Oct. 23 TEXAS: DA cites experience as foe calls for change Bexar County District Attorney Susan Reed is defending her post against challenger Eddie Bravenec, a defense attorney and former prosecutor. Reed, 56, a Republican, is going for her third term in office. She cites her long experience as a prosecutor and district judge, as well as her "tough-on-crime" stance and special prosecution units she has formed to go after elder fraud and Internet solicitation of minors. Bravenec, 33, called for change. "I think I'll be able to bring honesty and integrity back to this office," said Bravenec, a Democrat. He cited Reed's purchase of airline tickets that authorities say had been obtained illegally and her refusal to recuse her office from the investigation of a controversial death penalty case in which she had set the execution date. "There hasn't been justice in that courthouse in a long time," he said. Reed said she was as surprised as anyone to find out that the Southwest Airlines tickets being marketed by then-Bexar County Courthouse bailiff James Jackson and his wife, Althea Jackson, an airline employee, were illegal. She also said she is capable of overseeing an impartial investigation into the case in which Ruben Cantu, convicted of a robbery in which one victim was killed and another wounded, was executed in 1993. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals declined to hear arguments on the case in August, effectively leaving the investigation in Reed's hands. Bravenec ran into different legal troubles recently when he was briefly taken into custody, but not charged, after a confrontation with parking enforcement officials in February. His pickup had been booted after it collected 3 unpaid parking tickets. ********************** Keller touts her record; Molina sells criminal law background The state's highest criminal appeals court features 3 Republican judges trying to keep their seats. In the bid for presiding judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Justice Sharon Keller, 53, a Republican from Dallas, is the only one on the 9-member court facing major party opposition. Democrat J.R. Molina, 61, a Fort Worth lawyer, is her challenger. Keller said voters can attest to the record she has already established as a reason she should get re-elected to a 3rd 6-year term. "I have almost 12 years' experience on the court, and 6 years as presiding judge," Keller said. "I also have experience in criminal justice matters outside the court, such as the Task Force on Indigent Defense, of which I'm the chairman." Molina touted his 34 years of experience in criminal law, and 29 years with board certification in that area of practice, as reasons why he should be elected. He said he has tried more than 200 jury trials and thousands of nonjury trials as a prosecutor and defense lawyer. "I have prosecuted and defended multiple capital cases involving the death penalty," Molina said. "I have filed appeal briefs for the state of Texas and for defendants. "The national experience reveals that innocent people have been convicted," he said. "The public will have confidence in our justice system only if there is an exhaustive, expansive and meticulous prosecution, defense and appellate review of these cases." 2 other judges on the court are also trying to keep their seats - Republican Barbara Parker Harvey takes on Libertarian Quanah Parker in Place 7, and Libertarian Dave Howard tries to claim the post of Republican Charles Holcomb in Place 8. (source for both: San Antonio Express-News) **************************** Justice, equality and innovation can lower crime rates I realized at an early age that I wanted to become district attorney of Dallas. This ambitious vision was solidified after many years observing the careers of prominent political figures whom I greatly admired and respected. When current state Sen. Royce West ran for DA as a young Democrat, I was only 15, but this historical event further emboldened my desire to one day be DA. I'm a Dallas native and the Democratic nominee for Dallas County district attorney. I attended schools in the Dallas Independent School District and graduated from Carter High School in 1986. I matriculated through Prairie View A&M and received a bachelor's degree in political science before earning a jurist doctorate degree from Texas Wesleyan University School of Law in Fort Worth. I currently practice criminal law in my own firm in sunny South Dallas. In 2002, I cast myself into the grasp of the political landscape, thus beginning a journey dreamed in the innocence of my youth many years ago. My bid for DA in 2002 eluded me by a mere 2 percent; however, the near victory sparked an even greater determination to continue on the journey - soulfully chanting, "as your DA, I will make a difference in the community." Now, heading the call of the inner voice lighting the tumultuous road ahead, I am determined to be DA so that my dream will no longer be a dream deferred, so that people in Dallas County will be better off because of the initiatives I will implement. Dallas County has the dubious stigma of having one of the highest crime rates in the nation. Several initiatives I've proposed are focused on stemming criminal activity