50 years ago - January 20, 1976: Jury pool complete in murder case

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Dublin Courier-Herald

By Doug Hall

Hawkinsville

The final step in jury selection begins Monday in the Cheryl S. Todd-Dessie X Woods murder-robbery trial of Ronnie L. Horne of Laurens County when the defense and prosecution strike a jury from 44 prospective jurors chosen during a long week of qualifying.

If the striking process is speedy and a motion to suppress evidence is decided, attorneys may begin their opening arguments on Monday.

Friday, after five days of questioning, a pool of jurors was completed that includes

5 black males

19 white males

11 black females

9 white females.

Twelve jurors and one alternate will be selected from among the pool of qualified prospective jurors.

Defense attorneys will be allowed 20 strikes.

The prosecution will get ten strikes.

Oconee Superior Court Judge James B. O’Connor is expected to hear a motion on Monday by the defense seeking to keep statements made by the defendants out of evidence.

The defense will contend that those statements given at the time of the women’s arrests were made involuntarily.

The defendants are charged with murdering and robbing Ronnie L. Horne, 35, of Route 1, Rentz. The shooting took place on June 16 near Mt. Vernon after Horne picked up the two women who were hitching a ride from Reidsville to Atlanta.

The defense says Horne was shot twice in the head when he attempted to make sexual advances toward the women.

In jury qualifying proceedings, defense attorneys emphasized questions concerning the possible racial and sexual prejudices of prospective jurors. Yesterday of 17 prospective jurors who had been qualified for service five were disqualified.

Those disqualified included:

a black woman who broke down on examination and said she had a sick husband to care for white man who said he felt the defendants would have to testify in their own defense

a white man who had foamed uneasonable opinions about the case

a white man who had business conflicts

a white woman who could find no one to care for her small children

One woman who had been ruled qualified earlier in the week asked to be excused because she also had small children at home. She was excused.

O’Connor is expected to relax a gag order once the final jury is selected. The restraint on comments to newsmen by parties in the trial has been in effect throughout the jury selection process and has prevented interviews with attorneys and defendants relating to the case.

Mrs. Woods is represented by Randy Bacote, an Atlanta lawyer who defended Marcus Wayne Chenault, the convicted killer of Mr. Martin Luther King, Sr.

Mrs. Todd is represented by Mary Joyce Johnson, a member of the Lawyer Project, and Millard Farmer, a wealthy Newnan, Georgia, native, who has established an indigent defense league in Atlanta. Johnson is expected to be lead counsel for Mrs. Todd.

For the State, District Attorney Phillip R. West of Eastman will be joined by special prosecutor Leon Green of Dublin and Bob Sparks, Assistant District Attorney, of Atlanta.

The two women were indicted in Wheeler County, where the alleged crimes took place. The trial was moved to Pulaski County because the judge felt the two could not get a fair trial in Wheeler County due to extensive publicity surrounding the case.

Jurors selected for the pool are under firm orders from the judge not to discuss the case with anyone to be exposed to any news accounts of the case.

The 12-man jury, when selected, will be sequestered for the duration of the trial. They will be housed in an Eastman hotel which will be guarded by two complements of law officers.

The trial is expected to last several weeks.

DHS TROUPE TAKES STATE TITLE AGAIN

For the second straight year, Dublin High School’s widely acclaimed Thespian Troupe 669 has been judged best in the State Class AA one act play competition.

This honor came to the Dublin troupe on Saturday at Cedar Shoals High School in Athens where the state competition was held.

Performing the difficult and abstract one-act “Theatre of the Soul,” Troupe 669 topped the runner-up, Swainsboro, for first place. Woodward Academy and Therrel High, both of Atlanta, came in third and fourth.

Last year’s entry by Dublin, “Darkness Falls on Laughter” also won first place in the state.

Dublin’s top showing is the fourth state championship in drama for the troupe under the direction of R. Lynn Wooddy.

The cast of the play follows:

“Theatre of the Soul”:

Chuck Hall

Jon Taylor

Fred Byers

John Kisalus

Timothy Heard

Dee Hammond

Claudia Bannister

Lisa Kisalus

Dianne Hammock

No individual awards are given in State competition.

