people who lived in hideous conditions under apartheid. The unjustified humiliation and degradation are difficult for most people to fathom.

We must not take this powerful degradation out of context and denigrate the spirit in which it was written. Like other indescribable evils of the past, we don’t want to discuss the politics of the horror.

As African-Americans, we are too comfortable. We have to be angry when others denigrate our struggle.”

—

“What other group of people would have their people lead the homicide list every year and not address it?

When I see 10 out of 15 are black that has an impact on me.

We are raising awareness of gun violence, working on stricter gun laws and educating the public. It has made our community safer.

It’s important to keep our movement alive.”

—

“There is a cultural acceptance of violent behavior.

There is a certain amount of lawlessness allowed in the black community.

There is a culture of African Americans that I don’t understand — their feelings about life and death are different.

They abide by their own set of rules.

There’s still too much black-on-black crime.”

—

“There are a disproportionate number of African-Americans in prisons in the state of Georgia.

We make up 30 percent of the state’s population and 70 percent of the state’s prison population.

Until that problem changes, we will not support any amendments or bills that will keep people in prison longer.

Those who commit crimes need to be accountable and responsible for their actions – but when young people are sentenced to 20 to 25 years for nonviolent offenses that is a crime committed against their souls.”

—

“We are here to remember the 36 people who lost their lives in 1996 to senseless acts of violence.

They were not just numbers – they were our lovers, our friends, sisters, brothers.

They were our sons and daughters.”

—

“What we’ve learned about the Legislature is that you’ve got a bunch of folks who go to Atlanta and forget the people they represent.

It might not be different for us, but we’re going to try.”

—

“In 1995 Senate Bill 109 proposed that sales of handguns be limited to no more than one gun per person per month.

Who wants to buy more than one gun a month?

A person who has a criminal record and cannot purchase handguns finds someone who is clean to make the purchases, paying him, say, $40 profit on each gun.

That’s gunrunning.

Georgia leads the nation in gunrunning.

It is legal to buy large quantities of guns in the state of Georgia.

We can speculate that these guns were used for shootings, robberies and drug deals.

Over the years far too many guns recovered from crimes in other states have been traced back to Georgia.

It is estimated that the cost of firearm injuries in the United States per year is $20.4 billion.

And although the cost is high, the emotional toll on victims and their families cannot be measured in dollars.

How long will the state of Georgia continue to contribute to the great sorrow felt by the families of those killed or wounded by Georgia’s guns?

In 1991, Blacks Against Black Crimes, Inc. identified the easy accessibility of guns as a contributing factor to the epidemic of black-on-black violence.

In the effort to fight for better gun control, we joined Georgians Against Gun Violence, Handgun Control, Inc. and The Million Mom March.

We have worked tirelessly over the years with the above organizations by making monetary contributions and supporting gun legislation at the state and federal level.

We are in an ongoing battle with the National Rifle Association for sensible gun control.”

—

“During this century, American justice has been a mockery for black people.

Black males have the highest victimization rate of any group.

This has been proven true once again.

Black males (are) victimized over and over again – first by the killer and then by the criminal justice system.

The moment the decision was made to release the accused killer on a $50,000 bond, the family would also feel victimized again and their pain intensified.

When the criminal justice system fails to keep murder suspects behind bars, it has a marked impact on the victim’s family and community.

When those who have killed are allowed to move freely about the community, without immediate consequences for their inappropriate behavior, it sends the wrong message to impressionable minds.

It’s the opinion of Blacks Against Black Crimes, Inc. that injustice and double standards within the justice system are contributing factors to black-on-black violence.”

—

“Ten years ago on a hot day in June, my sister and I were motivated by fear to bring attention to the epidemic of black-on-black violence.

In 1991, Augusta/Richmond County had the highest homicide rate ever recorded.

Ninety seven percent of these homicides were blacks killed by other blacks.

We understood early on that black-on-black violence was bigger than one brother killing another.

One of the many facts we identified was the injustice and double standards of the criminal justice system.

Historically, blacks had not been punished harshly enough for killing other blacks, and we were convinced that this contributed to the epidemic of black-on-black violence.

We needed to understand the terms “murder,” “voluntary manslaughter,” “plea bargain” and bonding criteria.

Ten years ago Blacks Against Black Crimes, Inc.  dared to dream of a world in which all crime victims and their families are treated with compassion and dignity.

In 1993 we met with District Attorney Danny Craig to voice our concerns about the lack of prosecution of black-on-black homicides.

He listens to the voices of all crime victims and has prosecuted homicide cases equitably.

We have seen more murder convictions for black-on-black homicide.

We believe this has contributed to the decline in these incidents.

Compared with 10 years ago, we are a much better system and a safer community.

We pay tribute to Sheila Stahl, director of the Victims Assistance Department of the Augusta Richmond County judicial system.

Our collective dream of victims’ justice is built upon the painful realization of the nightmare that crime has wreaked on our community.

At times funeral homes contact us when victims are without funds for burial.

We contact Victims Assistance and they help families apply for funds.

We communicate with the office weekly, sometimes daily.

Together we share the burden of those whose losses are immeasurable, and who feel such a tremendous obligation to stand for the rights of their loved ones.

Their pain and suffering are our incentives to continue efforts to prevent crime. Black crime victims are no longer nameless, faceless entities.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s the type of killings changed; they were more random, different from the Saturday-night brawls and crimes of passion.

We saw in the 1970s that killers were younger, cold-blooded, and without conscience or remorse.

Why had African Americans become the victims and victimizers?

In the 1980s we experienced the President Reagan-induced poverty, an increase in cocaine use and the introduction of crack cocaine.

One year after the introduction of crack cocaine, gun manufacturers increased their production by 42 percent.

The lethality of firearms escalated from low-caliber to high-caliber revolvers and semi-automatics.

The media has severely damaged the African-American image by desensitizing young people to violence and death as it continues to glamorize illegitimacy.

Is there a connection between the disproportionate number of blacks assigned to special education and the disproportionate number of black male victimizers?

Those in special education are unable to feel good about themselves, are labeled stupid, robbed of self-esteem, and feel nothing is expected of them.

It is part of an instilled inferiority and dehumanization process.

This can lead to dropping out of schools, illiteracy, unemployment, poverty and ultimately criminal activity.

To blame others would be easy, but we knew if we were to truly make a difference, it would take honesty.

We had to take a critical self-inventory and analysis.

In the 1970s and 1980s, middle class blacks fled the inner city, leaving it without positive role models.

Too many black intellectuals have refused to remain in some visible way connected to black cultural life and the social misery of the underclass.

The Urban Institute in Washington, D.C. defines the underclass family as headed by a single female, members are welfare dependent, marginally educated, chronically unemployed and engaged in repeated patterns of criminal deviance.

The act of creating new life is taken so lightly that school children sing about it.

Repetition becomes a fact, and it condemns young mothers to a life of poverty, poor education and welfare.

It is difficult for a single, teen-age mother to promote psycho-social development in her children when she is deprived of that development.

We must take responsibility for our own behavior in order to change things that are wrong.

If we improve our community, we improve our city.

If we improve our city, we improve our state and nation.

Blacks Against Black Crimes, Inc.  has been labeled racist and accused of causing polarization.

We are volunteers working to save people from their own destruction.

We are realists.

We see things as they are and not the way we would like them to be.

We joined with organizations across the state and nation and will stand with anyone if they stand for what is right for all.

Our focus has been and continues to be advocating for black homicide victims.

We ask for continued support of this city as we continue our passionate efforts to reduce crime and violence.”

—

“Two years ago 40-year-old David Holt was murdered.

This was a heinous crime.

The family, friends, co-workers and indeed the greater Augusta community suffered a terrible loss.

On June 1, 22-year-old Shanta White and her unborn child were murdered.

This also was a heinous crime.

On the night she was killed, her family lost their future.

Everything that Shanta and her unborn child would have been is now gone forever.

What do these two crimes have in common?

Both cases were assigned to the same investigator.

Both killers are still at large.

Both victims were employed by the same company.

Both victims were children of God, made in his image.

Until their killer(s) are brought to justice, their families cannot begin the healing process.

That is where the similarities end.

Sam’s Club, the common employer, has offered a $400,000 reward for information that would lead to the arrest and conviction of (white male) David Holt’s killer(s).

The Sheriff’s Department mailed a questionnaire to several zip codes seeking information on the murder of Mr. Holt.

What about (black female) Shanta White and her unborn child?

Who is willing to come forward and offer a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of her killer(s)?

We know that offering reward money is no cure-all for crime and violence, but it is one of many tools used by law enforcers as they work to solve and prevent crime, apprehend criminals and bring them to justice.”

—

“The highly publicized school shootings in a period of 18 months include: Springfield, Oregon; Fayetteville, Tennessee; Edinboro, Pennsylvania; Jonesboro, Arkansas; Paducah, Kentucky; Pearl, Mississippi; and Littleton, Colorado.

In these incidents Americans have been shown another face of youth violence, white suburban males.

These shootings have prompted federal lawmakers to address the issue of gun violence in America.

Republicans and Democrats debate daily the issue of gun control.

Newspapers, magazines and television news shows are flooded with articles on gun violence.

The Justice Policy Institute estimates that 900 black youths were killed in the United States during the 18 months since the school shootings began.

It has been estimated that between 1985-1995 – 75,000 black males were slain in the United States.

If 75,000 hearses were lined up, they would stretch approximately 300 miles.

Ironically, this is comparable to the distance between Augusta and Birmingham, the cradle of the civil rights movement.

Such disparate treatment of victims is obvious and leaves many questions unanswered.

For instance, where were the outrage, the politicians, the media and the nation’s search for answers on how to end youth violence?

We are not insensitive to the tragedy in Littleton.

In fact, we have sympathy for the victims and their families regardless of race.

However, as a nation we must be as outraged over the death of 900 black males as we are about the tragedy at Columbine High School.

The nation must focus on violent crime prevention for all youth.

Until that day Blacks Against Black Crime, Inc. will be the voice for black crime victims.”

—

“National Crime Victims Rights week is being observed through April 25.

During this time, organizations that assist victims of violent crime in Augusta have joined together to promote greater public awareness about the rights and needs of crime victims.

The theme of this year’s observance is “Victims Right’s Right for America.”

Blacks Against Black Crime, Inc. are an advocate for all victims of all crimes, regardless of race, gender, socio-economic status or religious influences.

The thrust of our focus is victims of black on black homicide.

Historically the judicial system has not been sensitive to black crime victims.

Since 1991 Blacks Against Black Crime, Inc. has assisted victims in our area.

Among the many services offered by the group are counseling, education, and financial assistance for burial and referral to other agencies.

Last year in Augusta there were 28 homicides.

Crime is no longer “someone else’s” problem because tomorrow that “someone else” might be someone you know or love.”

—

“This week is National Crime Victims’ Rights Week in America.

Proclaimed by the president and governors across our country, the theme for this special commemoration is “Let Victims’ Rights Ring Across America.”

It is a special week dedicated to those who have been injured and killed by criminal victimization.

It is also a time to recognize and reflect upon the many accomplishments on the local, state, and federal levels that have improved rights and services extended to crime victims in our nation.

For whom does the bell of victimization toll?

Each year in America, nearly 39 million individuals become victims of crime.

Sadly, statistics show that for over half of these victims, it is not the first time nor will it be the last.

Becoming a victim of crime has become a rite of passage in our violent nation.

The National Education Association reports that each day in America, 100,000 children carry guns to school, 260,000 children miss class because of the fear of being physically harmed and 40 students are killed or injured by firearms.”

—

“We have much to celebrate.

Fourteen years ago, Blacks Against Black Crime, Inc. was organized to serve this community and ensure fundamental rights for all crime victims.

Since 1994, we have seen crime victims and their families treated with compassion and dignity.

There are more than 10,000 community- and system-based organizations that help victims in the aftermath of crime.

And more than 32,000 laws have been passed at the federal and state levels that define and protect victims’ rights.

Yet there remains much work to be done, and many challenges that will put our shared values to test.

We must remain vigilant in our efforts to guarantee the same values that offer help and hope to victims of crime.

When you value justice for all people who live in America, you value victim rights and services.

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. told our nation that “if we are to go forward, we must go back and rediscover those precious values – that all reality hinges on moral foundations, and that all reality has spiritual control.”

The moral foundation of the victim-assistance field is one of compassion and caring, justice and equal rights.

The bricks and mortar we have used to create a nation that values justice, individual and community safety have fueled our efforts for more than 14 years.

These values are our vision for a future in which rights and services for victims and survivors of crime are not the exception to the rule, but the rule itself.

All Augustans have reasons to be thankful.

Homicides continue to decline each year, particularly black-on-black homicides.

In 2004, Augusta-Richmond county homicides were at an all-time low: 14 homicides were recorded.

Black males continue to make up the majority of slaying victims, causing us to focus on causes of crime in the black community.

As encouraging as this progress is, much work needs to be done.

Simply stated, we need to recommit ourselves and intensify our efforts.

Sororities, fraternities, community-based organizations, educators, religious leaders, churches and mentors are doing great works with the youth in Augusta; your hard work and dedication have contributed to this decline.

