Harvey charges Postill behind rape suit
By PAUL TRAVIS
Washtenaw County Sheriff
Douglas Harvey charged yester-
day that a $1 million lawsuit
filed against him was prompted
by Democratic primary candi-
date for sheriff, Fred Postill.
The lawsuit was filed by local
attorney Michael Stillwagon on
behalf of Donald Norris, 17,
who was assaulted and raped by
six inmates in the County Jail
Feb. 19, 1972. The suit charged
the County and Harvey with
negligence in failing to patrol
the cell areas and prevent the
assault.
Harvey, who is seeking re-
election on the American Inde-
pendent Party ticket, charged
that Postill convinced Norris to
file the suit and fed and sup-
ported Norris while he was out
on probation.
Postill, in a statement re-
leased yesterday, called the
charge "a complete fabrica
tion. Harvey, -as usual, has dis-
torted the truth to serve his
own political ends."
In a taped interrogation play-
ed for The Daily by the Sher-
iff's Dept. Norris, in the pres-
ence of Asst. Pros. Atty. John
Salan, Harvey, and Capt. Stan-
ton Brodine, told this story:
"I was in District Court to
testify against the six guys
(who raped me) when Postill
introduced himself and said he
was running for sheriff. He said
if there was anything he could
do I was to call him. He said I
had a good lawsuit against the
county. It was the first time
a lawsuit was mentioned.
"When I got out on proba-
tion I call him (Postill) and
asked for five dollars to take
out a girl. He told me to come
over and he gave me the money.
Then he took me across the
street to the McGovern head-
quarters and introduced me to
Mike Stillwagon.
"We talked about filing a
lawsuit and I signed an agree-
ment that if we won any money
he (Stillwagon) would get one-
third and if we didn't win it
would cost me nothing."
"I've eaten at Postill's house.
I've slept at his house and at
his office. He 'has given me
money now and then, 'cause I
helped around the office doing
campaign work."
The questioning took place
at the County Jail where Nor-
ris is presently being held on
charges of attempted robbery.
Left unanswered by the tape
is whether Norris is withdraw-
ing the lawsuit as Harvey
claims.
However, according to Still-
wagon, who says he talked to
Norris 30 minutes before the
tape was made, the suit is still
pending and is not being dis-
missed.
"The Washtenaw County So-
cial Service Agency told me the
poor kid had tried to slash his
wrists on Sunday." said Still-
wagon last night. "He (Norris)
will say anything the sheriff
wants if it will get him out of
the jail. The first time he was
in he was raped and now he has
tried to kill himself."
"There could be only two
possible reasons to drop the
suit," adds Stillwagon. "Either
to get him out of the jail or
to get the charges reduced on
the attempted robbery charge."
"When I met with Norris in
the afternoon, we discussed the
case," Stillwagon. "The suit is
not being dismissed."
Postill explains his relation-
ship with Norris this way.
"I first met Norris at the pre-
trial examination, discussed the
case with him, and told him I
thought the sheriff had not met
his legal obligation to maintain
his-Norris'-safety while in the
jail. I also learned that Norris,
who had been released from jail
on his own recognizance, was in
need of social service assistance,
and I suggested he get in touch
See CAPTIVE, Page 8
ZCI e irl ig n 43 it
Vol. LXXXII, No. 55-S
Ann Arbor, Michigan-Thursday, August 3, 1972
Ten Cents
Twelve Pages
McGovern meets with
blacks in VP search
WASHINGTON iN--George
McGovern talked over his
search for a new running-
mate with several influen-
tial blacks yesterday, then
d e c i d e d to announce his
choice tonight or tomorrow.
Word that the Democratic
presidential nominee would dis-
close his selection as early as
tonight came from Frank Man-
kiewicz, his national political di-
rector. But Mankiewcz refused to
say whether McGovern already
has made a final decision.
Earlier yesterday, McGovern
said he is seeking advice from a
number of persons, including
congressional colleagues, a n d
won't be hurried into making a
choice.
