KILLI G
"W I saw that, I turned my
back and w getti ng re dy to ay
"come on man, let' go," b fore I
could ay that, I heard the gun go off.
"I turned around and w my
brother standing in front 0 th "milk
chute" and the nose of the gun stick
ing through and then my brother
turned around and lifted hi arm and
said 'Chub, he hot me'. He died in
my arms," Chatman aid.
Dent was pronounced dead at
Holy Cro Hospital at 3:08 a.m.
Cheaito was taken into police
custody the night of the shooting.
According to th Preliminary
Complaint Record filed by respond
ing Police Officer Thomas Dunaj,
Cheaito' account differs from Chat
man's.
According to Cheaito, Dent
kicked open the "milk chute and
tried to enter the service station.
Then, th 'attendant told officers,
Dent tore off an ou ide speaker and
threw it at Cheaito through tho open
ing, striking him in the chest.
Dent then tried to crawl through
the openi ng. At thi time, Cheai to
allegedly loaded the 12 gauge hot
gun and fired once into the left chest
area of Dent.
A CORDING TO Chatman,
Dent was husky with broad houl
ders and stood approximately 5 feet
6 inches tall.
Dent was found unarmed outside
the locked service station.
If Dent did kick open the "milk
chute" as indicated by Cheaito's
JACKSON: BLACKS HELPED
CLINTON WIN, NOW
MUST HOLD HIM TO PROMISES
Detroi t defin
probl IDS.
Henry
ood the i ty
in
WANDA F, ROQUEMORE/Michigan Citizen
The 18x18 milk chute that Dent allegedly kicked open and tried to crawl through is
approximately 3 1/2 feet from the ground.
brought a one way ticket to Leba
non.
Angeredby the manner in which
the case was handled, Chatman and
his ister Veronica, with the help of
two local radio talk how hosts took
to the airwaves to tell the citizens of
Detroit what really happened the
night of August 31.
The police department, under
public pressure, resubmitted the in
itial warrant request (0 the prosecu
tors office, this time requesting
charges against Chcaito.
According to McPhail, the only
difference between the two warrant
requests was the list or witnesses.
The second-list contained more wit
nesses.
"When they brought in the first
warrant request, the only witness
statement they had was the guy who
'was wHfi IDertt,
McPhail said.
On September 11, eight-days af
ter Cheatio fled the country, the
Pro ecutors oftice charged Cheaito
with two counts of manslaughter,
each carries a maximum of 15 years
in prison and/or $7,500 fine.
The United States does not have
an extradition agreement with leba
non.
Our y tern of justice i not
perfect, but thi i America and
you are not wrong to fight for
your rights. But remember,
don't fight it on the comer, fight
it in urt.
'Crime
does pay!'
According to recent census
reports, poverty rolls in the U.S.
have reached a 28-year high.
early 36 million Americans
were -in poverty in 1991. No
doubt, millions more in 1992.
Meanwhile, the Federal
Bureau of lnve tigation reports
that violent crime by juvenile
hru oared by an unprecendent
27 percent over th last 10 years.
Thanks to tho who commi t
rime. there are more police of
ficer , judges, prosecutors,
lawyers, secretaries, law clerks,
paralegal', public defenders,
court clerks, court reporters,
news reporters, probation of
ficers, parole officers, sheriff
dep ies, wardens and jailers
being paid by crime than ever
before.
"Crime Does Pay." But if
you commit the crime, it just
doe not pay you! If you are
considering a career in crime,
remember, there are no benefits,
no retirement plans, and no fair
employment practices.
WHY HOULD YOU get
busted for stealing the Mustang,
yet your lawyers enjoy the right
to drive a Mercedes Benz that
you helped pay the car-note on?
Why should you pay for
judges, lawyers and police of
fleers to send their children to
college and law school, while
you go to jail or reform school?
Why hould you take the risk
of selling a ten dollar bag of
weed or a fifty dollar rock of'
crack cocaine, yet pay for a
probation officer' right to
enjoy a twenty-five dollar bottle
of wine or to crack open a fifty
dollar bottle of Champagne?
Crime does pay! But if you
commit the crime; it just does
not pay you! If you are tired of
doing all of the dirty work,
while the judge , lawyers,
pol ice officers and others get all
of the pay stand up and fight
back!
Boycott crime! Go on
strike! Put down your criminal
tools! Quit the racket! If you
are a thief, say I am not taking
anymore!
After all, why should you get
bu ted for robbing Peter, when
Paul is the one getting all of the
pay!
A tt orney Leslie I iaiah
Gaines, who practices criminal
law, rec ntly resumed hi
column 14 r NNP�. He will ad
tire" cont mporary legal is
sues. If you have a le a[
question, write to: Gaines E'C
plains. .Hm R /ading Road,
( 'incinnati; 011 45229, or call
'\ H-7H - OM,
Contlnu d from Pag A·1
munity a clue to the amount of indif
ference orne Detroit police officers
feel toward Black males.
ON AUGUST 31, the night Dent
w killed, the police had two eye
witncs to the shooting, Cheaito
and 19 year old Alvarez Chatman.
Chatman and Dent, extended broth
el'S, were together at the time of the
hooting.