No matter what is going on in the world, our children have to succeed; our communities have to be made whole.”

—

“Most people in America will be a victim of or witness to a crime in their lifetime.

Crime victims need to feel safe in reporting crimes.

Crime victims need the protection of their core rights to information and notification, protection, participation, and restitution.

Many victims never report crime because of trauma and fear – damaging victims’ abilities to focus, function and work.

We have much work to do to validate the harm (crime victims) have endured.

Listen to their voices and concerns.

Protect their rights as victims.

Lives are irrevocably changed (in violent crimes) like the robbery victim who is left a paraplegic, the family whose breadwinner is murdered, the battered woman who hides her bruises in hopes of hiding her chronic suffering, and the child-abuse victims who hear the threats of their abusers and never disclose their victimization.

Victims and survivors of crime (must be) assured that they are not responsible for what happened, and that the persons who hurt them will be brought to justice.”

—

“Sen. Don Cheeks, R-Augusta, used his “position of influence to have a convicted sex offender not register with the state’s sex offenders’ registry.”

(Those) in positions of power and authority often manipulate laws.

The real tragedy (are political favors) at a time when children need help.

(Political favors mean) not holding offenders responsible for their actions.

Legislators have made at least 5,500 contacts on behalf of prisoners and parolees in a custom that benefits whites primarily (in a Georgia) inmate population that is two-thirds black.

In Georgia slavery days the laws were manipulated by white plantation owners to ensure cotton was picked.

The white boss would go to the prosecutor and judge on Monday, following the weekend killing of a black by another black, and he would tell them not to prosecute the killer, because he needed the able body back at work to toil in the fields.

This practice had a lasting effect on black people and to this day, we continue to feel the effect of political favors.”

—

“I can’t get used to the stupidity and senselessness.

A baby-mama drama, a fragile ego and a gun are ingredients for a homicide.

Repetitious childbearing out of wedlock by different partners is taken too lightly in our society.

The mothers will use these children as a way of manipulating the daddies and, more often than not, it has deadly consequences.

It’s easy to blame the victim for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The purpose of a gun is to kill.

When a person makes a conscious decision to carry a loaded gun, the decision has been made to kill.”

—

“An example of courage”

Augusta Chronicle Editorial Honoring the Life of Barbara A. Thurmond

Courage defined the life of Barbara Ann Thurmond, whose funeral services are being held today at Augusta’s Tabernacle Baptist Church.

She died much too young at age 56, but in that brief life she displayed enough courage for many lifetimes.

One could even say she wrote the book on courage.

Joy in my Heart: My Journey From Hopelessness to Happiness, released two years ago, recounted the pain, trials and tribulations she suffered after being diagnosed with a spinal cord tumor in 1983 that forced her into a wheelchair as a paraplegic.

Though Mrs. Thurmond was debilitated physically, she refused to let the illness defeat her feisty spirit and enduring spirituality.

“The wheelchair never set boundaries on her,” said one friend.

Indeed, the physical challenge simply spurred her to triumphs in other areas of her life.

Disgusted by homicides in her community, Mrs. Thurmond and her sister, Earnestine Covington, founded Blacks Against Black Crime Inc. in 1991 to combat Richmond County’s rising violent crime rate.

It took considerable personal courage for the sisters to base such a group in their Augusta neighborhood, and to work with law enforcement, yet they did just that.

And they were effective too.

District Attorney Danny Craig credits Mrs. Thurmond’s leadership for playing a key role in cutting Augusta’s crime rate to one of the lowest in the state.

“She was effective and never afraid to tell the entire community to ‘Stop the violence,’ ” said Terence Dicks, a longtime friend and fellow organization member.

Mrs. Thurmond’s courage was an inspiration to our community.

We join her family and wide circle of friends in mourning her passing.

She will be sorely missed.

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Scroll down for more on Barbara Thurmond words captured for us in newspaper articles, guest editorials and letters to the editor to the Augusta Chronicle
——-

Mankind still has the need to continue with murder across America:

Augusta, Georgia Area Homicides Database and Map Created by the Augusta Chronicle
From 2005 to present
Killings in Richmond County, Columbia County, and Aiken County, South Carolina
Victims/Courts/Stats/Race/Gender
http://chronicle.augusta.com/data/homicides
More homicide victims stories:
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/crime-courts/2010-06-11/homicides
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2000/11/19/met_301784.shtml

Augusta Chronicle series on homicides in the Augusta area:

Nichole Campbell, of Augusta stands by the graves of her murdered brothers.
They died 8 years apart.
Nicole frequently visits the church cemetery where her brothers, Anthony and Sergio, are buried. Augusta Chronicle Photo by Corey Perrine/Staff

Impact of homicide goes beyond victims, killers
Saturday, June 12, 2010
By Mike Wynn
Staff Writer
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/crime-courts/2010-06-12/impact-homicide-goes-beyond-victims-killers

Too many young Augustans have been shot in the head – or murdered in some other brutal fashion.
Holding an X-ray of a patient whose head has a bullet lodged in it, is Dr. Michael Hawkins, who has led the Medical College of Georgia’s trauma unit for 20 years.
He said there is no easy way to tell family members about violent deaths.
Augusta Chronicle Photo by Jackie Ricciardi/Staff

Who commits homicides?
Suspects in killings often have records
Sunday, June 13, 2010
By Sandy Hodson
Staff Writer
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/crime-courts/2010-06-13/suspects-killings-often-have-records

Due to the violence including the murders of three local law enforcement officers, parents in the Augusta, Georgia area often worry if it is safe enough outside for the children to go play.
Makayla and Alaina Dowling play with a bucket of cool water outside their home in T&S Mobile Home Park in Aiken, South Carolina.
Their father, Eric Dowling, says that the neighborhood has improved enough that he will allow his daughters to play outside.
Photo by Zach Boyden-Holmes/Staff

Where do homicides happen?
“Residential areas see more crime”
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
By Adam Folk
Staff Writer
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/aiken/2010-06-15/residential-areas-see-more-crime

Employers, employees often become victims
June 19, 2003
By Vicky Eckenrode
Staff Writer
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2003/06/19/bus_378865.shtml
Contact reporter Vicky Eckenrode
706-823-3227
vicky.eckenrode@augustachronicle.com
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Editor’s note: Below is more info on the above quotes from various stories, guest editorials and letters to the editor involving Barbara Thurmond and printed in the Augusta Chronicle:
——-

“Raps Georgia law protecting gun industry”
Barbara Thurmond says the National Rifle Association owns the Republican Party and all our legislators
3/4/99
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/1999/03/04/op_255148.shtml

In the wake of record violence in Augusta, Barbara Thurmond wrote a 1999 guest editorial because Georgia “passed a law prohibiting cities from suing gun manufacturers” an act proving that National Rifle Association owns state lawmakers.

“In 1997 in Augusta, 79 percent of the homicides were the result of gun violence.

Every two seconds a gun comes off the assembly line in America.

In one year in America, 5,285 children were killed by handguns,” Thurmond wrote adding gun violence is a problem in Augusta, Atlanta and other U.S. cities.

Thurmond applauded Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell’s “to hold gun manufacturers responsible for the madness and may-hem caused by guns in Atlanta” and other Georgia cities.

Georgia wears “the title of the gun belt and the gun-running state of the nation,” Thurmond said.

“The National Rifle Association own the Republican Party and “own our legislators,” she wrote
——-

“Kaffir Boy is insightful novel”
9/19/04
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2004/09/19/let_428935.shtml

Banned in Augusta schools:

“Kaffir Boy: The True Story of a Black Youth’s Coming of Age in Apartheid South Africa” by Mark Mathabane

In 2004, Barbara Thurmond wrote a letter to the editor because the school board banned a book about Apartheid:

I was disappointed to learn that the Richmond County Board of Education decided to pull “Kaffir Boy” from the reading list of a literature class at Hephzibah High School after complaints from a parent.

Calling “Mark Mathabane’s inspiring, moving and inspiring story “one of triumph and the resilience of the human spirit,” Thurmond was upset school board member Ken Echols called the book filth, sickening and unacceptable and demanded it banned because of only one sexual reference in the 339-page story about triumph over Apartheid.

At issue, is “sex acts between soldiers and boys” because “boys offered their bodies in exchange for food.”

“I was drawn into the daily lives of a people who lived in hideous conditions under apartheid,” Thurmond said. “The unjustified humiliation and degradation are difficult for most people to fathom.”

Apartheid is “strict racial segregation” in South Africa “to maintain social, economic and cultural dominance by the white minority,” she said.

“We must not take this powerful degradation out of context and denigrate the spirit in which it was written.”

Thurmond asked if the ban is “about sex or is it about politics?”

“Like other indescribable evils of the past, we don’t want to discuss the politics of the horror.”

“As African-Americans, we are too comfortable. We have to be angry when others denigrate our struggle,” she said. “I am an African-American who has made the connection to Africa.”
——-

“Black leaders see range of Kerry support”
10/22/04
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2004/10/22/met_432015.shtml
By Staff Writer Dena Levitz

In a news story about the 2004 Presidential campaign between Senator John Kerry and George W. Bush, Barbara Thurmond said she’d vote for Kerry but had no real attachment to him – a sentiment King-Era Democrats have expressed because they feel Democratic politicians – like their Republican opponents – are out of touch with voters and bought off by special interests – counter to human rights and compassion.

Like other Augusta black leaders, Thurmond said the important issues in 2004 were:

The economy

Loss of jobs overseas

Improving funding for the No Child Left Behind Act

The Iraq War
——-

“Black slayings lead homicide data”
1/22/03
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2003/01/22/met_365849.shtml
By Staff Writer Greg Rickabaugh

In a January 2003 story entitled “Black slayings lead homicide,” Barbara Thurmond, the president of Augusta-based Blacks Against Black Crime Inc., said the unabated killings are the reason her organization continues its education campaign.

“What other group of people would have their people lead the homicide list every year and not address it?” she asked. “When I see 10 out of 15 (are black), that has an impact on me.”

While the numbers show that a high number of slaying victims are black men, there are actually fewer being killed each year in Richmond County.

In 1998, 21 blacks – 17 of them men – were homicide victims.

In 2002, that number was cut in half.

Ms. Thurmond remembers years with more than 60 slayings, most of them of blacks.

She believes her group’s outreach to prosecutors and neighborhood organizations is among the reasons for the drop in black homicides.

“Of course, to those families who lost a loved one” the murder rate “decrease doesn’t mean anything,” she said. “We are raising awareness of gun violence, working on stricter gun laws and educating the public. It has made our community safer.”

15 Augusta murders in 2002:

The 11 black murder victims:
Gary Collins, 46; Anthony Campbell Jr., 26; Johnny Henderson, 42; Henry L. Murray III, 22; Betty Lou Abraham, 71; Alvin L. Cummings, 56; Carlton Lamb Jr., 34; Marcus D. Taylor, 28; Daniel Samilpa, 47;Thomas Dyson Jr., 31; Aldreco O. Booker, 27;

The four white murder victims:
Stephanie Nicole Burnett, 16; Wanda Graham, 45; James Henry Williams, 38; Marty Thomas Gibson, 48;
——-

“Service remembers local victims of violent crimes”
4/28/02
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2002/04/28/met_341064.shtml
By Staff Writer Timothy Cox

Blacks Against Black Crime, Inc. held a victims’ rights program and candlelight homage to recent Augusta murder victims in April 2002 as part of the annual National Crime Victim Rights week.

Violent behavior has increased in America due to a “lack of respect and discipline” because “we have lost control of our children” triggering a “more violent society” that can only be fixed by good parenting and community action, said guest speaker Clarence Davis, a longtime Maryland lawmaker who grew up in rural Washington, Georgia.

Among the 2002 Augusta murder victims remembered with candles were college student Niteka Wesbey and father -to-be Rodney Johnson.

Blacks Against Black Crime is the only victims’ rights group in the Augusta area, said co-founder Barbara Thurmond.

“It’s important to keep our movement alive” even though there’s been a recent but temporary decrease in Augusta violent crimes, she said.
——-

“Augustans remember 25 victims”
5/1/99
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/1999/05/01/met_260373.shtml
By Court Reporter/Staff Writer Sandy Hodson

In May 1999, Blacks Against Black Crime, Inc. held a victim’s rights ceremony to remember the 25 murder victims in Augusta during 1998.

Among those remembered was shooting victim 21-year-old Tyrone Cathcart Jr. – and the murder victim’s mother Patricia Colon vowed to join the group that provides services and assistance to crime victims because “all this killing has to stop” and something positive has come out of his death.”
——-

Augusta, Georgia  double killer Antonio Ruffin has already killed once, when he was free to kill again.

“Speaker probes crime in black community”
7/27/99
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/1999/07/27/met_266527.shtml
By Crime Reporter/ Staff Writer Meghan Gourley

Barbara Thurmond was not surprised that 27-year-old convicted murderer Antonio Ruffin had killed before he slaughtered Michael Young.

If Ruffin had gone to prison in 1991 for beating a black man to death – he would not have been free to murder of Michael Young less than 8 years later.