Chuck Hall won Best Actor in Region competition in December.

Dianne Hammock won Best Actress Award in Region.

The crew for this winning one-act was:

Cathy Hess

Dorrie Joiner

Betsy Frost

Alan James

David Dixon

Mark Tarpley

Bill McMillan

Ricky Hagler

The Dublin group will compete with four other Georgia high school theatre groups for the right to represent the state at the Southeastern Theatrical Conference in Memphis later this year.

This competition will be held in Dublin.

COMMISSIONERS MULL AMBULANCE SERVICE

Laurens County Commissioners this morning were faced with the problem of whether or not to provide an ambulance service.

Community Ambulance Service, represented by Leon May, made it clear that he was ready to give up the contract with the county for the ambulance service. He insisted that with the subsidy paid by the county he has operated in the red. Richard Stanley of Stanley and Sons Funeral Home, who also operates an ambulance service, also stated that some arrangements other than those used in the past would be necessary for him to be interested in operating the service for the county.

The matter was left open, since there were no bids for the service offered the commissioners with Community Ambulance Service agreeing to continue the service for one more month.

Plans are being made to investigate ambulance operations in other counties to see if a plan can be worked out.

May has insisted that too many runs had been made to Augusta from Laurens County, with patients declaring that the county paid the bills and hence they owed the ambulance service nothing.

The Commissioners also expressed the idea that the present tax setup of the county would not stand a major increase in the costs of the service. Even a referendum on a tax increase for ambulance service was discussed, but no plans were made to call such a vote on the matter.

Both May and Stanley complained that more often than not, they were compelled to remain at the hospital here for up to four and five hours before patients would be accepted and taken off their hands. They also said that they were asked to carry patients from one part of the hospital to another, thus adding to the costs of salaries, etc. to the service.

In other matters, the Commissioners agreed for First District Commissioner Tal Fuqua to remain Chairman for the first four months of 1976, After that time, Third District Commissioner Robert Beacham will serve for four months with Second District Commissioner Herbert Fordham serving the last four months. This usual procedure has been to rotate the chairmanship among the three commissioners on a yearly basis with each one serving as chairman for two of the four years of their term.

At noon today, the Commissioners were offering for sale what land had been declared surplus.

Joe Rutland made a bid of $10,000 for the old County Building (old Post Office). His was the only bid received, and it was accepted subject to confirmation of the county commissioners.

The other piece of property that was auctioned at noon today was the old landfill site near Rentz. John Lowery bid $2,790 for this site, subject to confirmation by the County Commissioners.

The sale was conducted by County Attorney H. Dale Thompson after the property had been advertised for sale.

CITY MANAGER RESIGNS

By Doug Hall

Ron McLemore ended seven months as City Manager of Dublin with a short letter of resignation to the Mayor and Council.

McLemore’s employment with the city was terminated on Monday night, but he will be paid through March 5 – an agreement reached between the City Manager and the Council.

Now the hunt begins for a new city manager.

“We had several resumes in the last go-round that we thought we could get in touch with, “Mayor Robert E. Cochran said this morning.

Plus, the mayor says that several aldermen have suggested possible candidates for the job.

On the question of an acting city manager, Cochran doubted the city would “go to the extent of appointing someone as an acting city manager.

“But,” he explained, “We may want someone as the number two man.”

The Mayor met with city department heads this morning to discuss the situation.

A meeting of Council to decide what course to take in replacing McLemore will be held later this week.

McLemore’s letter to the mayor and council was succinct and business-like:

“I am submitting my resignation from the position of City Manager of the City of Dublin to be effective March 5,1976.

“In doing so, I am requesting direct payment for three weeks unused annual leave and direct payment of $1,500 in retirement pay as agreed upon by the city at the time of my appointment.

“I have enjoyed working with my fellow employees and am thankful for the many friends that my family and I have made in Dublin during my term of employment.”