According to Chatman, shortly
after 2:25 a.m. he aoo Dent went to
Aby's Self Serv gas station at Van
Dyke and E. Outer Drive.
"We came up to the service sta
tion to buy cigarettes," Chatman
said. "My brother tried to open th
door and it was locked. So we
tepped in front of the gas station."
Dent and Chatman stood in front
ofa "milk chute", a bullet proofwin
dow 18 x 18 inches used for grocer
ies. This device is found at many
inner city service stations that are
open 24 hours and sell a small line
of groceries. The cashier on the in
side controls the opening and closing
of the. chute doors.
"1 asked the man if 1 could buy a
pack of cigarettes and he said no. My
brother asked, and he said yeah, and
then he changed his mind and told us
to get away from the station. And
then he and my brother started argu
ing, a few curse words were ex
changed. And then he (the cashier)
picked up a 12 gauge and started to
tl)' and cock it and it would just click
as if it were already cocked or on
safety, It Chatman said.
BY LAWRENCE L KNUTSON
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRrrER
WASHINGTON (AP) _ Jesse
Jackson, declaring that Blacks were
crucial to President-elect' Clinton's
victory, said Saturday that minority
voters must maintain vigilance to
hold Clinton to his campaign prom
ises.
Jackson, who traveled to more
than 30 states to register new voters
and campaign for the Democratic
ticket, brushed aside the disagree
ments he has had with Clinton ,and
his policies in the past.
"Much of that has been exag
gerated," Jackson said at a news
conference that marked the end of a .
meeting of his Rainbow 'Coalition.
The, meeting was called to ana
lyze the election and set tactics for
dealing with Clinton's first 100 days
in the White House.
"During the campaign the issue
was Clinton and Bush, not Clinton
and Jackson," Jackson aid.
He said that Clinton had "made
adjustments" during the campaign
to soften fears that in reaching out to
new voters and disaffected Demo
crats he would "fail to nurture" tra
ditional Democrat, incl uding
Blacks, Hispanics and other minori
ties.
"We left (the Democratic Con
vention in) New' York and went to
work and these are the fruits of our
labors," Jackson aid of the Clinton
victory.
"We made our adjustment and
we worked and we labored." He
did not elaborate on what "adjust
ments" Clinton might have made.
But he gave Clinton his ultimate
ccolade, saying that in turning the
economic pai n created by the Bu �
admini tration into artnership with
all clements of the party Clinton
, 'kept hope alive."
David Wilhelm manager of th
Clinton campaign, returned the com
pliments. aying Jackson and his fol-
tatemcnt he would have had to
jump approximately 3 1/2 feet up.
Also, if Dent tried to crawl
through the milk chute it would have
been head first giving Cheaito other
options u h a hitting Dent in the
head to keep him from advancing
inward. .
Cheaito al 0 had a telephone to
call 911.
Cheaito had acces to other areas
within the locked tation that he
could retreat to, including an inner
office.
THE POLICE investigators' re
port 'to the prosecutors office
claimed the incident was self de
fense.
"The police brought in a warrant
req ues t and to ld the warrant prosecu
tor it was elf defense. When they
brought it in the first time, they be
lieved that Cheaito was in fear of his
life and he reacted out of self de
fense, so they didn't want a charge,"
McPhail said.
Also according to McPhail,ifthe
police were not atisfied with the
prosecutors deci ion, there is an ap
peals procedure.
"The police never have to take a
no from a warrant pro ecutor. There
is an appeals procedure within the
office. If they thought that there
should have been a charge issued
and they didn't believe this was self
defense they would have come up-
tairs "McPhail aid.
lower "can take pride in the
absolutely essential role and contri
butions they have made to Bill Clin
ton's election."
"There may have been a few
bumps along the road, but when the
moment came Rev. Jackson was
there and it is appreciated," Wil
helm said.
Jackson said he intends to work
now to help Clinton enact programs
to create jobs, improve health care,
improve education, cut the military
budget and win statehood for the
District of Columbia.
"We know he made these prom
ises so the next phase is to be vigilant
to make sure those promise are
kept," Jackson said. But he indi
cated he was not issuing a threat.
"We both want to get to higher
ground. ' he said of Clinton. "We
are all on the same team."
. Jackson distributed an analysis
prepared by the Joint Center for Po
litical and Economic Studies that
showed the turnout of Black voters
increa ing dramatically in many
states ..
THE COMPlAINT report was
written as elf defense and no war
rant was i ued due to "insufficient
evidence of criminal intent."
Cheatio was released from police
cu tody. On September 3, he
fl RECORD. JJ
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ACCORDING TO McPhail; the
only hope in getting Cheaito back in
the United States is through the In
terpol recently issued by the U.S.
State Department.
An Interpool wouldalert officials
here if Cheaito tries to leave Le
abanon. If Cheaito chooses to stay in
Lebanon, there is virtually no other
way to get him back in the U.S. to
face charges.
IN COLLA80RATION WITH
8UKU PRODUCTIONS
PRESENTS
AUGUST WILSON'S
Pulitzer Prize Winning Play
OVEMBER 5 • DECEMBER 13, 1992
Winner of BEST PLAY OF 1990 SEASON
BEST ACTRESS OF 1990 SEASON
- Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News
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