When Ruffin was finally was sentenced to life in prison in July 1999, his criminal record included drugs, assault and an involuntary manslaughter conviction in which he received 10 years of probation for using a pipe to beat to death another man.

“There is a cultural acceptance of violent behavior,” said Ms. Thurmond, president of Blacks Against Black Crime told the Augusta Kiwanis Club. “There is a certain amount of lawlessness allowed in the black community.”

The nonprofit Blacks Against Black Crime identifies problems that contribute to the disproportionate number of black victims, aid families of victims and help fight crime.

Violent criminals in black communities often come from single-parent households, and many of them are brought up without values and accountability, Thurmond said.

“There is a culture of African Americans that I don’t understand — their feelings about life and death are different,” she said. “They abide by their own set of rules.”

Blacks are further victimized by the court system, she said.

Blacks are not held accountable often enough – such as with the case of Antonio Ruffin – and they are often released from jail, committing more crimes.

Thurmond found disparities among bond amounts.

The lowest bonds were set in black-on-black crimes, and the highest were black-on-white crimes.

More info on Augusta’s double killer – Convicted murderer Antonio Wellington Ruffin:

Born in 1971, Antonio Wellington Ruffin is serving “life” for a 1999 Augusta murder that included the charges of firearm possession by a convicted felon and possession of firearm during a crime.

Ruffin was 20 years old when he received probation for a killing in 1991 – and after violating that probation by killing again in 1999 – he received a longer sentence for cocaine possession (7 years) than the conviction for involuntary manslaughter (less than 6 years).

Georgia Department of Corrections:
http://www.dcor.state.ga.us
http://www.dcor.state.ga.us/GDC/OffenderQuery/jsp/OffQryForm.jsp
http://www.dcor.state.ga.us/contactus/jsp/form.jsp
404-656-4661

Georgia State Department of Pardons and Paroles and the Office of Victim Services
http://www.pap.state.ga.us
http://www.pap.state.ga.us/ParoleeDatabase
VictimServices@pap.state.ga.us

The Georgia Corrections and Parole Board Victim Information Program (V.I.P.):
http://www.pap.state.ga.us/opencms/export/sites/default/victims_services/VIP_Program.html
1-800-593-9474
——-

Local crime rate falls but not rape, sexual assault
December 29, 1998
By Staff Writers Chasiti Kirkland, Emily Sollie, Tom Corwin and Jason B. Smith
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/1998/12/29/met_248658.shtml

Barbara Thurmond said a decline in crime is more than just numbers as it means that her son, George, and other young men in Augusta did not become a statistic.

“It means lives were saved,” said Ms. Thurmond, president and co-founder of Blacks Against Black Crime, Inc.

Following the national trend of declining crime rates, 7 percent fewer violent crimes reported during 1997 in Augusta.

During 1998 in Richmond and Aiken counties violent crime declined over 1997 for most violent crimes, except for rape, also mirroring a national trend. In Columbia County crime declined except for murder due to two incidents of multiple homicides.

“I hate statistics,” said Richmond County sheriff’s Chief Deputy Ronald Strength said.

“Numbers are very volatile. They’re like the stock market. No one can control crime. The numbers might be down this year, and everyone’s patting you on the back, but they might go up again next year.”

And people have not caught on to the decrease and probably do not feel safer, Ms. Thurmond said.

“There’s a lot of hype about crime,” Ms. Thurmond said.

There has been progress, after all there were 50 Augusta murders in 1991, the year Blacks Against Black Crime was founded, said Thurmond, whose group works on preventing crime.

“We started out of fear – thankfully, today I can say things are better and we’re all happy about that,” Thurmond said. “But there’s still too much black-on-black crime.”
——-

State senate proposes to abolish parole
1/27/98
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/1998/01/27/met_221389.shtml

By Lawrence Viele, Staff Writer Tracie Powell contributed to this article and members of the Morris News Service

ATLANTA – Augustans protested in front of the Municipal Building after the Georgia Senate approved a constitutional amendment to kill parole as of July 1999.

While they don’t condone crime, the protestors are against abolition of parole because blacks make up a huge part of the Georgia Prison population..

“There is a disproportionate number of African-Americans in prisons in the state of Georgia,” said Barbara Thurmond, president of Blacks Against Black Crime, a victim-advocacy group.

“We make up 30 percent of the state’s population and 70 percent of the state’s prison population. Until that changes, we will not support any amendments or bills that will keep people in prison longer,” Ms. Thurmond said.

“Those who commit crimes need to be accountable and responsible for their actions,” Thurmond said. “But when young people are sentenced to 20 to 25 years for nonviolent offenses, that is a crime committed against their souls.”

The Senate Republican proposal abolishes parole for all crimes, but Democratic leadership want to determine which crimes fit under the no-parole mandate that still must be passed by the house.
——-

Black youths gather, carry on unity goal
9/27/98
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/1998/09/27/met_240185.shtml

About 100 black youths gathered in May Park in Augusta during September 1998 at a follow-up event to the Million Youth Movement.

“We have an unfinished agenda,” said Terence Dicks, assistant director of “Think Big ’98,” a program designed by Blacks Against Black Crime Inc. to reduce adolescent violence and drug abuse.

“We have not finished business,” said Mr. Dicks, one of several speakers urging the audience to continue the work of the Million Youth Movement.

“We have got to keep going. I ask all of you who are active right now to remember us on Oct. 16, the anniversary of the Million Man March,” Dicks said.
——-

‘They were our sons and daughters’
By Augusta Chronicle Staff Writer
4/14/97
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/1997/04/14/met_206781.shtml

In remembrance of those slain in the Augusta area, 36 white candles burned in crystal votives during April 1997 at the Good Shepherd Baptist Church with each flame a life extinguished by homicide in 1996.

“We are here to remember the 36 people who lost their lives in 1996 to senseless acts of violence,” said Blacks Against Black Crime, Inc. co-founder Barbara Thurmond at a memorial service commemorating murder victims from Richmond and Columbia counties.

“They were not just numbers, they were our lovers, our friends, sisters, brothers,” she said. “They were our sons and daughters.”

Seven months earlier after an evening church service, Linda Washington returned home to the awful, heart-wrenching news that her only son had been murdered.

Beloved son and father, who dreamed of enlisting in the Army, Michael “Connie” Washington, 20, was gunned down Sept. 4, 1996 while searching for a friend.

“My son’s life was gone,” said Mrs. Washington with pain in her voice “His dreams and hopes were gone.”

“He’s not just a statistic, Connie “was loved and he loved.”

In an effort to galvanize the community against violence, about 115 people gathered to remember.

“A lot of these people died at a very young age” pursuing the violent lives espoused by popular movies and musicians, said Terence Dicks, treasurer of Blacks Against Black Crimes.

“Death is the wrong way to go towards immortality,” Mr. Dicks said.
——–

To ensure constitutionality, Georgia lawmakers re-work bill that would keep accused murderers behind bars until trial
By Augusta Chronicle Staff Writer
2/09/97
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/1997/02/09/met_203762.shtml

In the face of criticism that it is unconstitutional, lawmakers are re-working a proposal to keep accused Georgia murderers behind bars until they can be tried.

The Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits excessive bail or fines.

“The wait is a little hard,” said Barbara Thurmond, co-founder of Blacks Against Black Crime, Inc. – an Augusta anti-violence group that has been pushing for the bill.

“I really do understand though,” she said. “When you’re talking about something that affects people’s constitutional rights it gets a little sticky.”

Augusta Judicial Circuit District Attorney Danny Craig, who is writing the bill for Rep. Henry Howard, D-Augusta, said the bill needs to be rewritten to make sure it will be constitutional.

Mr. Craig said the bill would help keep violent offenders from repeating their crimes while out on bail.

“There is simply no reason that the community should be subjected to having this violent killer in their midst,” he said.
——-

Bill would keep suspects behind bars
1/16/97
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/1997/01/16/met_202644.shtml

Former Augusta police officer Frank Howard found a system that did not work when he tried to get justice for the killer of his 17-year-old daughter in 1992.

Mr. Howard and other members of Blacks Against Black Crime – a local anti-violence organization – are working with state Rep. Henry Howard to introduce a bill that would keep people charged with murder behind bars until they can be tried.

After Howard’s daughter was shot to death in July 1992, accused killer Catara Hill was freed from jail on $15,000 bail.

“It was like they were saying my daughter’s life was only worth $15,000.”

Mr. Howard waited for months while the trial was repeatedly postponed because the trials of incarcerated defendants took precedence while Ms. Hill was free to walk the streets.

The bill would reassure the community that dangerous offenders would be taken off the streets and could reduce the number of revenge killings, said Barbara Thurmond, head of Blacks Against Black Crime.

“Part of me died with her that day. That’s why I’m working so hard now,” Mr. Howard said, who had lost faith in the criminal justice system.

Mr. Howard took part in anti-violence drives and led a petition on the bail issue two years ago.

“What this seems to suggest is that we really think you’re guilty and we’re going to treat you that way until you can presume otherwise,” said attorney David Watkins.

Calling the bill unconstitutional, Augusta attorney Jack E. Boone, Jr. said the bill also doesn’t take into account the defendant’s record or the circumstances of the crime.”

The U.S. Constitution Eighth Amendment prohibits excessive bail or fines.
——-

Locals await State Legislature consideration of no-bond bill for murderers
1/12/97
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/1997/01/12/met_202458.shtml

Shortly after Phalonda Howard was murdered in July 1992, her killer walked out of jail after posting a $15,000 bond.

Even though the killer was eventually sent to prison, Howard’s killer was allowed to roam the streets – thus delaying her trial and exposing the public to possibly more violence including retaliation and new crimes.

For those reasons, people charged with murder should not be out on bail, said Ms. Thurmond, co-founder of the Augusta based nonprofit anti-violence group Blacks Against Black Crime, Inc.

Ms. Thurmond has been working with state Rep. Henry Howard to introduce a bill to keep people charged with murder and manslaughter in jail until they can be tried in court.

Defense lawyers and other legal groups will fight the bill to keep accused murderers in jail.

“What we’ve learned about the Legislature is that you’ve got a bunch of folks who go to Atlanta and forget the people they represent,” she said. “It might not be different for us, but we’re going to try.”
——-

‘Georgia gunrunners take toll on state’
Augusta Chronicle Guest Editorial by Barbara A. Thurmond, president of Blacks Against Crimes, Inc. in Augusta
11/09/02
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2002/11/09/let_357661.shtml

In 1995 Senate Bill 109 proposed that sales of handguns be limited to no more than one gun per person per month.

Who wants to buy more than one gun a month?

A person who has a criminal record and cannot purchase handguns finds someone who is clean to make the purchases, paying him, say, $40 profit on each gun.

That’s gunrunning.

Georgia leads the nation in gunrunning.

It is legal to buy large quantities of guns in the state of Georgia.

According to The Augusta Chronicle Oct. 25, “Erich Olaf Tate pleaded guilty to conspiracy to traffic guns,” the agent said.

He said between 100 and 200 guns were taken to New York over a period of two to three years.

We can speculate that these guns were used for shootings, robberies and drug deals.

Over the years far too many guns recovered from crimes in other states have been traced back to Georgia.

The cost per firearm fatality is higher than any other type of fatal injury or for any of the four leading causes of death.

It is estimated that the cost of firearm injuries in the United States per year is $20.4 billion.

Taxpayers pay most of these bills.

And although the cost is high, the emotional toll on victims and their families cannot be measured in dollars.

How long will the state of Georgia continue to contribute to the great sorrow felt by the families of those killed or wounded by Georgia’s guns?

In 1991, Blacks Against Black Crimes identified the easy accessibility of guns as a contributing factor to the epidemic of black-on-black violence.

In the effort to fight for better gun control, we joined Georgians Against Gun Violence, Handgun Control, Inc. and The Million Mom March.

We have worked tirelessly over the years with the above organizations by making monetary contributions and supporting gun legislation at the state and federal level.

We are in an ongoing battle with the National Rifle Association for sensible gun control.
——-

‘Justice system unfair to blacks’
Augusta Chronicle Guest Editorial by Barbara A. Thurmond, president of Blacks Against Black Crime, Inc. in Augusta
6/08/02
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2002/06/08/let_343083.shtml

According to the May 19 Augusta Chronicle, Superior Court Judge William D. Jennings III agreed to set bond for Rufus Owens, the alleged killer of Anthony Campbell Jr.

Although Mr. Owens is facing murder and weapon charges, he was granted a $50,000 bond.

During this century, American justice has been a mockery for black people.

Black males have the highest victimization rate of any group.

This has been proven true once again.

Mr. Campbell is one of those black males, victimized over and over again – first by the killer and then by the criminal justice system.

The moment the decision was made to release the accused killer on a $50,000 bond, the family would also feel victimized again and their pain intensified.

When the criminal justice system fails to keep murder suspects behind bars, it has a marked impact on the victim’s family and community.

When those who have killed are allowed to move freely about the community, without immediate consequences for their inappropriate behavior, it sends the wrong message to impressionable minds.