in our cities. Justice and equality are the cornerstones of my approach to prosecution. I have a sincere commitment to maintain fairness, ethical proceedings and integrity within the district attorney's office. The district attorney must be willing to engage in innovative strategies when prosecuting crimes. My plan for the DA's office includes vigorous prosecution and punishment of hardened and repeat offenders. However, low-level offenders who may have mental illness or addiction issues require a very different approach beyond the normal prosecutorial routine. Some offenders can be helped, even deterred, from being caught up in the revolving door of the justice system. I want to initiate and expand programs that will help prevent offenders from repeating and escalating their criminal activities, a cycle that greatly harms our communities and citizens. That is why my campaign focuses on initiatives that will address many of the root causes that fester and become an incubator for crime to flourish. The status quo within the DA's office exemplifies an ideology supportive of solely being tough on crime - higher percentage of convictions and maximum sentences. Being tough on crime alone may be a contributing factor that has earned our county the distinction of having one of the highest crime rates in the nation as well as one of the highest high prison populations in the country. We need to be smarter in our approaches to crime by understanding, then addressing the underlying factors that lead people to engage in criminal activities. My "Smart on Crime" plan includes a number of programs that will help lower the crime rate and make Dallas County a better, safer place to live. They include: - Prosecutorial improvements - Strategy to identify and punish repeat offenders - Deferred prosecution program - Smart approach to drug offenses - Proactive re-entry initiatives - Community initiative for juveniles More details of the "Smart on Crime" plan are available at www.smartondallascrime.com. I am going to bring change to the DA's office and create a better place for people to live, work and enjoy our wonderful county. I have received endorsements from numerous elected officials at the national, state and local level, including from U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, Texas state Sen. Royce West and County Commissioner John Wiley Price. You have the power to change the status quo. Vote for Craig Watkins and get the positive change you deserve as a citizen of Dallas County. (source : Dallas Morning News ---- Craig Watkins is the Democratic candidate running for Dallas County district attorney. Readers may contact him through www.smartondallascrime.com. ) ****************************** Town lives without police after department fired Residents of this Central Texas city are making do without local police after the city council decided to fire the entire police department. City officials said the department chief and 3 officers were fired over the last 2 months for reasons including insubordination and poor performance. "I just hope the citizens of Troy know that we're doing what they elected us to do," said Sammy Warren, mayor of the town of about 1,400 people. "We are not going to let that department just run by itself. We're going to have a police department to be proud of again." Residents of Troy, which is located about 70 miles north of Austin on Interstate 35, have relied on the Bell County Sheriff's Office since the local officers were fired. But the 6 deputies per shift are also responsible for the remainder of the county's 240,000 residents. "I'm happy to say I really haven't noticed much of a change," said Neil Jeter, assistant superintendent of the Troy Independent School District. "So far, knock on wood, it's been pretty much business as usual. It does raise a level of concern, though, that our first call is to the Bell County Sheriff's Office. Fortunately, we haven't had to make any 911 calls." Warren said he thinks the town is safer without the police department in place. According to a city news release, former police chief David Seward was fired in late August for poor performance or misconduct in the areas of department finances, record keeping, communication with superiors, supervising officers and maintaining the department office. Seward did not return phone calls for comment. Warren said Seward is now under investigation by the Bell County sheriff and the Texas Rangers. He said he's restricted from discussing specific allegations because of the investigation. The city's remaining 3 officers were fired in September. The city accused former officer Jack Comeaux, 59, of insubordination, disrespect and keeping an unauthorized work schedule. Comeaux disputed the allegations and said the officers were fired without a solid explanation or just cause. They are considering suing the city. "I worry that the citizens don't have the level of protection that they had," he said. "We know the people. We know the neighborhoods. We know which kid belongs to which house. The deputies don't have that 1-on-1 personal knowledge like we do." City officials said the city council is reviewing applicants and hopes to have a new chief in place this month. The new