Hate Crimes Texas

For one father, this Father's Day was not a day to gather with family around cards and presents. Instead, James Byrd Sr., whose son's savage death at the hands of alleged white supremacists in Jasper, Texas, grabbed headlines two weeks ago, spent Sunday visiting two Southland churches and talking about peace and reconciliation. "Love is able to heal all wounds," Byrd said before attending services at the All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena.

After refusing for months to say where he stood, Republican Gov. Rick Perry signed a Texas hate crime bill Friday that strengthens the penalties for offenses against minorities, gays and others. The James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Act was named for the East Texas black man who was dragged to his death from a pickup truck in 1998 by three white men, including two avowed white supremacists. Perry's predecessor, George W.

Jurors Thursday found a third white man guilty of capital murder but spared him the death penalty in a shocking 1998 killing that occurred on an East Texas road and became a looking glass into the state of race relations in America. Deliberating over two days, the jury in Jasper took far longer than had similar panels that tried Shawn Allen Berry's cohorts in the crime. Berry, 24, had no comment as he embraced his girlfriend when the verdict was returned.

Jurors Thursday found a third white man guilty of capital murder but spared him the death penalty in a shocking 1998 killing that occurred on an East Texas road and became a looking glass into the state of race relations in America. Deliberating over two days, the jury in Jasper took far longer than had similar panels that tried Shawn Allen Berry's cohorts in the crime. Berry, 24, had no comment as he embraced his girlfriend when the verdict was returned.

East Texas police do things differently than when 45-year-old Sgt. James Carter of the Jasper County Sheriff's Office came of age, poor, in the black part of town. Very differently. Thirty years ago, Carter said, local police saw minorities as a kind of outlet for ceaseless, free-floating cruelty. More than once, Carter recalled, he saw a squad car nearing a black man as he walked down the street and the officers ordering the man to duck his head inside the window.

Three men with reported ties to white supremacist groups were charged Tuesday with chaining a black man to a pickup truck and dragging him two miles, tearing off his head, part of his neck and his right arm. The victim, 49-year-old James Byrd Jr., was a father of three who loved music and was friendly and well-known around town.

The Ku Klux Klan plans a rally June 27 in this town, which is trying to recover from the killing of a black man who was chained to a pickup truck and dragged 2 1/2 miles until his body was torn to pieces. Three white men allegedly linked to white supremacist groups have been charged with the brutal murder last week of 49-year-old James Byrd. No parade permit is necessary, City Atty. Gary Gatlin said.

The blood of a black man dragged to death behind a pickup truck was found on the clothing of Shawn Allen Berry, the last of three white men to be tried in Jasper, Texas, for the crime, an FBI expert on DNA testified. Sam Baechtel said his findings show that Berry had James Byrd Jr.'s blood on his shirt, jeans and boots the night of the killing. The prosecution rested its case after less than three days of testimony.

Dozens of area residents packed a funeral home Friday for the wake of a black man who was dragged to death behind a pickup truck on a country road. Flower arrangements surrounded the gray and silver casket, with a framed picture of James Byrd Jr. on top of it. Oleather Cooper, 39, knew the 49-year-old Byrd his whole life and recalled how he was always singing. She said the slaying was racist but perhaps could serve a higher purpose.

After refusing for months to say where he stood, Republican Gov. Rick Perry signed a Texas hate crime bill Friday that strengthens the penalties for offenses against minorities, gays and others. The James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Act was named for the East Texas black man who was dragged to his death from a pickup truck in 1998 by three white men, including two avowed white supremacists. Perry's predecessor, George W.

Three black friends testified on behalf of a white man accused of dragging a black man to death in Jasper, Texas, behind a pickup truck, saying they don't believe he's a racist. Shawn Allen Berry is expected to testify today, his attorney said. Prosecutors charge that Berry, 24, participated in the June 7, 1998, dragging death of James Byrd Jr., making him as culpable as his two former roommates.

The blood of a black man dragged to death behind a pickup truck was found on the clothing of Shawn Allen Berry, the last of three white men to be tried in Jasper, Texas, for the crime, an FBI expert on DNA testified. Sam Baechtel said his findings show that Berry had James Byrd Jr.'s blood on his shirt, jeans and boots the night of the killing. The prosecution rested its case after less than three days of testimony.

A CBS producer must report to jail for refusing to turn over a transcript and video of an interview with a suspect in the Jasper, Texas, dragging death case after an appeals court refused to hear her case. In a one-paragraph decision, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals refused to hear both of Mary Mapes' contempt appeals and revoked a $2,000 bond it allowed while deciding whether to hear her case, said Richard Wetzel, general counsel for the court.

Testimony in the dragging-death trial of Shawn Allen Berry was delayed one day until Wednesday while the judge reviews a last-minute request to move the trial out of Jasper. Berry's attorney argued Monday that pretrial news coverage and a biased juror pool make getting a fair trial impossible. "It's clear to me that he can't get a fair trial here," said the attorney, Joseph C. Hawthorn.

A CBS-TV producer was ordered jailed Friday for failing to turn over to prosecutors a transcript of an interview by newscaster Dan Rather of a defendant in Jasper's dragging death, but an appeals court said she could be released on bond. The state Court of Criminal Appeals ordered state District Judge Joe Bob Golden to explain why he held a Dallas-based producer, Mary Mapes, in contempt. Mapes was ordered freed on condition that she post $2,000 bond.

Jury selection began for the last of three white men arrested in the dragging death of a black man in Jasper, Texas. Shawn Allen Berry, 24, is hoping to avoid the fate of his two white supremacist co-defendants, John William King and Lawrence Russell Brewer. They were convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death for the June 1998 slaying of James Byrd Jr., 49, who was chained to a pickup and dragged nearly three miles.

A CBS-TV producer was ordered jailed Friday for failing to turn over to prosecutors a transcript of an interview by newscaster Dan Rather of a defendant in Jasper's dragging death, but an appeals court said she could be released on bond. The state Court of Criminal Appeals ordered state District Judge Joe Bob Golden to explain why he held a Dallas-based producer, Mary Mapes, in contempt. Mapes was ordered freed on condition that she post $2,000 bond.

Citing lack of evidence, police on Tuesday released three men who had been questioned in weekend arsons at two black churches. "At this point, no charges will be filed concerning the fires at the local churches," Police Chief Barry Paris said, adding: "The investigation is not going away. . . . We will go however long it takes to bring this case to closure."

A jury decided Thursday that racist ex-convict Lawrence Russell Brewer should pay with his life for the dragging death of a black man, sending him to death row to join a buddy who also took part in the crime. After 14 hours of deliberations over two days, the jury rejected arguments that a life sentence would be adequate punishment for Brewer, 32.

The second man to stand trial in last year's gruesome dragging death of a black man in Jasper, Texas, was found guilty of murder Monday--despite depicting himself as a hapless peacemaker who actually had tried to save James Byrd Jr. Immediately after issuing its verdict, the jury of 11 whites and one Latino began considering whether Lawrence Russell Brewer, 32, should be sentenced to life in prison or to death. "Clearly there is a pattern of deceit," Jasper County District Atty.