One year ago, Cedric Jackson was allegedly killed by Claude Wiggleton, Jr.

A year later, this case has not been resolved and the defendant has remained out of jail after posting a $40,000 bond.

It is the opinion of Blacks Against Black Crimes that injustice and double standards within the justice system are contributing factors to black-on-black violence.

Editor’s note: Updates since Barbara Thurmond wrote her guest editorial

Richmond County jury rules shooting death of Cedric Jackson is justifiable homicide in acquitting former Augusta police detective’s son Claude Wiggleton, Jr. of voluntary manslaughter.

Meanwhile …

Still free on bond and awaiting trial, drunk murder suspect Rufus Owens Jr., 28, of Augusta was killed in March 2003 when he flipped his SUV in an early morning drunk driving accident in south Augusta – and luckily did not kill anyone else.
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2003/03/31/met_474794.shtml

He died about 10 months after Barbara Thurmond wrote this guest editorial.

The victim – Mr. Anthony Campbell, Jr. – was shot at his home after an argument over a slumber party.

In a tragic twist, the victim’s brother – Sergio Campbell – was murdered in an unrelated shooting 8 years later (2010) at the age of 22.

Augusta brothers are both murdered in unrelated incidents eight years apart: Mr. Anthony Campbell, Jr.  and – Sergio Campbell

The first in an argument about a slumber party and the second in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant.
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/crime-courts/2010-06-12/impact-homicide-goes-beyond-victims-killers
——-

‘A decade of advocacy for black homicide victims brings changes to system’
Augusta Chronicle Guest Editorial by Barbara A. Thurmond, president and co-founder of Blacks Against Black Crime, Inc.
7/18/01
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2001/07/18/op_319437.shtml

TEN YEARS AGO on a hot day in June, my sister and I were motivated by fear to bring attention to the epidemic of black-on-black violence.

In 1991, Augusta/Richmond County had the highest homicide rate ever recorded.

Ninety seven percent of these homicides were blacks killed by other blacks.

We understood early on that black-on-black violence was bigger than one brother killing another.

One of the many facts we identified was the injustice and double standards of the criminal justice system.

Historically, blacks had not been punished harshly enough for killing other blacks, and we were convinced that this contributed to the epidemic of black-on-black violence.

In 1991 the average bond for a black defendant in a black-on-black killing was $20,000.

This aspect of the criminal justice system has changed.

In 2001, for example, a 24-year-old man was released on $100,000 bond after the murder of a 42-year-old victim.

Defendants are spending more time in jail as the result of more trials.

Initially we met with Judge William Fleming in an effort to understand the system.

We needed to understand the terms “murder,” “voluntary manslaughter,” “plea bargain” and bonding criteria.

TEN YEARS AGO Blacks Against Black Crime dared to dream of a world in which all crime victims and their families are treated with compassion and dignity.

In 1993 we met with District Attorney Danny Craig to voice our concerns about the lack of prosecution of black-on-black homicides.

He listens to the voices of all crime victims and has prosecuted homicide cases equitably.

We have seen more murder convictions for black-on-black homicide.

We believe this has contributed to the decline in these incidents.

Compared with 10 years ago, we are a much better system and a safer community.

We pay tribute to Sheila Stahl, director of the Victims Assistance Department of the Augusta Richmond County judicial system.

Our collective dream of victims’ justice is built upon the painful realization of the nightmare that crime has wreaked on our community.

At times funeral homes contact us when victims are without funds for burial.

We contact Victims Assistance and they help families apply for funds.

We communicate with the office weekly, sometimes daily.

TOGETHER WE share the burden of those whose losses are immeasurable, and who feel such a tremendous obligation to stand for the rights of their loved ones.

Their pain and suffering are our incentives to continue efforts to prevent crime. Black crime victims are no longer nameless, faceless entities.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s the type of killings changed; they were more random, different from the Saturday-night brawls and crimes of passion.

We saw in the 1970s that killers were younger, cold-blooded, and without conscience or remorse.

How did we get to this place?

Why had African Americans become the victims and victimizers?

In the 1980s we experienced the President Reagan-induced poverty, an increase in cocaine use and the introduction of crack cocaine.

One year after the introduction of crack cocaine, gun manufacturers increased their production by 42 percent.

The lethality of firearms escalated from low-caliber to high-caliber revolvers and semi-automatics.

The media has severely damaged the African-American image by desensitizing young people to violence and death as it continues to glamorize illegitimacy.

IS THERE A connection between the disproportionate number of blacks assigned to special education and the disproportionate number of black male victimizers?

Those in special education are unable to feel good about themselves, are labeled stupid, robbed of self-esteem, and feel nothing is expected of them.

It is part of an instilled inferiority and dehumanization process.

This can lead to dropping out of schools, illiteracy, unemployment, poverty and ultimately criminal activity.

To blame others would be easy, but we knew if we were to truly make a difference, it would take honesty.

We had to take a critical self-inventory and analysis.

In the 1970s and 1980s, middle class blacks fled the inner city, leaving it without positive role models.

Too many black intellectuals have refused to remain in some visible way connected to black cultural life and the social misery of the underclass.

THE URBAN Institute in Washington, D.C. defines the underclass family as headed by a single female, members are welfare dependent, marginally educated, chronically unemployed and engaged in repeated patterns of criminal deviance.

The act of creating new life is taken so lightly that school children sing about it.

Repetition becomes a fact, and it condemns young mothers to a life of poverty, poor education and welfare.

It is difficult for a single, teen-age mother to promote psycho-social development in her children when she is deprived of that development.

We must take responsibility for our own behavior in order to change things that are wrong.

If we improve our community, we improve our city.

If we improve our city, we improve our state and nation.

Blacks Against Black Crime has been labeled racist and accused of causing polarization.

We are volunteers working to save people from their own destruction.

We are realists.

We see things as they are and not the way we would like them to be.

We joined with organizations across the state and nation and will stand with anyone if they stand for what is right for all.

THE LAST 10 years have been challenging.

The sacrifices have been many.

Our focus has been and continues to be advocating for black homicide victims.

We ask for continued support of this city as we continue our passionate efforts to reduce crime and violence.
——-

‘Why no reward for White’s killer’
Augusta Chronicle Guest Editorial by Barbara A. Thurmond, president of Blacks Against Black Crime, Inc.
7/18/00
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2000/07/18/edi_292917.shtml

Two years ago 40-year-old David Holt was murdered.

This was a heinous crime.

The family, friends, co-workers and indeed the greater Augusta community suffered a terrible loss.

On June 1, 22-year-old Shanta White and her unborn child were murdered.

This also was a heinous crime.

On the night she was killed, her family lost their future.

Everything that Shanta and her unborn child would have been is now gone forever.

What do these two crimes have in common?

Both cases were assigned to the same investigator.

Both killers are still at large.

Both victims were employed by the same company.

Both victims were children of God, made in his image.

Until their killer(s) are brought to justice, their families cannot begin the healing process.

That is where the similarities end.

Sam’s Club, the common employer, has offered a $400,000 reward for information that would lead to the arrest and conviction of (white male) David Holt’s killer(s).

The Sheriff’s Department mailed a questionnaire to several zip codes seeking information on the murder of Mr. Holt.

What about (black female) Shanta White and her unborn child?

Who is willing to come forward and offer a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of her killer(s)?

We know that offering reward money is no cure-all for crime and violence, but it is one of many tools used by law enforcers as they work to solve and prevent crime, apprehend criminals and bring them to justice.
——-

‘Claims racist response to violence’
Augusta Chronicle Guest Editorial by Barbara A. Thurmond, president of Blacks Against Black Crimes, Inc.
7/05/99
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/1999/07/05/edi_265057.shtml

Although juvenile crime is down in America, the media reports give a different impression.

The highly publicized school shootings in a period of 18 months include: Springfield, Ore.; Fayetteville, Tenn.; Edinboro, Penn.; Jonesboro, Ark; Paducah, Ky.; Pearl, Miss., and Littleton, Colo.

In these incidents Americans have been shown another face of youth violence, white suburban males.

These shootings have prompted federal lawmakers to address the issue of gun violence in America.

Republicans and Democrats debate daily the issue of gun control.

Newspapers, magazines and television news shows are flooded with articles on gun violence.

In contrast, Vincent Schiraidi, director of the Justice Policy Institute, estimates that 900 black youths were killed in the United States during the 18 months since the school shootings began.

In addition, according to an article published in the Baltimore Sun, it has been estimated that between 1985-1995 – 75,000 black males were slain in the United States.

If 75,000 hearses were lined up, they would stretch approximately 300 miles.

Ironically, this is comparable to the distance between Augusta and Birmingham, the cradle of the civil rights movement.

Such disparate treatment of victims is obvious and leaves many questions unanswered.

For instance, where were the outrage, the politicians, the media and the nation’s search for answers on how to end youth violence?

We are not insensitive to the tragedy in Littleton.

In fact, we have sympathy for the victims and their families regardless of race.

However, as a nation we must be as outraged over the death of 900 black males as we are about the tragedy at Columbine High School.

The nation must focus on violent crime prevention for all youth.

Until that day Blacks Against Black Crimes will be the voice for black crime victims.
——-

‘Marks Crime Victims Rights Week’
Augusta Chronicle Guest Editorial by Barbara A. Thurmond
4-23-98
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/1998/04/23/op_226616.shtm

National Crime Victims Rights week is being observed through April 25.

During this time, organizations that assist victims of violent crime in Augusta have joined together to promote greater public awareness about the rights and needs of crime victims.

The theme of this year’s observance is “Victims Right’s Right for America.”

Remember too, that Blacks Against Black Crimes are an advocate for all victims of all crimes, regardless of race, gender, socio-economic status or religious influences.

The thrust of our focus is victims of black on black homicide, because historically the judicial system has not been sensitive to black crime victims.

Since 1991 Blacks Against Black Crimes has assisted victims in our area.

Among the many services offered by the group are counseling, education, and financial assistance for burial and referral to other agencies.

Last year in Augusta there were 28 homicides.

Crime is no longer “someone else’s” problem because tomorrow that “someone else” might be someone you know or love.
——-

‘Plugs victims’ rights; cites statistics’
Augusta Chronicle Guest Editorial by Barbara A. Thurmond, president of Blacks Against Black Crimes, Inc.
4-14-97
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/1997/04/14/edi_206791.shtml

This week is National Crime Victims’ Rights Week in America.

Proclaimed by the president and governors across our country, the theme for this special commemoration is “Let Victims’ Rights Ring Across America.”

It is a special week dedicated to those who have been injured and killed by criminal victimization.

It is also a time to recognize and reflect upon the many accomplishments on the local, state, and federal levels that have improved rights and services extended to crime victims in our nation.

For whom does the bell of victimization toll?

Each year in America, nearly 39 million individuals become victims of crime.

Sadly, statistics show that for over half of these victims, it is not the first time nor will it be the last.

Becoming a victim of crime has become a rite of passage in our violent nation.

For example, the National Education Association reports that each day in America, 100,000 children carry guns to school, 260,000 children miss class because of the fear of being physically harmed and 40 students are killed or injured by firearms.
——-

Asks ‘Baby Face’ to sing different tune
Augusta Chronicle Guest Editorial by Terence A. Dicks, spokesperson for Blacks Against Black Crime, Inc.
6/18/97
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/1997/06/18/edi_210076.shtml

After 378 years of struggle and resistance against forces ranging from legal slavery to systemic assaults through education, environmental and judicial means, African-Americans continue to rise to the occasion.

In the wake of redistricting of our Southern-most areas to the church burnings across this country, we now face genocide through our music.

That force which once gave us hope now claims our youngest talent through homicide – i.e. Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls.

This is a frontal assault on black youth in a serious time of welfare reform, and a record breaking epidemic of teen pregnancy – but along comes the song “My Baby’s Daddy,” by B-Rock and The Biz.

No other self-respecting people would allow this song to feed a corrupt spirit that already affects our youth.

One only needs to look at the break down of the black family, the disrespect for the black church, and an increase of black on black violence to see that these lyrics are harmful, undermining, and self-destructive.

Please join with us as we respond to producer Kenneth “Baby Face” Edmonds, who was recently cited by Time as one of the 25 most influential people in the country.

Let us let him know that we would like for him to use his influence in another way.
——-

‘Victim assistance is stronger’
Augusta Chronicle Letter to the Editor by Barbara Thurmond, founder and president of Blacks Against Black Crimes, Inc.
4/03/05
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2005/04/03/let_449223.shtml

We have much to celebrate.

Fourteen years ago, Blacks Against Black Crimes Inc. was organized to serve this community and ensure fundamental rights for all crime victims.

Since 1994, we have seen crime victims and their families treated with compassion and dignity.

There are more than 10,000 community- and system-based organizations that help victims in the aftermath of crime.

And more than 32,000 laws have been passed at the federal and state levels that define and protect victims’ rights.

Yet there remains much work to be done, and many challenges that will put our shared values to test.

We must remain vigilant in our efforts to guarantee the same values that offer help and hope to victims of crime; when you value justice for all people who live in America, you value victim rights and services.

