A Forsyth County judge had decided six months ago that he was going to deny a Winston-Salem man’s request for new forensic testing on ballistics evidence that the man believed could prove his innocence. But the judge changed his mind, partially granting the man’s request on Wednesday.
And the judge said one of the main reasons was how short the man’s original trial was — barely a full day of testimony. A jury came back with guilty verdicts after a mere 38 minutes of deliberation.
“What has bothered me was the nature of the trial — a 2½-day trial,” Judge David Hall of Forsyth Superior Court said Wednesday morning during a hearing.
Hayes
NC Dept. of Public Safety
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Vacation can take people to all kinds of new and interesting places.
Some people have a goal of visiting all 50 states and try to visit a new one each year or two. Some people have a bucket list of baseball stadiums they want to see or national parks they want to visit. I even know someone who loves to visit historic libraries that were built by Andrew Carnegie, and he goes to see them all across the country.
Some people are “genealogy tourists,” and they visit locations where they can conduct family research. They may visit cemeteries of their ancestors and make rubbings of headstones. They may drive hundreds of miles to scroll through microfilm at a small-town newspaper. They may also visit a library to pore over city directories, yearbooks and other archives.
The Norfolk Public Library often welcomes these traveling family researchers. Genealogists from as far away as Washington and Arizona have looked through the library’s materials, scouring for birth announcements, addresses and obituaries to complete their family trees.
Several years ago, the library worked with the Norfolk Daily News to get all the newspaper’s archives into a digital format that was easily searchable. The new digital archive was available in the library and greatly reduced searching time. Instead of scrolling through rolls of microfilm, the researcher simply had to type…
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Outside Culpeper’s historic courthouse stands a statue of a Confederate soldier, a remnant of the Civil War that raged for long years, ravaging the county’s countryside and villages.
In the room where Circuit Court cases are heard, as of Aug. 13, 2022, is a contrasting slice of history—a painting of Negro League Hall of Fame baseball player John Preston “Pete” Hill (1882-1951), born in Culpeper.
Hill’s skin color kept him from playing with white players in the Major Leagues when baseball was racially segregated.
His is the first Black face to grace the halls of justice in Culpeper. Hill is now embraced as a cherished native son recognized for his remarkable athletic accomplishments, which only recently have been widely publicized.
Attendees at Saturday’s unveiling of Hill’s portrait agreed that displaying this bit of history will affect the future. The painting will capture notice and elicit questions from the many people who will visit the courtroom.
People are also reading…
Loretta Hill-Embry, a great niece of Hill’s from Cleveland, Ohio, responded to a question about how Black defendants charged with crimes in the court might react upon seeing it.
“I can’t believe there’s a Black guy here. Maybe I’ll get a fair chance!” Hill-Embry said.
“It’s going to be unreal and when they leave out of here, they’ll be telling other people, ‘Did you know there’s someone Black in the courthouse? Yes!’ ”
Generations of Hill descendants traveled to Culpeper from all over for family reunion last weekend, held to coincide with the unveiling.
In the painting, the 6-foot-1, 215-pound Hill folds his arms over his chest in a depiction of strength. He wears the jersey of the Chicago American Giants, his primary team.
The courtroom portrait is very special for the baseball great’s family, Hill-Embry said.
“(I’m) not familiar with the South and the Confederates, never ever even knew I had an uncle born here, so yes it is significant. It’s been a journey,” she said.
Not everyone will like the portrait, she acknowledged.
“Some people will be, hooray. Other people will frown because we still have people who are racist who have not come along for equal…
Jerry Allen Mark, 79, is serving a life prison sentence for murder in the deaths of his brother and sister-in-law, Les and Jorjean Mark, and their two children, Julie, 5, and Jeff, 18 months.
Prosecutors allege Jerry Mark shot and killed the family in their sleep because of a disagreement over inheritance of the family farm.
Jerry Mark has always said he is innocent of the crime, and over the years some of the evidence presented to the jury at his original trial has been debunked. The case even came close to a retrial in 2006.
Mark
Efforts to re-examine the case resumed in 2018 when the State Public Defender’s Office asked the court to review evidence as part of a U.S. Department of Justice grant to review convictions in cases that involved hair microscopy.
Then in 2021, the office sought to duplicate 8 mm film of Jerry Mark walking that was in evidence. The film had been used with testimony about his gait as it related to footprints found at the scene.
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The defense team is now reviewing chrome cupboard drawer pulls, bullets, a basement electrical panel and a note about the will found in a coat in the bedroom that investigators seized to check for fingerprints. They are also taking another look at lifts of a palm or glove print found on a stairway wall at the home and prints on doors to the master bedroom.
Because this section is free of charge, community events are subject to run based on available space. Religion items are published on the Saturday church page. Email events to [email protected]
SPECIAL NOTE
SPORTS REGISTRATION: Danville Parks and Recreation’s registration period for youth football and cheerleading is now open until Aug. 5. This season’s offerings are available for children ages 5-12. Flag football is for children ages 5-6, and tackle football is for children ages 7-12. Registration for football is $35, and registration for cheerleading is $40. Additional fees may apply. Sports officials are also needed. Those with relevant experience are encouraged to contact 434-799-5214. Those interested in registering for football and cheerleading may do so by calling 434-799-5214 or by signing up online at playdanvilleva.com.
TODAY, JULY 12
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SENIORS ON THE MOVE: The senior citizen’s program at the Cherrystone Missionary Baptist Association, 5551 Tom Fork Road, Ringgold, meets every Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. to play bingo and dominos. Also, there’s a computer awareness class from 10 to 11 a.m. and 1 to 2 p.m., senior exercise from noon to 12:20 p.m. with lunch served from 12:20 to 1 p.m. All seniors 60 years and older are welcome. For additional information, call Frances Garlin at 434-822-6453, Barbara Williams at 434-713-5271, and for computer awareness and exercise, Kathy B. Ramsey at 434-251-0379.
This April 2, 2019, a photo provided by the Mississippi Department of Corrections shows death row inmate Willie Jerome Manning. The Mississippi Supreme Court ruled Thursday, June 30, 2022, that Manning will not be allowed to seek additional DNA testing on crime-scene evidence from the shooting deaths of two college students nearly 30 years earlier.Photo: Mississippi Department of Corrections (AP)
A ruling from the Mississippi Supreme Court found that additional DNA testing will not be able to be presented in a 30-year-old murder case of two college students, the Associated Press reports. In 1994, Willie Jerome Manning was convicted of two counts of capital murder in the December 1992 killings of Mississippi State University students Jon Steckler and Tiffany Miller in Oktibbeha County.
Before Manning was about to be executed in 2013, the Justice Department stated there were errors in the FBI’s findings concerning ballistics tests and hair analysis in the case. Notably, the FBI pointed out that the microscopic hair samples found in a car belonging to one of the victims had “errors in testimony” in court. As the Associated Press points out, an FBI agent testified that some hair found at the crime scene was “from an individual of the Black race,” but didn’t necessarily mean the same hair came from Manning.
Just hours before the lethal injection was about to be carried out, the Mississippi Supreme Court issued an indefinite delay by an 8-1 vote to allow the new evidence to come forth. Manning’s attorneys sent a rape kit, fingernail scrapings, and other items to a laboratory.
After six long years of analysis and Manning expressing his innocence, Misssissippi’s justices said that Manning received “allegedly inconclusive results.” Manning’s attorneys…
VISALIA — After 28 years following the murder of 10-year-old Angelica Ramirez, Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux has notified her family the decades-long cold murder case had been solved.
“I’ve sat with them for the past two days telling them what I am about to tell you,” the Sheriff said on Thursday as he opened a press conference held at TCSO Headquarters in Visalia.
Ramiro Villegas, who lived in Porterville in the mid-to late-1990s and frequented flea markets – including those in Porterville, Tulare, and other South County swap meets — was named as the person who took Angelica from the Visalia Swap Meet on March 3, 1994, never to be seen alive again.
Two days after the kidnapping, a farm worker reported the discovery of a small body in a canal in Pixley. The lifeless body lying in the water was identified as 10 year old Angelica, and it was later determined she died from strangulation and sexual assault, said Boudreaux.
Villegas, Boudreaux said later during the press conference, unfortunately died from complications of Valley Fever in 2014 in Mexico.
“I spoke with the family just yesterday and there was no other word but they felt justice had slipped. Because he died 10 years ago, we feel as if justice was not served — but I promise the family that we had never given up on this case….The Angelica Ramirez case has always been a top priority for me in this office,” Boudreaux said towards the end of the press conference. ”Solving her murder took longer than anyone ever wanted and quite frankly, expected.”
The detectives, he said, were determined to not let her memory fade, and were determined to bring…
MOUNT PLEASANT — A 33-year-old woman has been accused of stealing a van, and was reportedly caught in part because of DNA found on a straw.
Crayton
Ashley C. Crayton, from Anoka, Minnesota, was charged with a felony count of driving or operating a vehicle without owner’s consent.
According to a criminal complaint:
On Sept. 21, an officer was sent to a residence on Daisy Lane for the theft of a 2009 Chrysler Town & Country. The owner said the van was in the driveway and the key was inside the center console.
On Oct. 2, a sergeant was contacted by the Kenosha Police Department because the stolen van was located. It was parked in the 6600 block of 18th Avenue.
A search of the car was done and a health card belonging to Crayton was found. There was also a Big Buddy cup from a gas station and several Walgreens gift cards. Surveillance video from a Walgreens on 52nd Street showed a woman attempt to use the card but it was declined. She then got into the stolen vehicle.
TODAYZumba, 9 a.m., Hardin County Public Library, 100 Jim Owen Drive, E’town. Previous dance experience not required. Low impact options included. POC: 270-769-6337.
English as a Second Language, 11 a.m., Hardin County Public Library, 100 Jim Owen Drive, E’town. Free tutoring sessions geared toward learners of English. Drop-ins welcome. POC: 270-769-6337.
Lincoln Trail Chapter of the Kentucky Public Retirees meeting, 11:30 a.m., Shoney’s Restaurant, 1046 Executive Drive, E’town. POC: Sandy Allen, 270-307-0061.
Murder, Mystery & Mayhem Book Club, noon, in Radcliff. Register by noon the Wednesday prior to the meeting at forms.gle/xs3jsa1Mw2GgJ8oS7 June’s selection, “Rebecca” by Daphne du Maurier. POC: 270-769-6337.
Stage Combat Workshop, 1 p.m., Hardin County Public Library, 100 Jim Owen Drive, E’town. Ages 12-18. The Kentucky Shakespeare Company will lead a workshop on stage combat techniques. Participants will learn the ways fights are staged in TV, movies and on stage and get to try out a few. No registration is required. Spots will be filled on a first-come basis on the day of. POC: 270-769-6337.
Stamping Workshop, 2 p.m., Hardin County Public Library, 100 Jim Owen Drive, E’town. Register in person for this make-and-take notecard class. $5 materials fee required at registration. POC: 270-769-6337.
Anime Club, 4-5:45 p.m., story area, Hardin County Public Library, 100 Jim Owen Drive, E’town. Ages 12-18. Teen must have a signed parent permission form to participate. Anime Stream, watch and discuss anime. POC: 270-769-6337.
Alzheimer’s Support Group, 4:30 p.m., genealogy room, Hardin County Public Library, 100 Jim Owen…
WOLF CREEK TOWNSHIP – The case of a Chicago man whose body was found 42 years ago in Wolf Creek Township has been solved.
State police say they have closed the case after identifying the victim as Edwin Rodriguez of Chicago, according to a news release issued May 25 by the PSP Troop D Criminal Investigation Assessment Unit.
“The family was grateful that we were able to inform them what happened to their loved one and we were able to return his remains to Chicago for a proper service,” Trooper Joshua Black said, following up on the news release.
Using DNA testing and genealogy tools, they were able to confirm Rodriguez was the victim and identified Nestor Quintanal as the suspect in his death.
Quintanal died in Florida in 2002 at the age of 71. Homicide charges would have been filed otherwise, Mercer County District Attorney Peter Acker said.
The suspect would have been extradited to Mercer County and tried, hopefully ending with him being convicted and sentenced to state prison for life, Acker said.
Police began their investigation on Nov. 6, 1980, when someone found a burning body near Interstate 80 in Wolf Creek Township.
Autopsy results revealed that the deceased was a white male between the ages of 16 and 19 who weighed about 115 pounds and was 5 feet 8 inches tall.
Rodriguez had third-degree burns on 70 percent of his body and could not be identified at the time, police said.
Since then, advancements have been made in DNA technology, allowing law enforcement to submit evidence taken from the crime scene, Acker said.
His office paid for state police to have an advanced DNA analysis performed, eventually leading to the…
attorney, criminal law, dna, emily thornton, gun, john robert hayes iii, judge, jury, law, mark rabil, shooter, stephen joel samuels, Testing
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