McGovern met for more than
an hour in his Senate office with
the black group which included
Ceretta King, congressional dele-
gate Walter Fauntroy, California
Assemblyman W i 11 i e Brown,
Gary. Ind. Mayor Richard Hatch-
er, Georgia legislator Julian
Bond and five others.
Press s e c r e ta r y Richard
Daugherty said McGovern called
the group "a kind of steering
comittee" for his campaign and
that Fauntroy heads it.
Participants in the meeting
would say little about who or
what was discussed, except to
say that a new vice presidential
nominee wasn't the only topic.
McGovern's campaign man-
ager, Gary Hart, said roughly a
dozen names were mentioned in
the meeting as possible replace-
ments for Sen. Thomas Eagle-
ton, whom McGovern persuaded
Monday night to resign as his
running mate.
Hart and the others refused to
repeat any of the names or to
say whether any were blacks.
Some of the participants stayed
on after the meeting broke up
and were joined by the Rev.
Ralph Abernathy, chairman of
the Southern Leadership Confer-
ence. McGovern met with var-
ious black leaders for more than
three hours.
W h i l e McGovern conferred,
Democratic National Chairman
Jean Westwood said at a news
conference she expects that the
Democratic National Committee
See McGOVERN, Page 7
Increasing cloudiness, cooler,
20 per cent chance of precipita-
tion tonight. High today upper
70's, low near 60.
au Ah, to be a kid again
Paul Mureiko of )Hanover Park, Ill., cools it in a sea of mud that
took over his backyard after a recent shower.
GOVT. ACTION LIKELY:
England suffers food
shortage in doc sstrike
LONDON (A') - Strikebound A royal proclamation, allowing
ships anchored in Britain pre- the government to control food
pared yesterday to dump hun- prices and requesition transport
dreds of tons of rotting food to shift essential supplies, was
cargoes they cannot unload be- ready to be rushed to the Isle of
cause of a national port shut- Man, off England's west coast,
down. for the signature of Queen
With a strike by 42,000 long- Elizabeth I. She is paying an
shoremen in its sixth day, house- official visit to the island.
wives were finding food shelves While a committee of dock
denuded and stocks of fresh employers and union leaders was
fruits and vegetables dwindling again busy trying to find a
rapidly. formula to get the men back to
work, government officials were
Pr i m e M i n i s t e r Edward becoming increasingly anxious
Heath's government was re- over the food situation.
ported close to a decision to take Newton Jones, chairman of
emergency powers to cope with the British Export Houses Asso-
the dock workers walkout. They ciation, said the strike had also
are making job security de- held up exports worth more
mands, than $245 million.
Daily Pnoto y JIM WALLACE
FRED LEONARD, principal of Forsythe Junior High, awaits a
decision on his transfer at last night's board meeting.
School board delays
vote on city principal
By MARILYN RILEY
The Ann Arbor Board of Edu-
cation last night voted 5-2 to
hold in abeyance the transfer of
Fred Leonard, black principal of
Forsythe Junior High School.
Board member Cecil Warner
initiated the action which would
delay any transfer decision un-
til after an executive meeting
between Leonard, the Board,
and the superintendent Aug. 7.
The board had previously de-
cided to transfer Leonard from
his position at Forsythe to a po-
sition as director of field ser-
vices for the Ann Arbor Public
Schools. This action, taken with-
out consulting Leonard or the
Principal Selection Committee,
was protested by members of the
community.
Warner's motion for a hearing
was a substitute for one by
board member Henry Johnson
which called for the reinstate-
ment of Leonard.
Johnson was opposed to the
hearing, calling it a "continua-
tion of misunderstanding" on
the part of the board members
concerning their function as a
policy-making unit and not a
personnel selection unit.
"The board has boxed itself
into an embarrassing situation,"
Johnson explained. The only
way out, according to Johnson,
would be to "admit we have
blown it" and rescind the pre-
vious decision to transfer
See SCHOOL, Page 8