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. told our nation that “if we are to go forward, we must go back and rediscover those precious values – that all reality hinges on moral foundations, and that all reality has spiritual control.”

The moral foundation of the victim-assistance field is one of compassion and caring, justice and equal rights.

The bricks and mortar we have used to create a nation that values justice, individual and community safety have fueled our efforts for more than 14 years.

These values are our vision for a future in which rights and services for victims and survivors of crime are not the exception to the rule, but the rule itself.

As the “father of the victim-impact statement,” James Rowland once said, “Justice will not be served until victims’ rights are not just observed annually, but practiced daily.”
——-

‘Homicide decline should inspire’
Augusta Chronicle Letter to the Editor by Barbara A. Thurmond, co-founder and president of Blacks Against Black Crime, Inc.
2/23/05
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2005/02/23/let_444380.shtml

All Augustans have reasons to be thankful.

Homicides continue to decline each year, particularly black-on-black homicides.

In 2004, Augusta-Richmond county homicides were at an all-time low: 14 homicides were recorded.

Black males continue to make up the majority of slaying victims, causing us to focus on causes of crime in the black community.

As encouraging as this progress is, much work needs to be done. Simply stated, we need to recommit ourselves and intensify our efforts.

Sororities, fraternities, community-based organizations, educators, religious leaders, churches and mentors are doing great works with the youth in Augusta; your hard work and dedication have contributed to this decline.

No matter what is going on in the world, our children have to succeed; our communities have to be made whole.
——-

‘Keep assault weapons off streets’
Augusta Chronicle Letter to the Editor by Barbara A. Thurmond, co-founder and president of Blacks Against Black Crime, Inc.
7/31/04
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2004/07/31/let_423842.shtml

(The federal ban on assault weapons expired in Sept. 2004 – and efforts for a new ban has yet to even be voted on by U.S. lawmakers)

Pleading for the renewal of the “ban on assault weapons,” Barbara Thurmond noted that “these weapons of mass destruction” have been used in “America’s most notorious massacres” like the 1999 Columbine High School death spree and the “2003 D.C. sniper shootings.”

“The AK-47, Tec-9 and the Uzi” have caused our police to be “outgunned” and are a continued “threat to the safety of our dedicated police officers and the public,” Thurmond wrote in a July 2004 letter to the editor.

“Assault weapons are made to kill many people at one time,” Thurmond stated.

“Georgia is a high-volume gun state,” Thurmond said, citing a survey by “Americans for Gun Safety” that concluded in “2003 Georgia ranked fourth in the nation in the number of high-crime gun stores” that sold weapons “responsible for at least 200″ crimes between 1996 and 2000.

“We need sensible gun laws, enforcement of existing laws and concerted local efforts to make our city, state and nation safer,” she wrote.

“Blacks Against Black Crimes, Inc. joins with the Million Mom March, Georgians for Gun Safety and the Brady Campaign for Handgun Control in supporting the assault weapon ban and all efforts to reduce firearm injuries and death.”

Thurmond asked:

“Why would anyone want these weapons back on the streets of America?”
——-

‘Be mindful of victims’ rights’
Augusta Chronicle Letter to the Editor by Barbara A. Thurmond, co-founder and president of Blacks Against Black Crime, Inc.
4/16/04
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2004/04/16/let_412349.shtml

“Most people in America will be a victim of or witness to a crime in their lifetime,” stated Barbara Thurmond in an April 2004 letter to the editor adding violence and terrorism have a “profound effect on feelings of safety and security.”

Noting the annual April National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, Thurmond stated crime victims “need to feel safe in reporting crimes” and need the protection of their “core rights to information and notification, protection, participation, and restitution.”

“Many victims never report crime because of trauma and fear” and many suffer a devastating psychological impact “damaging victims’ abilities to focus, function and work,” Thurmond wrote.

“We have much work to do to validate the harm (crime victims) have endured” and listen to “their voices and concerns” while protecting “their rights as victims,” she said.

“Lives are irrevocably changed” during violent crimes like “the robbery victim who is left a paraplegic, the family whose breadwinner is murdered, the battered woman who hides her bruises in hopes of hiding her chronic suffering, and the child-abuse victims who hear the threats of their abusers and never disclose their victimization,” Thurmond wrote.

“Victims and survivors of crime” need to be “assured that they are not responsible for what happened, and that the persons who hurt them will be brought to justice,” Thurmond stated.
——-

“Stop exercising political favors”
Augusta Chronicle Letter to the Editor by Barbara A. Thurmond, co-founder and president of Blacks Against Black Crime, Inc.
2/18/03
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2003/02/18/let_376096.shtml

Noting that Sen. Don Cheeks, R-Augusta, used his “position of influence to have a convicted sex offender not register with the state’s sex offenders’ registry,” Thurmond stated she was further alarmed that those “in positions of power and authority” often “manipulate laws” during a time when children are in the midst of a violence crisis.

“The real tragedy,” Thurmond stated, is the political favors continue “at a time when children need help” but instead see examples of lawmakers doing political favors and therefore not “holding offenders responsible for their actions.”

She cited an Atlanta Journal-Constitution story that revealed in the previous five years state “legislators have made at least 5,500 contacts on behalf of prisoners and parolees” in a “custom (that) benefits whites primarily” in a Georgia “inmate population (that) is two-thirds black.”

Thurmond stated in the February 2003 letter to the editor that in Georgia’s slavery days the laws were manipulated by white plantation owners to ensure cotton was picked.

“The white boss would go to the prosecutor and judge on Monday, following the weekend killing of a black by another black, and he would tell them not to prosecute the killer, because he needed the able body back at work to toil in the fields,” Thurmond wrote.

“This practice had a lasting effect on black people and to this day, we continue to feel the effect of political favors,” stated Thurmond fearing children are the next group to suffer from political favors.
——-

“Jury’s ‘not-guilty’ verdict appalls and perplexes observer”
Augusta Chronicle Letter to the Editor by Barbara A. Thurmond, co-founder and president of Blacks Against Black Crime, Inc.
9/16/02
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2002/09/16/let_352959.shtml

After attending a decade of black on black murder trials in Augusta, Barbara Thurmond said she “can’t get used to the stupidity and senselessness” of the violence.

“A baby-mama drama, a fragile ego and a gun are ingredients for a homicide,” she wrote in a September 2002 letter to the editor.

“Repetitious childbearing out of wedlock by different partners is taken too lightly in our society,” said Thurmond who believed proper parenting and a sense of personal responsibility would prevent black on black crime.

“The mothers will use these children as a way of manipulating the daddies and, more often than not, it has deadly consequences,” wrote Thurmond – upset that a jury found a father not guilty in the shooting death the unarmed boyfriend of his “baby’s mama” in an incident that also saw “the baby hit his head on the wall” during an altercation.

“It’s easy to blame the victim for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“The purpose of a gun is to kill,” Thurmond wrote – describing some gun-toting black males as having a “fragile ego” who are “craving respect.”

“When a person makes a conscious decision to carry a loaded gun, the decision has been made to kill,” Thurmond stated.

An advocate for getting assault weapons and handguns off the streets, Thurmond said she agrees with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference that “guns are bad news, and they bring sad news.”
——-

“Black-on-black homicide should remain a priority issue” in Augusta Chronicle
Augusta Chronicle Letter to the Editor by Barbara A. Thurmond, co-founder and president of Blacks Against Black Crime, Inc.
3-7-02
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2002/03/07/let_337310.shtml

“What has not changed is the disproportionate number of blacks who die as the result of violence,” said Barbara Thurmond in a March 2002 letter to the editor reacting to a drop in the crime rate. “We must address the leading cause of death of African-Americans.”

Thurmond said it is “painfully obvious to me” that “black-on-black homicide is a threat to African-Americans in Augusta.”

“African-Americans are six times more likely to be murdered than whites” in Augusta, said Thurmond who did her own investigation and calculations – after a newspaper article on murders did not take race into account – concluding there was not a pattern to violence in Augusta. “Homicides account for more deaths of black men ages 25-44 than does heart disease, cancer or diabetes.”

“We cannot continue to ignore black-on-black homicides – Ignoring the problem won’t make it go away,” she wrote

“Black leaders, this is our war and we must stay on the battlefield, armed with courage, truth, persistence and faith,” Thurmond stated listing some of the underlying causes of black on black violence. “Voting, economic empowerment and the removal of the Confederate flag are all important issues; issues that we all must be concerned about.”
——-

Raps paper for “lack of objectivity”
Augusta Chronicle Letter to the Editor by Barbara A. Thurmond, president of Blacks Against Black Crime, Inc.
4/3/00
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2000/04/03/edi_285922.shtml

According to the March 12 Chronicle, Christopher Andrews died of cardiac wounds at the Medical College of Georgia Hospital after allegedly being stabbed by Alicia Hall.

I’m a lay person without a law degree, but because of the commitment to the cause of victims’ rights, I’ve had to familiarize myself with the process of reaching a verdict in a case such as this.

When did The Chronicle become prosecutor, jury and judge? What happened to objective reporting?

I have no opinion on the case due to the fact that evidence hasn’t been presented in a court of law.

All I’ve read is hearsay, pro and con, in favor of the victim and defendant.

Mr. Andrews has a right to have his case heard in a court of law before a verdict is reached.

It is unfair and manipulative of the media to render a verdict of self-defense. To do this is extended victimization of Mr. Andrews.

Let’s allow the judicial system to do its job.

I feel that District Attorney Danny Craig is capable of getting to the truth.

We expect newspapers to report facts and information, saving opinions for the editorial page.

(Editor’s note: The Augusta Chronicle quoted Alicia Hall’s mother, who said the attack on Christopher Andrews was in self-defense.)
——-

“Campaign to protest crime fulfills co-founder’s dream”
Remembering Barbara Thurmond Book and Goals Augusta Chronicle
10/18/06
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2006/10/18/met_100934.shtml

“Don’t stop – the kids need you,” said Barbara Thurmond’s mother Lillian – during an October 2006 service at New Creation Missionary Baptist Church that kicked off her daughter Barbara Thurmond’s last wish – a 40-day campaign of prayer and fasting to protest crime in Augusta.
——

“An example of courage”
2006 Augusta Chronicle Editorial Honoring the Life of Barbara A. Thurmond 9/01/06
By Augusta Chronicle Editorial Staff
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2006/09/01/edi_94880.shtml

Courage defined the life of Barbara Ann Thurmond, whose funeral services are being held today at Augusta’s Tabernacle Baptist Church.

She died much too young at age 56, but in that brief life she displayed enough courage for many lifetimes.

One could even say she wrote the book on courage.

Joy in my Heart: My Journey From Hopelessness to Happiness, released two years ago, recounted the pain, trials and tribulations she suffered after being diagnosed with a spinal cord tumor in 1983 that forced her into a wheelchair as a paraplegic.

Though Mrs. Thurmond was debilitated physically, she refused to let the illness defeat her feisty spirit and enduring spirituality.

“The wheelchair never set boundaries on her,” said one friend.

Indeed, the physical challenge simply spurred her to triumphs in other areas of her life.

Disgusted by homicides in her community, Mrs. Thurmond and her sister, Earnestine Covington, founded Blacks Against Black Crime Inc. in 1991 to combat Richmond County’s rising violent crime rate.

It took considerable personal courage for the sisters to base such a group in their Augusta neighborhood, and to work with law enforcement, yet they did just that.

And they were effective too.

District Attorney Danny Craig credits Mrs. Thurmond’s leadership for playing a key role in cutting Augusta’s crime rate to one of the lowest in the state.

“She was effective and never afraid to tell the entire community to ‘Stop the violence,’ ” said Terence Dicks, a longtime friend and fellow organization member.

Mrs. Thurmond’s courage was an inspiration to our community.

We join her family and wide circle of friends in mourning her passing.

She will be sorely missed.
——-

Remembering Barbara Thurmond, James Brown ‘Music, sermon energizes audience at MLK celebration’
Augusta Chronicle story By Staff Writer Sylvia Cooper
1/16/07
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2007/01/16/met_112649.shtml

Music, prayers, speeches, a rousing sermon and memorial tributes marked the official 14th annual Martin L. King, Jr. Memorial Observance CSRA is Monday at Beulah Grove Baptist Church.

Greetings were given by Beulah Grove’s pastor, the Rev. Sam Davis; Augusta Commissioner Bernard Harper; Imam Mohamad Alhomsi, Dr. Jim Cruickshanke, the CEO of St. Joseph’s Hospital; Rabbi Robert G. Klensin of the Congregation Children of Israel; and Augusta Mayor Deke Copenhaver.

Mr. Copenhaver told the crowd that as he was leaving a breakfast earlier in the day, a reporter asked, “Are we living the dream in Augusta, Ga.?”

“And my answer to the question was, ‘We are beginning to live the dream in Augusta, Ga.,’ ” Mr. Copenhaver said.

“My goal is for Augusta, Ga., to be the living embodiment of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream, and I know working together we can and will get there.”

The mayor said he was committed to working with the Rev. Larry Fryer to get a King statue for Augusta.

The keynote speaker, the Rev. Frank K. Kennedy Jr., pastor of Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church in Lanett, Ala., had the crowd of more than a thousand on its feet with his sermon about the importance of being authentic and the need everyone has for “a lifetime guarantee of roadside assistance.”

The program included a special commemoration for James Brown and memorial tributes to Coretta Scott King; Rosa Parks; Barbara Thurmond, a co-founder of Augusta’s Blacks Against Black Crime Inc.; Pat Jones, the director of the Augusta Youth Center; Juvenile Court Judge Herbert E. Kernaghan Jr.; longtime State Court Judge James E. Slayton; and longtime Richmond County school board member B.J. Annis.

Reach Sylvia Cooper at (706) 823-3228 or sylvia.cooper@augustachronicle.com

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Augusta, Georgia Area Homicides Database and Map Created by the Augusta Chronicle

From 2005 to present

Killings in Richmond County, Columbia County, and Aiken County, South Carolina

Victims/Courts/Stats/Race/Gender

http://chronicle.augusta.com/data/homicides

More homicide victims stories:

http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/crime-courts/2010-06-11/homicides

http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2000/11/19/met_301784.shtml

Augusta Chronicle series on homicides in the Augusta area:

Impact of homicide goes beyond victims, killers

Saturday, June 12, 2010

By Mike Wynn

Staff Writer

http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/crime-courts/2010-06-12/impact-homicide-goes-beyond-victims-killers

Photos:

Nichole Campbell, of Augusta stands by the graves of her murdered brothers.

They died 8 years apart.

Nicole frequently visits the church cemetery where her brothers, Anthony and Sergio, are buried.

Augusta Chronicle Photo by Corey Perrine/Staff

Dr. Michael Hawkins, who has led Medical College of Georgia’s trauma unit for 20 years, shows the X-ray of a patient whose head has a bullet lodged in it.

He said there is no easy way to tell family members about violent deaths.

Augusta Chronicle Photo by Jackie Ricciardi/Staff

Who commits homicides?

Suspects in killings often have records

Sunday, June 13, 2010

By Sandy Hodson

Staff Writer

http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/crime-courts/2010-06-13/suspects-killings-often-have-records

Where do homicides happen?

“Residential areas see more crime”

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

By Adam Folk

Staff Writer

http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/aiken/2010-06-15/residential-areas-see-more-crime

Photos:

Makayla and Alaina Dowling play with a bucket of cool water outside their home in T&S Mobile Home Park in Aiken, S.C.

Their father, Eric Dowling, says that the neighborhood has improved enough that he will allow his daughters to play outside.

Photo by Zach Boyden-Holmes/Staff

Employers, employees often become victims

June 19, 2003

By Vicky Eckenrode

Staff Writer

http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2003/06/19/bus_378865.shtml

Contact reporter Vicky Eckenrode

706-823-3227

vicky.eckenrode@augustachronicle.com

——-

December 29, 1998
By Staff Writers Chasiti Kirkland, Emily Sollie, Tom Corwin and Jason B. Smith

By JAMES HILL and BETH LOYD

“Not since Bill Clinton challenged the definition of “is” has so much hinged on a very short word.

John Edwards appears to basing much of his defense, which begins today in a North Carolina courtroom, on the legal interpretation of the word “the.”

Edwards has listened to three weeks of testimony meant to prove that he violated federal campaign finance laws by using nearly $1million in donations to hide his mistress Rielle Hunter and her pregnancy during his bid for the 2008 presidential election and in the months after he dropped out — but was still angling to be vice president or attorney general.

If convicted Edwards could be sentenced to 30 years in prison.

The statute governing illegal receipt of campaign contributions “means any gift, subscription, loan, advance, or deposit of money… for the purpose of influencing any election for federal office.”

The words “the purpose” suggests that in order for a conviction, the sole reason for the money would have to be to finance a presidential campaign.

Edwards’ legal team has argued he did not know it might be illegal, did not intend to break the law and that his main reason for hiding Hunter was to keep her secret from his wife, Elizabeth, who was dying of breast cancer.

Prosecutors, however, are arguing the law should be interpreted to mean “a purpose,” meaning use of the donations does not have to be solely for a political campaign.

“It is sufficient under the law if you find that the gift, purchase, or payment was made for, among other purposes, the purpose of influencing any election for federal office,” prosecutors argued in court filings last week.

Edwards’ lawyer Abbe Lowell has argued that prosecutors are asking the jury to “invent a new crime” with its interpretation of the law.

Edwards’ legal team will begin its defense today, which is expected to last a week. He may have a lot to overcome. Prosecutors concluded their case last week by showing an interview Edwards gave to ABC News’ “Nightline” program in which he clearly lied several times, including denying that he had fathered Hunter’s baby.

Judge Catherine Eagles also rejected a motion by Edwards’ team to dismiss the charges against him.

The defense is expected to go after the prosecution’s key witness Andrew Young, a former Edwards’ aide who helped hide Hunter, going on the road with her to keep her away from the press, even claiming paternity for his boss.

Edwards defense has argued that much of the money was solicited by Young and he used the scandal to enrich himself.

Among Edwards’ witnesses will likely be his daughter Cate, who has been his most visible supporter throughout the trial.

Hunter is on Edwards’ list of witnesses, but it’s not clear whether she will be called. Her presence in the courtroom could be volatile.

It’s not yet known whether Edwards will take the stand in his own defense.”

————————————————————–

Douglas McNabb – McNabb Associates, P.C.’s
Federal Criminal Defense Attorneys Videos:

Federal Crimes – Federal Indictment

————————————————————–

To find additional federal criminal news, please read Federal Criminal Defense Daily.

Douglas McNabb and other members of the U.S. law firm practice and write and/or report extensively on matters involving Federal Criminal Defense, INTERPOL Red Notice Removal, International Extradition Defense, OFAC SDN Sanctions Removal, International Criminal Court Defense, and US Seizure of Non-Resident, Foreign-Owned Assets. Because we have experience dealing with INTERPOL, our firm understands the inter-relationship that INTERPOL’s “Red Notice” brings to this equation.

The author of this blog is Douglas C. McNabb. Please feel free to contact him directly at mcnabb@mcnabbassociates.com or at one of the offices listed above.

“RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A federal judge refused to throw out campaign corruption charges against John Edwards, so the former presidential hopeful will have to present his case to a jury.

Edwards is accused of masterminding a scheme to use nearly $1 million in secret payments to help hide his pregnant mistress as he ran for president. He has pleaded not guilty.

Here is a look at the first weeks of the trial, and some highlights of witness testimony:

Q: WHAT EVIDENCE HAS THE PROSECTUTION PRESENTED SO FAR?

A: Prosecutors showed two members of Edwards’ inner circle, campaign finance chairman Fred Baron and fundraiser Andrew Young, engaged in a yearlong cover-up to hide the married presidential candidate’s pregnant mistress from the media as he ran for the White House in 2008. Young, who is married, falsely claimed paternity of his boss’ baby and received $725,000 in secret checks from an elderly heiress, using some of the money to care for the mistress, Rielle Hunter. A wealthy Texas lawyer, Baron provided Young and Hunter $319,500 in cash, luxury hotels, private jets and a $20,000-a-month rental mansion in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Q: TO WHAT EXTENT HAS THE PROSECUTION SUCCESSFULLY MADE THEIR CASE?

A: After years of Edwards saying he had no knowledge of the cover up, prosecutors introduced phone records, voicemails and other evidence showing he was in frequent contact with Baron, Young and Hunter, all while his mistress was in hiding. Former members of Edwards’ campaign also testified that Baron spoke of “moving Hunter around” in the candidate’s presence and that Edwards told his speechwriter he knew “all along” what Baron was up to. However, in 14 days of testimony no witness ever said Edwards knew he was violating campaign finance laws, a key element of criminal intent the government must prove to win a conviction.

Q: WHAT STRATEGY WILL THE DEFENSE USE?

A: Defense lawyers for Edwards have hammered the credibility of Young, the prosecution’s main cooperating witness, showing he fabricated parts of his 2010 tell-all book about the affair and that he siphoned off much of the secret money to build his family’s dream home. Edwards’ lawyers will also call former members of the Federal Election Commission to testify that the scheme to hide the mistress didn’t actually violate campaign finance laws. It’s unknown whether Edwards, a former trial lawyer, will take the stand in his own defense.

Q: IF CONVICTED, WHAT KIND OF JAIL TIME MIGHT EDWARDS FACE?

A: If convicted on all six counts, Edwards faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and $1.5 million in fines.

Q: WHAT HAVE BEEN SOME OF THE MOST DRAMATIC MOMENTS SO FAR?

A: During emotional testimony that saw Edwards’ 30-year-old daughter flee the courtroom in tears, former campaign advisor Christina Reynolds recounted an October 2007 fight at a Raleigh airport where an enraged Elizabeth Edwards confronted her husband about his affair, ripping open her shirt and baring her chest.

Former aide Andrew Young testified that when Edwards learned Hunter was pregnant, his first reaction was to express doubt he was the father and call his mistress a “crazy slut.”

Young also described his climatic last meeting with Edwards in August 2008 on a secluded road near the former senator’s Chapel Hill mansion. Young said Edwards was nervous and acting so paranoid the aide feared his boss had hired men to shoot him.

SOME OF THE KEY QUOTES IN TESTIMONY:

- “You can’t hurt me, Andrew. You can’t hurt me.” – Edwards’ last words to Young, as recounted by the former aide on the witness stand.

- “He said he could be to poverty what Al Gore was to the environment.” – Young recounting Edwards’ plan to solicit a $50 million donation from heiress Rachel “Bunny” Mellon to establish a foundation to combat poverty after his political career collapsed.

- “I’ve never asked anybody to pay a dime of money, never been told that any money’s been paid. Nothing has been done at my request. So if the allegation is that somehow I participated in the payment of money – that is a lie.” – Edwards in the 2008 interview on ABC’s Nightline that was played for the jury at his criminal trial. Evidence presented by prosecutors showed numerous statements made by Edwards during the interview were lies, including his denial of fathering Hunter’s baby.

- “You don’t see me anymore!” – Elizabeth Edwards yelling at her cheating husband as she exposed her breasts, as recounted by Reynolds.

- “She thought maybe you should probably pay for your girlfriend yourself.” – 101-year-old heiress Bunny Mellon’s reaction upon learning some of the $725,000 she secretly provided to help Edwards went to hide his mistress, as recounted by Charlotte interior designer Bryan Huffman.

- “She thought it was a little low.” – Huffman’s reply after a prosecutor asked if Mellon was aware of a federal law that then limited individual political contributions to $2,300 per election cycle.”

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Douglas McNabb – McNabb Associates, P.C.’s
Federal Criminal Defense Attorneys Videos:

Federal Crimes – Federal Indictment

————————————————————–

To find additional federal criminal news, please read Federal Criminal Defense Daily.

Douglas McNabb and other members of the U.S. law firm practice and write and/or report extensively on matters involving Federal Criminal Defense, INTERPOL Red Notice Removal, International Extradition Defense, OFAC SDN Sanctions Removal, International Criminal Court Defense, and US Seizure of Non-Resident, Foreign-Owned Assets. Because we have experience dealing with INTERPOL, our firm understands the inter-relationship that INTERPOL’s “Red Notice” brings to this equation.

The author of this blog is Douglas C. McNabb. Please feel free to contact him directly at mcnabb@mcnabbassociates.com or at one of the offices listed above.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A federal judge’s refusal to throw out campaign corruption charges against John Edwards on Friday means that the former presidential hopeful will have to present his case to a jury. Edwards’ lawyers are expected to begin calling witnesses on Monday.

Edwards is accused of masterminding a scheme to use nearly $1 million in secret payments from two wealthy donors to help hide his pregnant mistress as he sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008. He has pleaded not guilty to six criminal counts related to campaign finance violations.

Here is a look at the first weeks of the trial, and some of the highlights of witness testimony:

Q: WHAT EVIDENCE HAS THE PROSECTUTION PRESENTED SO FAR?

A: Prosecutors showed two members of Edwards’ inner circle, campaign finance chairman Fred Baron and fundraiser Andrew Young, engaged in a yearlong cover-up to hide the married presidential candidate’s pregnant mistress from the media as he ran for the White House in 2008. Young, who is married, falsely claimed paternity of his boss’ baby and received $725,000 in secret checks from an elderly heiress, using some of the money to care for the mistress, Rielle Hunter. A wealthy Texas lawyer, Baron provided Young and Hunter $319,500 in cash, luxury hotels, private jets and a $20,000-a-month rental mansion in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Q: TO WHAT EXTENT HAS THE PROSECUTION SUCCESSFULLY MADE THEIR CASE?

A: After years of Edwards saying he had no knowledge of the cover up, prosecutors introduced phone records, voicemails and other evidence showing he was in frequent contact with Baron, Young and Hunter, all while his mistress was in hiding. Former members of Edwards’ campaign also testified that Baron spoke of “moving Hunter around” in the candidate’s presence and that Edwards told his speechwriter he knew “all along” what Baron was up to. However, in 14 days of testimony no witness ever said Edwards knew he was violating campaign finance laws, a key element of criminal intent the government must prove to win a conviction.

