U~i 4 lJ ftiit in :&ztt j Vol. LXXXI, No. 15-S Ann Arbor, Michigan-Tuesday, May 25, 1971 Ten Cents Eight Pages Judge rules mistrial in Seale case Jury unable to reach verdict on charges against Panthers NEW HAVEN, Conn. (Al - A mistrial was declared yesterday in the six-month-old murder-kidnap trial of Black Panther Chairman Bobby Seale and Ericka Huggins, a local Panther leader. Superior Court Judge Harold Mulvey ruled the mis- trial in the sixth day of jury deliberations on the charges against the two stemming from the 1969 slaying of Pan- ther Alex Rackley. "I declare a mistrial for the reason that the jury has failed to reach a verdict unanimously on all of the charges" in the two cases, Mulvey said. County Prosecutor Arnold Markle said that he would re- initiate the prosecution of Seale and Huggins. The judge scheduled a meet- ing today with both defendants, their attorneys and the prose- cutor. He did not explain the purpose of the meeting, b u t subjects under discussion were expected to include a date for a new trial and requests that Seale and Huggins be released on bail. Seale and Huggins were charged with aiding and abet- ting murder and with kidnaping resulting in death. Each w as also charged with conspiracy to Bobby Seale murder and conspiracy to kid- nap, and Huggins was charg- ed with binding with criminal-intent. Seale has been in jail since August 1969, when he was arrest- ed on the basis of an affidavit by George Sams Jr., a New York Panther, who claimed he heard Seale order the execution of Rack- ley whom he suspected of being a police informer. Sams, who has been convicted of second-degree murder from the incident, also testified that Huggins took an active part in the interrogation-torture of Racckley shortly before Rackley was killed. The defense, however, has maintained that Sams is a brutal man who formulated the murder plot and forced other Panthers to help execute the plan. For Seale and his attorneys the outcome was a disappointment. They had made no secret of their belief that the state's case against the Panther chairman was weak, and had predicted an early acquittal. In Oakland, Calif., Black Panther national headquarters is- sued a statement saying: "The law's delay is no new thing to either the Black Panther Party or to black and poor people in this country . . . Chairman Bobby and Ericka have been incarcerated now for nearly two years for a crime they neither committed nor for which they have been declared as guilty . . . The reading even of the words 'not guilty' would not justify those years of their -f lives." Judge Mulvey's ruling followed notification by a jury late yesterday morning that it could not reach a verdict on any of the charges against either defendant. He instructed the jurors "to pay proper respects to each other's opinions and listen with candor to each other's arguments." The judge cautioned the jury not to speak to the newsmen ; about their deliberations. * * * * * * 'U' sex bias goals may not satisfy HIEW guidelines ,I' - p -Daily-Jim Judkis Union fire A Sunday morning fire did heavy damage to the office of the Druid Society in the sixth floor of the Michigan Union. Ann Arbor Fire Chief Arthur Stauch has ordered an investigation into the blaze, believed to have been caused by a discarded cigarette. PROTEST AT MEETING: City Council defers, " e Model Cities action By ANITA CRONE City Council last night deferred action on five Model Cities contracts while members of the black community and the Black Contractors Association displayed signs accusing the program of being unresponsive to the needs of the black community. A special committee was appointed by Mayor Robert Harris to study the contracts. The committee includes Councilmen Jack Kirscht (D-first ward), Nelson Made (D-third ward), Robert Weaver (R- second ward), John McCormick (R-fifth ward), and Harris. In addition, a special public hearing with the committee has been , set for Thursday night. At this time, a preliminary report by the committee is scheduled with audience participation. The contracts include resolu- tions to approve a Model Cities contract for legal services pro- gram, a bail bond program, youth recreation program, com- munity institute and a transpor- tation contract with Ann Arbor Community center. Currently, Deborah Grubbs, a member of the Model Cities Policy Board, is sitting in at the Model Cities office. She feels that the program is not open to or meeting the needs of the major- ity of residents in the Model Neighborhood. Grubbs also feels that there has been no meaningful community involvement in the program. She has accused the leadership of the policy board of showing "great favoritism" in not permit- ting certain groups ani/or indi- viduals to participate in the pro- Daily-Jim Judkis gram. t they call the Model Cities pro- Grubbs has been joined in her See COUNCIL, Page 7 By ROSE SUE BERSTEIN The Department of Health, Education and Wel- fare (HEW) apparently f o u n d unsatisfactory por- tions of t h e University's goals and timetables sub- mitted March 8 as part of its affirmative action plan for e q u a l employment of women. A spokeswoman for PROBE, a local woman's group, told The Daily that the University plan had been rejected by HEW, but University President R o b b e n Fleming denied this report. Fleming said that HEW did not turn down the University's plan, but did want more infor- mation about it. HEW requests for additional information gen- erally denote dissatisfaction with the proposal submitted. The Detroit Free Press re- ported yesterday that the back pay provision of the University's plan was not acceptable to HEW. The University had agreed in its plan to pay back pay retro- active to October, 1968, to those women who performed jobs for which men in the same capacity were paid higher wages. The Free Press reported that no back wages have yet been paid under this provision. Vice President for State Rela- tions and Planning Fedele Fauri said last night that the HEW letter detailing its response to the University requested only "clarifications," not "modifica- tions." The goals and timetables were submitted to HEW March 8, in response to HEW's demand that the University rectify alleged sexdiscrimination or forfeit its right to federal research con- tracts. Upon receipt last winter of the initial affirmative action pro- gram, the University's contract eligibility was tentatively re- stored, but HEW must now ap- prove the goals and timetables for that eligibility to be upheld. Fauri explained that the HEW litters includes requests for a more detailed breakdown of job listings for non-academic em- ployes and details on the spe'- cifics of the computer runs the University uses to check for in- stances of discrimination. As part of the affirmative ac- tion program, the Universit y es- tablished a Women's Commis- sion, which devised the com- puterized discrimination search. When the University sabmit- ted its proposals in March, it was predicted by some women here that it would not be accept- able to HEW. The University's p 1 a n called for raising the women instruc- tional staff from 411 in 1970 71 to 550 in 1973-74. This includes a 2.1 percent raise in women professors from 47 in 1970-71 to 78 in 1973-74, compared to a projected raise in male profes- sors from 995 to 1,099. DEMONSTRATORS at last night's City Council meeting protest wha gram's lack of relevance to the residents it is designed to serve.