chief will then hire 3 new officers. (source: Associated Press) NEW HAMPSHIRE: Death penalty untested ---- State has no execution chamber, procedures After former state Rep. Renny Cushing's father was murdered, people told him they hoped the man who did it would "fry so you can get some comfort." Instead, Cushing pleaded for mercy for men like the grudge-bearing neighbor who gunned down his father and fought to repeal the state's death penalty. Now he questions whether a jury would shrug off New Hampshire's long-standing unease with the death penalty and sentence Michael "Stix" Addison to death if he's convicted in the shooting death of Manchester Police Officer Michael Briggs. "There is a family out there grieving, 2 children without a father," said Cushing, founder of Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights, which represents victims across the country who oppose capital punishment. He notes that 13 states don't have capital punishment. New Hampshire appears to be a state divided over capital punishment. The statute is narrow and has been applied only once in the last decade and not carried out since 1939. The state has no one on death row and no death chamber in which to administer the prescribed lethal injection or hanging, if injection is not possible. On Wednesday, the attorney general's office won legislative approval to spend $420,000 pursuing a death penalty case against Addison. The cost could rise well above $1 million. "Because they haven't done a capital case in New Hampshire, people don't understand the length of the process," he said. "Death cases are different. Death penalty litigation is almost a separate speciality in law." 6 years ago, the Legislature voted to repeal the death penalty. Then-Gov. Jeanne Shaheen brushed off appeals from a former president and Nobel Peace Prize winner - among others - and vetoed the repeal bill, leaving the law on the books. Since then anti-death penalty advocates have repeatedly tried to repeal the law. Briggs, 35, who was married with two sons, was shot 15 minutes before his overnight bicycle patrol shift ended Monday, when he responded to a report of a shot fired in an inner city Manchester neighborhood. Hours after Briggs' death Tuesday afternoon, Attorney General Kelly Ayotte announced her intention to upgrade charges against Addison from attempted murder to capital murder. Addison, 26, was arrested Monday evening in Boston and remains jailed there on $2 million bail. New Hampshire's death penalty law includes a short list of crimes, including murder of a law enforcement officer and murder during rape or attempted rape. Additionally, the law requires 2 jury verdicts: one finding guilt, and another imposing the penalty. The jury must unanimously find 2 aggravating circumstances, including intent, for a death sentence. The state Supreme Court automatically reviews death sentences. The last person charged with capital murder in New Hampshire was Gordon Perry, who avoided the possibility by pleading guilty to 1st-degree murder in Epsom police Officer Jeremy Charron's death. Charron, who served with Briggs on the Epsom force, was gunned down while checking a parked car in August 1997. Criminal defense lawyer Michael Ramsdell handled the Perry case when he was chief of the state's homicide bureau. "It's much more difficult than handling first- and second-degree murder cases because there are so many more issues raised in death penalty cases," Ramsdell said. "The amount of resources that need to be devoted far exceed any resources for any other kind of case." Ramsdell also handled a 1988 case involving three men who faced capital murder charges in the stabbing death of a pregnant woman. In that case, one teen was acquitted and other was sentenced to 46 years to life in prison. The husband was never tried because the teens refused to testify against him. He said a capital case in New Hampshire could take 10 years to complete since the state has not gone through a trial or the appeals process. Ramsdell wouldn't speculate on Addison's case. "Anybody who tells you he has a gut feeling about the case . . . I would be very, very skeptical," he said. Democratic state Sen. Lou D'Allesandro, a death penalty advocate, believes it is clearly warranted in Briggs's murder. "I think the sentiment for this will be so strong given the circumstance surrounding this murder," he said. "This was a deliberate act meant to kill from everything I have gathered." But Democratic state Rep. Jim Splaine, prime sponsor of recent repeal bills, believes a jury would decide life without parole is a worse fate. "It is not being easier on criminals. It is tougher," he said. The issue will be on lawmakers' agenda again next year, though it isn't likely to change anything. Splaine said he has filed a new bill to repeal the death penalty, but both Gov. John Lynch and Republican challenger Jim Coburn promise to veto any such attempts. Cushing's father was shotgunned in the doorway of his Hampton home in 1988 by the neighbor who also was a town police officer. Would a New Hampshire jury sentence Addison to death given the state's divisions over the death penalty? "It's hard to say. That ends up being an individual decision a jury has to weigh," