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ANOTHER
VIEW
Police,
paper did teen an injustice
By Althea L.
Buafo
Special
to The Macon Telegraph
Justice and acts
of injustice often go unnoticed in our community because The Macon
Telegraph is more interested in meaningless headlines announcing
a person's arrest and in equally meaningless headlines that announce
the disposition of the case many months later. This unfortunate
fact became very clear to me during a recent murder case that I
was involved in here in Bibb County.
I began my representation
of 16-year-old Franklin Mathis Jr. the day after he was arrested
for the murder of Northeast High School graduate Bryan Hill. Shortly
after his arrest, Macon Telegraph readers were informed about the
case by Macon Police Department Captain Henry Gibson, who was quoted
as saying, "We believe he is responsible for the actual death
of Bryan Hill. He is responsible directly for the death." (Macon
Telegraph, May 26, 1999).
Already convicted
by Gibson, young Mathis was left to rot in confinement for the next
nine months while his parents had many sleepless nights worrying
about whether their teen-age son would eventually be free or whether
he would spend the rest of his life in prison.
Mathis was denied
bond and was incarcerated at the Youth Detention Center for nine
long months before coming to trial last week and being acquitted
by a Bibb County jury after only an hour of deliberation.
The real story
to be told here is not the fact that Franklin Mathis Jr. was arrested
for murder and eventually acquitted by a jury, but rather the real
story is why he was arrested in the first place and why he was ultimately
acquitted.
I urge The Macon
Telegraph to stop relying on inflammatory rhetoric and other unsubstantiated
street-corner conversation, come to court and learn the facts.
If The Macon Telegraph
had followed through with its obligation to objectively report the
news, it would have learned that the wrong man was on trial for
the murder of Bryan Hill.
The Macon Police
Department's reckless speed to solve the crime compromised any real
investigation of the Hill murder. This fact was obvious to the jurors
who sat in judgment of Mathis.
As a result of
this cursory investigation, after the trial the Mathis family was
left asking how our system of justice could allow a young boy to
be wrongly accused of murder and incarcerated for nine months on
baseless accusations. Similarly, the Hill family was left asking
why the real murderer of their loved one was not brought to justice.
The dynamic of
the Mathis murder trial was completely missed by The Macon Telegraph.
Even though the fact of Mathis' arrest and pronouncement of his
guilt was given such prominence, little coverage was given to his
ultimate acquittal.
My concern is
that other matters that are of concern to our entire community will
also be missed unless objective, proactive and timely reporting
is conducted in the future.
Althea L. Buafo
is a Macon attorney.
Why not appoint members who care?
Editors: I
concur with your call to revitalize the RIP's Citizen's Advisory
Committee by appointing individuals willing to attend its meetings.
I found your conclusion that CAUTION Macon members should be excluded
due to their advocacy of good government, effective planning and
fiscal responsibility rather curious, however.
Is the litmus
test for committee membership individuals who don't advocate any
of the above?
Isn't that a formula
for recruiting additional uninterested members, with no incentive
to actively participate?
Daniel P. Fischer
Macon
Politicians holding schools back
Editors:
I applaud the courage and honesty shown by Andrew Baumgartner, National
Teacher
of the Year, in
his recent address to the Georgia Senate.
Baumgartner expressed
his doubts about the sincerity of Gov. Roy Barnes' education reform
plans, and so
do many other teachers, including me.
For politicians,
educational reform has become more of a campaign slogan than a legitimate
concern. In this state we have a Democratic governor and a Republican
state school superintendent who, it seems, are often not on the
same page when it comes to making plans for the future of the state's
schools.
With a growing
student population and an impending teacher shortage, unity is needed,
not petty political partisanship. Nothing positive can result from
such a situation.
I do not pretend
to have the solutions to what ails our schools, but I do know that
it will take a massive cooperative effort that would include parents,
teachers, civic groups and businesses, as well as government. I
fear that if left primarily in the hands of bandwagonning politicians
with axes to grind, our schools and young people will suffer rather
than gain.
Lonnie Wheeler
Macon
What if a U.S. boy were in Cuba?
Editors:
After reading all the articles on the little Cuban boy who is only
6 years old, I am amazed at the politicians.
I have no politics,
but the Republicans are really showing their colors. They preach
about families dividing. They now want to separate a boy from his
father. If an American boy was in Cuba and the American boy's father
wanted him back, the politicians would want to send troops.
Donald A. Eisele
Centerville
West Bibb's citizens being ignored
Editors:
I am writing, again, concerning the trailer park proposed for the
Lake Tobesofkee-Arrowhead Park area of Columbus Road.
West Bibb County
is probably the most beautiful section of the county. Lake Tobesofkee
has greatly enhanced this area and property values have grown, but
not nearly to the potential the property values will reach in the
near future.
We must have people
with long-range vision in positions of power in the county to plan
for the future use of the land. Bibb County is shrinking, and I
think it is very shortsighted to approve any additional land use
for the purpose of trailer parks in the county, much less in west
Bibb County.
Who protects our
property rights? There is no elected official to approach on this
matter. In my opinion, all decisions by Planning and Zoning are
illegal because they are not representative of the people. As I
understand it, Bibb County is the only county in Georgia that operates
in this manner. Is this democracy to allow a few to overrule the
masses? I think not. We need people with wisdom, foresight, and
consideration in these positions, elected and responsible to the
citizens of Bibb County.
Wayne Kirby
President, Tobesofkee/Lizella
Neighborhood Association
Fine caps wouldn't hurt enforcement
Editors:
In reference to the editorial Jan. 30, I believe some jurisdictions
do use the traffic laws and fines to generate revenue. That is unfortunate
and wrong. Capping the fines seems like a good idea up to a certain
point.
The points assessed
to drivers' records cause their insurance to cost more -and it should,
because they are at greater risk for causing injury or property
damage. In most instances, heavy fines are not necessary, considering
the fine and the increased insurance cost together.
Further, in HB
1228 the fine may be up to $1,000 (the maximum fine for a misdemeanor
in Georgia) if the person is traveling in excess of 30 miles per
hour over the posted speed limit.
I hope that while
this legislation is pending, the citizens of our state will not
lose sight of the fact that the speed laws are necessary and should
be vigorously enforced.
Cpl. Derick Durden
Georgia State Patrol
Post 33 - Milledgeville
Liberals twist the Constitution
Editors:
I would like to ask David Lawrence to find in the Constitution where
it spells out that nude dancing is a form of free speech protected
by the First Amendment.
It does not say
in the First Amendment that nude dancing is a form of speech. I
doubt that when the founding fathers wrote the Constitution nude
dancing would have fallen under free speech. If the great men who
wrote the Constitution were alive today to see how the Constitution
has been twisted around today by liberal courts, they would be sick
to their stomachs.
Mark Rhodes
Pitts
Racial quid pro quo
Editors:
I believe that I have a solution to the Confederate flag controversy.
It will involve a "quid pro quo" between white and black
Southerners.
My solution is
this: The white Southerners will give up our Confederate battle
flag and the black Southerners will give up the Martin Luther King
holiday.
Jack Dorsey
Mt. Zion
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