He gave no reason for this move. But since the November 3 city election, his tenure as city manager has been on shaky ground. In the election a slate of aldermen not considered favorable to the city manager’s policies was elected.

All seven aldermen voted to accept Mclemore’s resignation.

McLemore has worked with the city for two years, first as Administrative Assistant, then Acting City Manager. He became the city’s chief executive officer on May 19, 1975, replacing former City Manager Jack Crane.

During his tenure in Dublin, the Columbus, Georgia, native installed one of the most progressive firemen training program in the South, landed two sizeable Community Development grants, instituted an effective reorganization of the badly aligned sanitation department, and sought to improve the city’s financial management.

But he was beset by opposition from a 4-3 Council which hung precariously in his favor.

Then, in the November city election, one of McLemore’s supporters on Council, Roy Banks, chose not to seek reelection and two, John Reed Deamer and Louis Alexander, were defeated.

E. DUBLIN COUNCIL TO MEET CITIZENS

A called meeting of the East Dublin City Council and citizens for Tuesday night at 7:30 was announced today by Mayor E.A. Page.

The meeting was called after a group of citizens met earlier and asked for a meeting with the Council to present a petition that they had prepared.

The petition asks the Mayor and Council to return a new pickup truck that was authorized at the Council meeting, rescind the garbage fee ordinance, and reduce the salaries of three city firemen that were raised when the Council by a three to two vote overrode Mayor Page’s veto of the raises granted earlier. The petition also asks that the city reduce city spending.

Mayor Page told the group asking for the meeting that he would call the meeting with the understanding that it will be conducted in an orderly fashion.

Rumors for the past several days have been that a recall petition calling for a recall election is being circulated in East Dublin, but nothing could be learned definitely about such plans. Mayor Page said this morning that he had been advised by legal authorities that while a Georgia law was passed for recall elections, it had been declared unconstitutional by the courts.

Thus, whatever plans may have been made for such a petition were squelched with the information as to the fate of the recall provision law.

It was also pointed out that the provisions that made possible a recall election which ousted three County Commissioners in Douglas County, Georgia, were in a local law that applied only to that county.

PHILLIP COLEMAN IS STAR STUDENT

West Laurens High School student Phillip Coleman has been named STAR student at West Laurens and for the Laurens County School System for the 1975-76 school year.

He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert D. Coleman.

Each year the high school senior who is in the upper 10 percent of his class and who scores highest on the Scholastic Aptitude Test is awarded this honor.

The Georgia Chamber of Commerce sponsors the STAR student awards in Georgia.

Phillip has maintained an A average throughout high school and has served his school and community.

He is presently serving as President of the Beta Club and of the 4-H Club and is a District 4-H Club Officer, serving on the Board of Directors for the Central District.

He was awarded the Elks Leadership Award for exhibiting outstanding leadership ability during his high school years.

The STAR student is active in the Drama Club and serves as Points Chairman. He was a member of the cast of the one-act play recently presented at Middle Georgia College. He served as Vice President of the Junior Class. He is presently a member of the West Laurens tennis team.

Phillip is an active member of Mt. Zion Baptist Church where he has served as Training Union Director for the past two years. He is the pianist for the youth choir.

JOSEY HONOR ROLL GIVEN

The Josey School Honor Roll for the second nine-weeks session is given below.

Fourth Grade:

Jason Fountain

Darryl Rutledge

Tammy Shepard

Lisa Wicker

Greg Williams

Fifth Grade:

Shelia Lake

Lisa Glover

Sonya Graham

Charlotte Fountain

Joey Tyson

Eric Lord

Sixth Grade:

Ann Batey

Stacy Denny

Pam Sanders

Carla Willis

Leigh Thigpen

Sandra Williford

Seventh Grade:

Connie Sanders

Connie Hutchings

Eighth Grade:

Harrison Payne

Ricky Shepherd

Ninth Grade:

Mike Young

Tenth Grade:

Stay Shepard

Twelfth Grade:

Shelia Beacham

Malehia Beacham

Cheryl Mobley

Becky Payne

Harriett Simmons

Students making the Honor Roll for the First Semester are below.