Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 14 December 2001 — Page 2

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THE INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14,20Qi

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Local firefighter honored during prayer vigil

By JIM BUNTIN Staff Writer The 3 rd annual prayer vigil for victims and survivors of Domestic Violence sponsored by A-Way-Out-Ministries Inc. took place Saturday at the State House where a special recognition and prayer for Indianapolis’ own Firefighters was observed. “As you know, many of the fire department’s runs are related to domestic violence and the administration of first-aid to our community, In fact, our fire chief has designated the Indianapolis fire stations as safe havens for victims of domestic violence,” said Daisy Marrs, founder of A-Way-Out - Ministries. “We’re trying to move forward with recognition programs to bring awareness of the issues of domestic violence. This is actually the third event of this type to bring attention to all that goes on in our community and to highlight the fact that this is not just a female issue but it is a family issue,” said Marrs’ husband and group board member, Ezell. Vernon Brown, deputy chief of the Indianapolis Fire Department was among the event supporters. “We’re here to support this effort because 80 percent of our runs are EMS runs and many times we are on the scene before law enforcement. We see first hand the effects of domestic violence from

Deputy Chief of the Indianapolis Fire Department Vernon Brown receives recognition from A-Way-Out-Mlnistries founder Daisy Marrs for his service on domestic disturbance calls.

women and children and even sometimes men,” said Brown. “Everybody seems to concentrate on firefighters being heroes but the real heroes are the people who pick up their lives every day and go about working and taking care of their families in spite of domestic violence and overcome that.” A special presentation certificate and statuette was awarded to deputy chief, Vernon Brown by Congresswoman Julia Carson and by A-Way-Out-Ministries Inc. “We should stay very diligent in terms of our gratitude and respect for those who continue in the battle-

fields of public safety. We should always give homage to those who are no longer here. Public Service is not a glamour type of endeavOT. It is an endeavor that every human being benefits from one way or another and I am appreciative for those who remain to be a great service to our communities and the preservation of human life,” said Congresswoman Carson. For more information regarding this program please contact Daisy Marrs at 258-5005 or fax her at 545-6472.

Review finds unequal sentences for Black, white convicts

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — Christopher Hilton and Joseph Wilson have much in common, but their sentences for murder convictions are not among the similarities. Hilton, who is Black, received^ 60-year prison teim for killing a white man. Wilson, who is white, received 40 years — recently reduced to 30 — for killing a Black man. The disparity between the sentences of the two men is not an anomaly. Black homicide defendants in Allen County were sentenced to an average of four more years behind bars than whites, according to a review by The Journal Gazette of 308 homicides and 154 defendants sentenced between 1990 and 2000. When the victim’s race is considered, the 19 Blacks who killed whites received an average of 12 years more than the eight whites who killed Blacks. Judges and prosecutors insist they treat each case separately and never consider race. Many issues, including details of the crime, criminal history and acceptance of guilt go into the sentencing decision, they say. Another reason for the different sentences results from Blacks being convicted of murder nearly three times more than whites. A charge of murder—as opposed to a lesser charge — carries the high-

est possible punishment. Defendants such as Hilton are left to wonder how the disparities arose. “That hurts, but it’s comical because it’s so hard to believe,” Hilton said fh a Telephone interview from ptisoh. “I thought the justice system was about justice.” In compiling a computer database of homicide statistics. The Journal Gazette considered only the sentence related to the homicide charge and not sentences from any additional charges. The newspaper’s analysis did not include five Black men who received life in prison without parole and the one white man who received the death penalty because those sentences could not be numerically measured. The database was compiled from court files, death certificates, newspaper archives and police records. The results of the newspaper’s analysis are consistent with findings by national groups critical of the death penalty. “That doesn’t mean the judge and jury comes out and says, ‘We’re sentencing you to this because you are Black,”’ said Marc Mauer, assistant director of The Sentencing Project in Washington, D.C., a nonprofit group that studies sentencing and encourages alternatives to prison. “It’s unconscious and builds up along the way,” he said.

Judge Fran Gull disagrees. “Race never matters,” said Gull, who was the sentencing judge in many of the homicide cases analyzed. “I don’t look at the color of the skin of the offender. I look at the offender, their family, their record, the circumstances of the crime.” Gull, like all her judicial colleagues, is white. Defense attorney Donald Swanson, who is also white, lays much of the blame for the racial imbalance at the feet of prosecutors. “I can hammer out a better deal if all things are equal for a white who has killed a Black,” Swansdn said. “I don’t think it’s a conscious thing, but when Blacks kill whites, the prosecutor’s office probabjy feels a little more heat.” Admission of guilt could explain some of the gap between Wilson’s and Hilton’s sentenced. Both men went to trial, but Wilson admitted shooting George Davis Jr. in May 1994 and argued it was self-defense instead of murder. The altercation began as a stdring contest between Wilson and the driver of the car in which Davis was riding. Hilton, on the other hand, claimed he had no involvement in the August 1993 execution-style slaying of college student Paul Rossetti. " ‘

Scene of shooting The northeast comer of 30th Street and North Keystone Avenue was the scene of the shooting Tuesday of 18*year-old Christopher Cole at approximately 2:30 p.m. Cole, who is in stable condition, w|S shot twice in the right thigh and once Jn the right hand. He also sustained a broken femur. The shooting suspect, a Black male between the ages of 20-25 an^ weighing between 270-300 pounds, fled southeast down Tacoma Avenue after the shooting.

Another costly turnover.

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