Extracted from US news papers:
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In Detroit, the lawyer for accused murderer Rondelle Woods, 23, delivered part of his closing
argument to the jury in rap: 'Went to a party, sweet 16, decided to stay on the scene. ' Woods was
acquitted. But in Las Vegas in December, Eric Clark, 22, pleaded with the judge, in rap for a light
sentence: 'I'm sellin' dope, and I as gettin' paid too blind to see how I was gettin' played. ' He
got 23 years. - Universal Press Syndicate
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A Tokyo company, Juonsha, recently began offering a mail-order curse kit, featuring a straw doll to
represent the hexee, along with eight accessories, including nails, a curse manual, and a
curse-blocking doll to ward off return curses. The company at first marketed to boys and girls
bullied at school, but discovered the major market is women who hope to put spells on neighbors,
in-laws and husbands.
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In September, Pulaski, Tenn., Juvenile Court Judge Robert E. Lee Jr., annoyed at defendant Heather
Adams, 16, honored the girl's parents' request and ushered them into a private office, supplied a
6-foot-long bamboo reed, and permitted each parent to smack the girl eight times on her clothed
bottom. Lee said the parents had planned to spank Adams anyway, and that he supervised them so there
would be no question of child abuse.
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In April, defendant Arthur Hollingsworth decided to waive his constitutional right of silence and to
testify on his own behalf in his trial for armed robbery of a Houston convenience store. Despite
Hollingsworth's previous recalcitrance, prosecutor Jay Hileman first got him to admit that he was in
the store at the time it was robbed and that he was armed. Then Hileman asked, "Mr. Hollingsworth,
you're guilty, aren't you?" Hollingsworth replied, "No." Hileman pressed on. "Mr. Hollingsworth,
you're guilty, aren't you?" Hollingsworth: "Yeah." Hileman said he had no further questions.
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According to a Durham, N.C., police officer's testimony, Caron Magwood, 23, was insistent when
arrested that everybody know he is a seller of cocaine. He was arrested in October and accused of
selling fake crack cocaine but wanted to set the record straight because he feared more being killed
by a customer who thought Magwood cheated him than being convicted of selling real drugs.
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In April in Grand Junction, Colo., Ed Tucker bought his son a toy airplane made in Taiwan. When he
unpacked it, he found a note in English written by a man who said he was being held prisoner and
subjected to human-rights abuses and begging someone to help him.
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Federal law permits victims' lawyers in civil rights cases, if they win, to have their fees and
expenses paid by the losing party. Among the expenses that Rodney King's lawyers submitted to the
city of Los Angeles for compensation were these: accompanying King to see the film "Malcolm X" (
1,300); reading a newspaper article about the trial (20 minutes) ($ 81.25); and attending King's
1991 birthday party ($ 650). The total requested was $ 4.4 million, more than King himself won in the
lawsuit ($ 3.8 million).
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In May, Richard Finney, 34, flunked his driver's license exam in Topeka, Kan. The next day he
returned to the exam office, accompanied by his mother, Gov. Joan Finney, who, according to a
licensing employee "was mad. She was real mad." After the governor scolded the examiners, Richard
Finney was escorted to the front of the line and administered the exam again, by the supervisor of
the office. He passed.
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In Providence, R.I., Anthony St. Laurent has prevailed in several court hearings to postpone his
trial on charges that he ran a $ 42 million gambling ring. According to St. Laurent's lawyer, he is
far too ill to stand trial, suffering from migraine headaches, high blood pressure and dysfunctional
rectal muscles, which necessitate his taking up to 40 enemas a day.
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The democratic process: * Non-Whitewater news from Arkansas: In Eureka Springs, alderman candidate
Louise Berry died on Oct. 6, but her supporters continued to run ads against her opponent. On Nov. 8
because of the effectiveness of the campaign, Berry pulled out a narrow victory.
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In the April election for City Council in Ypsilanti, Mich., incumbent Geoffrey Rose turned over his
voter list to student Frank Houston, 18, who had offered to help him get out the vote. Armed with the
list, Houston went door to door and then won the election himself as a write-in candidate. He told
reporters afterward that he did not deceive Rose: "All I ever said all along was that I was going to
get people to vote."