Q: WHAT STRATEGY WILL THE DEFENSE USE?

A: Defense lawyers for Edwards have hammered the credibility of Young, the prosecution’s main cooperating witness, showing he fabricated parts of his 2010 tell-all book about the affair and that he siphoned off much of the secret money to build his family’s dream home. Edwards’ lawyers will also call former members of the Federal Election Commission to testify that the scheme to hide the mistress didn’t actually violate campaign finance laws. It’s unknown whether Edwards, a former trial lawyer, will take the stand in his own defense.

Q: IF CONVICTED, WHAT KIND OF JAIL TIME MIGHT EDWARDS FACE?

A: If convicted on all six counts, Edwards faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and $1.5 million in fines.

Q: WHAT HAVE BEEN SOME OF THE MOST DRAMATIC MOMENTS SO FAR?

A: During emotional testimony that saw Edwards’ 30-year-old daughter flee the courtroom in tears, former campaign advisor Christina Reynolds recounted an October 2007 fight at a Raleigh airport where an enraged Elizabeth Edwards confronted her husband about his affair, ripping open her shirt and baring her chest.

Former aide Andrew Young testified that when Edwards learned Hunter was pregnant, his first reaction was to express doubt he was the father and call his mistress a “crazy slut.”

Young also described his climatic last meeting with Edwards in August 2008 on a secluded road near the former senator’s Chapel Hill mansion. Young said Edwards was nervous and acting so paranoid the aide feared his boss had hired men to shoot him.

SOME OF THE KEY QUOTES IN TESTIMONY:

— “You can’t hurt me, Andrew. You can’t hurt me.” — Edwards’ last words to Young, as recounted by the former aide on the witness stand.

— “He said he could be to poverty what Al Gore was to the environment.” — Young recounting Edwards’ plan to solicit a $50 million donation from heiress Rachel “Bunny” Mellon to establish a foundation to combat poverty after his political career collapsed.

— “I’ve never asked anybody to pay a dime of money, never been told that any money’s been paid. Nothing has been done at my request. So if the allegation is that somehow I participated in the payment of money — that is a lie.” — Edwards in the 2008 interview on ABC’s Nightline that was played for the jury at his criminal trial. Evidence presented by prosecutors showed numerous statements made by Edwards during the interview were lies, including his denial of fathering Hunter’s baby.

— “You don’t see me anymore!” — Elizabeth Edwards yelling at her cheating husband as she exposed her breasts, as recounted by Reynolds.

— “She thought maybe you should probably pay for your girlfriend yourself.” — 101-year-old heiress Bunny Mellon’s reaction upon learning some of the $725,000 she secretly provided to help Edwards went to hide his mistress, as recounted by Charlotte interior designer Bryan Huffman.

— “She thought it was a little low.” — Huffman’s reply after a prosecutor asked if Mellon was aware of a federal law that then limited individual political contributions to $2,300 per election cycle.

“By KIM SEVERSON

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Prosecutors rested their case against former Senator John Edwards on Thursday, offering as their last piece of evidence a national television interview he did in 2008 in which he denied much about the affair that ultimately brought him to the federal courtroom here.

Watching Mr. Edwards watch himself lie was the most electric moment yet in a three-week trial that has been relatively light on federal campaign law and heavy on dramatic narrative.

Mr. Edwards, 58, faces six counts of conspiracy and violating campaign laws. The Department of Justice contends he illegally used at least $925,000 in money from two wealthy donors to hide his mistress and their child as he pursued the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.

The actual amount spent keeping the affair from his family and the public is well over a million dollars, but the government is focusing only on money spent until he suspended his campaign at the end of January 2008.

The affair had begun a couple of years earlier, but remained largely a rumor. The National Enquirer ran an article in October 2007 about the affair that was ignored by other news media. But when it published a photograph of Mr. Edwards holding his baby in a Beverly Hills hotel, the story took on a new life.

Instead of admitting it, Mr. Edwards allowed an aide to claim paternity. The aide, Andrew Young, then took his own family and Mr. Edwards’s pregnant mistress, Rielle Hunter, on the run, eventually ending up renting a mansion for about $20,000 a month in Santa Barbara, Calif. The baby, Frances Quinn Hunter, was born in February 2008, a month after Mr. Edwards suspended his run for the presidency. As the race between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama progressed, Mr. Edwards still held out hope for a position as attorney general or eventually as a Supreme Court justice.

By that August, with the Democratic National Convention weeks away, he thought he could make the story go away by confessing to a brief affair but deny that the baby, at that point 6 months old, was his.

So he asked Jennifer Palmieri, his former press secretary and a close friend of his wife, Elizabeth, to help arrange an interview on the ABC News program “Nightline” with the reporter Bob Woodruff, who has attended the trial nearly every day.

Mr. Edwards was going to use a “thread the needle” strategy, said Ms. Palmieri, who is now a deputy director of communications for the White House.

That is, he would confess to a brief affair and claim that it was over and that he and his wife had reconciled. He would deny both that the baby was his and that he arranged to pay to support Ms. Hunter.

Ms. Palmieri advised him against it. She had come to believe the baby was his.

“I told him I didn’t think he should do an interview if he was going to lie,” she told the court. “He didn’t need any more press attention at this point.”

She knew his political career was essentially over, she testified Wednesday.“He was deluded for thinking otherwise,” she said.

Still, he went ahead with the interview. It played for nearly 20 minutes on screens around the courtroom, including one on the defense table directly in front of him.

Mr. Edwards watched a younger, happier-looking version of himself sitting forward in a chair in his Chapel Hill home, taking question after question.

Was the affair over? “Oh, yes. It’s been over for a long time.” Is that your baby? “That is absolutely not true.”

Two weeks earlier, he had been photographed at the Beverly Hills Hilton holding Quinn. But in the interview, he claimed no knowledge of who the baby was or where the photo had come from.

The short affair happened when his wife’s cancer was in remission, he said, and was the result of narcissism and the conflicts that come from rising so high after growing up as a small-town boy with humble roots.

Mr. Edwards, whose wife died in 2010, watched himself assert repeatedly that he never spent money supporting his former mistress and her child.

“If the allegation is that somehow I participated in the payment of money, that is a lie,” he said. He said he would take a paternity test if asked.

“One of the purposes of this interview, Bob, is to tell the truth,” he said.

As the video ran, Mr. Edwards’s reaction was muted. He closed his eyes now and again, and sometimes touched his fingertips to his lips. When it was over and court was adjourned, his lawyer clapped him on the shoulder. Mr. Edwards laughed.

He and his defense team appear confident that he will not be convicted, and that he will escape up to 30 years in prison and $1.5 million in fines.

At the close of court on Wednesday, with the prosecution nearing the end of its case, Mr. Edwards turned to the head of his defense team, Abbe Lowell, and said, “This is their case?”

On Friday, his lawyers will ask Judge Catherine C. Eagles to dismiss the charges, claiming the government has not presented a strong enough case against him to go to the jury.

If she denies their motion, Mr. Edwards’s defense will begin Monday. Whether Mr. Edwards will testify in his own defense remains unclear.”

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Douglas McNabb – McNabb Associates, P.C.’s
Federal Criminal Defense Attorneys Videos:

Federal Crimes – Be Careful

Federal Crimes – Be Proactive

Federal Crimes – Federal Indictment

————————————————————–

To find additional federal criminal news, please read Federal Criminal Defense Daily.

Douglas McNabb and other members of the U.S. law firm practice and write and/or report extensively on matters involving Federal Criminal Defense, INTERPOL Red Notice Removal, International Extradition Defense, OFAC SDN Sanctions Removal, International Criminal Court Defense, and US Seizure of Non-Resident, Foreign-Owned Assets. Because we have experience dealing with INTERPOL, our firm understands the inter-relationship that INTERPOL’s “Red Notice” brings to this equation.

The author of this blog is Douglas C. McNabb. Please feel free to contact him directly at mcnabb@mcnabbassociates.com or at one of the offices listed above.

“Prosecutors won’t call Rielle Hunter to testify at John Edwards trial

By Anne Blythe and Martha Quillin / McClatchy Newspapers

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Prosecutors trying John Edwards have called a full cast of witnesses over the past three weeks to talk about $400 haircuts, fancy houses, posh estates, the whirlwind details in a presidential run, back-biting, betrayal and an extramarital affair that sent a one-time political star plummeting to the depths of a criminal trial.

On Wednesday, the day before prosecutors plan to wrap up their evidence, the one witness from the Federal Elections Commission, Patricia Young, an administrator in the Public Disclosure Division, was on the witness stand for not much more than 30 minutes. But prosecutors won’t be calling the woman who set the whole, sordid matter into motion — Edwards’ former mistress, Rielle Hunter.

Prosecutors told Judge Catherine Eagles late Wednesday that they still were on schedule to wrap up their side of the case on Thursday, and Hunter, the woman with whom Edwards had an extramarital affair and a child, was not one of the witnesses they intend to call.

Legal experts said prosecutors apparently will skip Hunter because she didn’t have direct knowledge of the money involved in hiding her and they can’t be certain of what she might say on the stand.

The Edwards case could test the sweep of campaign finance law.

When the government rests, the stage will be set for the first key ruling in the trial. Defense lawyers will likely ask Eagles, who will by then have heard the best evidence against Edwards, to dismiss the case in whole or in part. It is a standard maneuver in a criminal trial, but it may have a greater chance in this case in which the applicability of the law is also at issue.

Defense lawyers have argued that the campaign laws Edwards allegedly broke don’t apply to funds spent for personal reasons, such as the hiding of a mistress. Jurors will be asked to decide not only whether the expenses provided by two wealthy supporters should have been classified as campaign expenses, but whether there was any criminal intent by Edwards in not reporting that on public disclosure forms.

Prosecutors plan to call several federal agents on Thursday, but their case could go to a jury which will have to rule on the intent of key actors in a case that weighs heavily on intent without hearing from two, and possibly three, of the people at the center of the charges.

Prosecutors called the lawyer, librarian, farm manager and grandson of Rachel “Bunny” Mellon, the Virginia philanthropist who issued $725,000 in checks to help Edwards. But Mellon, just thee months shy of her 102nd birthday, was not called to testify.

Fred Baron, the wealthy Texas lawyer, who, prosecutors contend, provided several hundred thousand more dollars toward the effort to hide a pregnant Hunter from the media, died in October 2008. No one other than Edwards’ former aide and his wife, Andrew and Cheri Young, who deposited more than two-thirds of the money in their private bank account, have offered any testimony about Baron’s intent.

And Edwards, a trial lawyer who had much success with juries when he was in the courtroom, might or might not take the stand in his defense.

As prosecutors push toward the close of their case the defense team has offered themes of its own in their cross-examination of witnesses.

They contend that that most of the money prosecutors contend was coverup money say was used to hide Edwards’ pregnant mistress from the public to keep his campaign alive went to Andrew and Cheri the Youngs, key witnesses for the prosecution.

They continue to attack the character and motives of Andrew Young, making the trial as much Edwards versus Young as the government versus Edwards.

And Wednesday, they continued to push with their theory that Young was working closely with the FBI to ensure that an indictment was issued against Edwards. The defense contends he was in close contact with agent Charles Stuber, or “Chuck” as they’ve begun to call him.

The trial so far has offered political theater, psychological drama and wrought emotion from some of the witnesses.

Also on Wednesday, Jennifer Palmieri, a former Edwards’ campaign spokeswoman and friend of Elizabeth Edwards, became emotional while describing her relationship with the former Democratic presidential hopeful’s cancer-stricken wife and her last days.

“She was not able to speak at this stage,” said Palmieri, who now works for the Obama administration.

Shortly before she died, Elizabeth Edwards told Palmieri that she did not want to die alone, that when the time came, “there would not be a man around to love her.”

Palmieri said she would be there and was. So was John Edwards.

As Palmieri testified, Edwards, rubbed his eyes and pressed his forehead against his hand.

Palmieri was under cross-examination by defense lawyer Abbe Lowell after testifying for prosecutors about a rancorous October 2007 Iowa hotel meeting in which Elizabeth Edwards was angry at Baron and his wife Lisa Blue.

The Texas couple had taken Hunter on a shopping trip in California and Elizabeth Edwards was livid that they were continuing to stay in touch with Hunter. keep up with a woman with whom her husband had an extramarital affair. Edwards had told his wife a while back the affair was over and Elizabeth Edwards could not fathom why Baron and Blue were still in communication with her.

“Lisa kept saying, ’You’ve got to hold your friends close and your enemies even closer,’” Palmieri testified.

Palmieri, who has been involved with politics her entire career, offered testimony that played to contentions by prosecutors that Edwards built his campaign on a family-man image and that news of an affair could damage his chances. Therefore, the government argues, efforts to shield his family-man image were in fact campaign expenses.

Palmieri remembered the first National Enquirer story that mentioned the possibility of Edwards being involved in an extramarital affair.

It was months before the publication broke the news about Hunter being pregnant.

Palmieri talked about the efforts to keep the affair story from “jumping to the mainstream media.”

As she tried to help tamp down the story of the affair, Palmieri turned to Edwards and said: “If it’s true, don’t think you’re going to survive this.”

When pushed by prosecutor David Harbach about why she told Edwards that, Palmieri said: “A big part of his appeal was his family and his relationship with Elizabeth.”

Palmieri took the stand after speechwriter Wendy Button finished her testimony.

Button testified on Tuesday that Edwards told her in 2009 that he was aware all along that Baron had provided support to Hunter.

But on cross-examination, defense lawyer Abbe Lowell pointed out that Edwards had not specifically elaborated on what that meant.

Edwards and Button at the time were talking about Quinn, the daughter he had with Hunter. He was upset and very emotional, Button said, that he had lied on an ABC interview nearly 11 months earlier that he was not the father.

Button was helping him prepare a statement that would acknowledge his lie and perhaps clear up other lingering issues.

That statement went through at least 13 renditions, was vetted by lawyers and others, and eventually was not delivered.”

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Douglas McNabb – McNabb Associates, P.C.’s
Federal Criminal Defense Attorneys Videos:

Federal Crimes – Federal Indictment

————————————————————–

To find additional federal criminal news, please read Federal Criminal Defense Daily.

Douglas McNabb and other members of the U.S. law firm practice and write and/or report extensively on matters involving Federal Criminal Defense, INTERPOL Red Notice Removal, International Extradition Defense, OFAC SDN Sanctions Removal, International Criminal Court Defense, and US Seizure of Non-Resident, Foreign-Owned Assets. Because we have experience dealing with INTERPOL, our firm understands the inter-relationship that INTERPOL’s “Red Notice” brings to this equation.

The author of this blog is Douglas C. McNabb. Please feel free to contact him directly at mcnabb@mcnabbassociates.com or at one of the offices listed above.

This week’s testimony in the John Edwards trial sure saw a lot of courtroom drama, it’s like watching a real life soap opera unfold before your eyes.

First this week we saw the testimony of Cheri Young, the wife of Edwards aide Andrew. Young discussed how difficult it was for her family after her husband claimed paternity of Rielle Hunter’s child and claimed the only reason her husband wrote a book on the campaign was because Edwards refused to step forward and tell the truth. She also admitted to taking video of the home Hunter was hiding in, though denied it was fodder for the book.

Then came testimony from other Edwards aides, including one who claimed Hunter told him that she and Edwards were in love and another who recounted an argument between John and his wife Elizabeth when she found out about the affair. Christina Reynolds testified that in 2007 John and Elizabeth were at an airport in Raleigh just after the National Enquirer came out with the story of his affair and that Elizabeth stormed off and collapsed into a ball in the parking lot and then returned to tell her husband “you don’t see me anymore,” ripping off her shirt and bra. After hearing the testimony, Edwards’ daughter Cate walked out of the courtroom in tears.

Today we heard the testimony of another campaign staffer, Peter Scher, who says he warned Edwards that if he was having an affair, he should not run for president. He says Edwards denied an affair and in a heated confrontation says Edwards told him to “back off” and “go f*** yourself.”
Today also saw the continued testimony of interior designer Bryan Huffman, who was essentially a conduit for the money given by Bunny Mellon as she addressed her checks to him disguised as payment for furniture. The checks were then put into Andrew Young’s bank account to allegedly pay for the cover-up. Huffman claims Mellon felt she was being taken advantage of when asked for more money by campaign aide Andrew Young, claiming she told him “I cant believe the senator wanted me for my money.” When asked what Mellon thought of the situation he told the court she felt “you should pay for your girlfriend yourself.”

The trial will continue next week and the defense is expected to bring in three former Federal Elections Commission workers to testify that the checks were not in violation of Campaign Finance rules. Despite all the courtroom drama and damning testimony painting Edwards as a liar and a sleaze, he’s still most likely going to be acquitted of criminal charges as the defense has a very strong case that the over $900,000 in checks were meant as personal gifts, not campaign contributions, and therefore not subject to campaign finance rules.

The sex and drugs stuff is pretty usual but not  being astrology obsessed piqued my curiosity.. I wanted to check out Rielle’s astrology chart for clues as to why she would be so astrological coke and sex addicted.

click on the chart to enlarge

Rielle was born March 20 1964 Fort Lauderdale florida, No birth time. so Ive created it at noon, as she is  a prominent public figure. Zero degrees Aries is the highest energy, the beginning, the zero point in the Astrology chart. she is a mover and a shaker.

Her Moon at 28 Gemini is conjunct the North Star, usually people who have high level public persona’s have powerfully planetary connection’s here. Of course she is an ever youthful looking, twin natured, fickle,charming,double talking, shape shifting sylph.

Mercury in Aries, a fast talking,energetic,voracious player.

VENUS the Goddess of Love planet is smack dab at the middle-degree of TAURUS her ruling sign. Very sexy, very money hungry, sensual,

 She has Mars at 23 degrees Pisces symbolizes in part the kind of man she is attracted to. Mars in Pisces is a chameleon, secret-love affairs, compassionate, sob-story, addictive relationships, ungrounded, lives in an illusion, dreamy,

Jupiter is also at 24 degrees Aries- this woman has boundless energy, exuberance, a risk-taker, a fighter, independent, an Amazon warrioress.

THE SEX- she has Asteroid EROS, at 23 degrees of ARIES conjunct her JUPITER in Aries,- absolutely voracious sexually, a nymphomaniac.

THE ASTROLOGY- SATURN is at 29 degrees Aquarius, Saturn is the traditional ruler of both Capricorn, sign of rulers, leaders, people of power and control on the world’s stage. Reille has Capricorn on her Descendent, her house of marriage and relationships. Saturn is at the 29th and most fateful, karmic  degree in any sign, here in Aquarius, the sign of wishing on Stars, the Internet, and GUESS WHAT? ….

Astrology.

THE SCANDAL- Rielle has the dwarf planet- ERIS,- the Ancient Goddess who personified  STRIFE and DISCORD at  10 degrees of ARIES, square her  North Node, as if it was her Higher Purpose to cause so much Trouble. She is a natural born SIREN, like Circe, in the Odyssey,of course Mr. Edwards is at fault to, we’ll get to him shortly. Eris is also square to that asteroid Epona, Reillle was getting even with her dad,for killing her horse by ruining John Edwards career.  Her North Node is in Cancer and she always wanted to have children, so she did with John Edwards.

Now Mr. Edwards may got to jail for 30 years for abusing million in his political campaign fund, that went to pampering the mistress, $400 haircuts and the like. Lets look at his chart

Of course, John Edwards is a GEMINI, a naturally charming, emotionally immature, two-faced, living two lives kinda guy.

 His Sun, vitality, MARS- sexual drives, and Mercury-communications are all in Gemini in the 12th house of SECRETS, SELF-UNDOING,KARMA.

Hey do you know what secrets lurk in your 12th house? – get a reading: http://taratarotweb.tripod.com/id78.html

John also  has VENUS in Taurus, like Rielle, the strongest, most sensual, earthy, romantic, great with money place for Venus the Love Goddess to be. I am sure they had amazingly lustful sexual chemistry,and I’m sure she wasnt the only mistress. BTW Venus is exactly square to his North and south Nodes. KArma with Women,money, love affairs are a big time theme here.

John also has a very powerful wealthy Jupiter Moon conjunction also in Gemini, a great charming talker,

KARMIC LOVE AFFAIRS

John also has an  exact Saturn Neptune  conjunction, both Retrograde in Libra. These are his only Retrograde planets.They are squaring Uranus in the 1st house in Cancer. Saturn conjunct Neptune alone is a karmic soul-mate sign and Retrograde means he came into this life to reconnect with al the women in his life he’d been with before.Of course being Retrograde in the 4th house, its also his unexpected Uranus, undoing, which of course his home life falls apart because of. His wife dies of cancer. I am sorry that he also lost his talented young son tragically.

HIs EROS is at 28 degrees of ARIES smack dab conjunct Rielle’s Jupiter and her EROS too.

with Sun Mercury and Mars in Gemini  and in the 12th house of secrets. He couldn’t resist, He was a lame duck,

INteresting that according to his birth time, which isn’t officially kosher,his Ascendant is 12 degrees of Cancer, exactly on the U. S. Sun and conjunct the Fixed Star Sirius, to bad. Oh the rise and fall of men in power…. the double standard.

Everyone has sex, puritan America,

Will he go to jail?

Well that amazing Venus crossing of the sun June 5-6 will happen very close to his Sun at 19 degrees of Gemini,Venus as Vixen will overshadow his Self Identity..

Saturn will oppose his Natal Venus around Election day in the U.S. this year.  Saturn is the limits, obstacles, karma, the  cosmic cop. This is where he gets called to task over his romantic dallies.  Saturn will also be square to his North Node at 4 degrees of Aquarius during that time.North Node in Aquarius wants freedom, revolution, invention.Also square to his South Node  in Leo, pride, arrogance, leadership, generosity. A fateful time for John Edwards. His fate hangs in the balance of Libran justice.

Jupiter will have just passed Edwards natal Moon at 5 degrees Gemini and will be conjunct to his Natal Jupiter at seven degrees of Gemini in his natal 11th house of wishes, hopes, and dreams.

PLUTO the planet of the big fall from power will be opposite his Mercury as it has been for the last two years,of course the whole scandal came out when Pluto was opposite to Mr Edwards Mars in 2007-2008. Pluto will be squaring the dwarf planet ERIS exactly at 8 degrees Aries/ Capricorn.

ERIS the Goddess oft blamed for creating the Trojan war, did not do it exactly. Venus/Aphrodite awarded Paris an already married woman, Helen. So Eris shows where we are vulnerable to our ego’s competing for first prize. She can be seen positively as the weakest link in our ego’s armour, therefore a self-undoing, if we are unaware of who we really are.

The karmic odds are not in Mr. Edwards favour to be sure.

Self-knowledge is power. My clients are always amazed that so much can be gleaned from their astrology chart reading.

Do you know where and what lurks in your 12th House? Could be Pandora’s box and a treasure chest at the same time.

Schedule an astrology reading NOW with Tara: taragreene@sacredartscentre.com

all writing copyright Tara Greene- 2012 to infinity

read the news today here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2138542/John-Edwards-trial-Daughter-Cate-leaves-court-tears-testimony-parents-fight.html

Pig Boy!

My wife loves trashy, gossipy, dirt-filled, sleazy, slimy books about famous people. This is a passion as inexplicable to me as my passion for the Cleveland Browns is to her.

Honoring her preferences, I once bought her such a book as a stocking stuffer one Christmas. The book was Andrew Young’s The Politician: An Insider’s Account of John Edwards’ Pursuit of the Presidency and the Scandal That Brought Him Down. My wife had been an Edwards supporter in 2004 and 2008 and had felt bitterly betrayed by the $400 haircut and his sordid affair with a videographer while his wife Elizabeth was dealing with cancer.

“If I saw John Edwards in the street, I’d cut his fucking balls off,” she mused. “Pig boy!”

Young’s book had already plummeted to trade paperback status, so it was a cheap investment in my wife’s passion for vicarious revenge. She began reading it shortly after the holidays and one night, as we were catching up on the news of the day, she gave me her initial critique:

“You’re not going to believe this, but I think Andrew Young may be a bigger pig boy than Edwards.”

I agreed that such an assertion was hard to believe, but she cited a few snippets that lent some credibility to her claim. “Hmm, maybe so,” I responded, in a tone about as interested as her tone when I relate the perpetual sad story of how the Browns blew their last game.

Now we’re in the middle of the spectacle known as The Edwards Trial, where attorneys debate the admissibility of sex tapes and the sanctity of the dirty money that fuels every campaign today. The latest revelation provided ample confirmation for my wife’s assertion that Young is a serious contender for the Pig Boy Championship:

Associated Press

April 27, 2012

GREENSBORO, N.C. — John Edwards’ former aide acknowledged under cross-examination Thursday that much of nearly $1 million in campaign supporters’ cash went to build the aide’s North Carolina dream house, not to buy the silence of the presidential candidate’s pregnant mistress.

Andrew Young testified for a fourth straight day at Edwards’ campaign finance fraud trial, peppered with questions from Edwards attorney Abbe Lowell about the money from two donors that flowed into personal accounts controlled by Young and his wife, Cheri.

Young has said he took secret payments from wealthy donors at Edwards’ direction to help conceal the presidential contender’s affair with Rielle Hunter and keep Edwards’ 2008 campaign viable. Edwards contends that he knew nothing about the payments.

Young said the checks provided by a then-96-year-old heiress were mixed with the couple’s other house funds, much of which went into renovations and construction of their $1.5-million hilltop house on 10 acres near Chapel Hill, N.C.

Lowell asked Young about numerous changes to the construction of the house after the payments started coming in, including a pool, home theater and extra bedroom.

At the time, the Youngs were living with Hunter in a $20,000-a-month rental mansion along the California coast, paid for by wealthy lawyer Fred Baron, who served as Edwards’ campaign finance chairman.

Dumb move, but not a Pig Boy.

Pig boy!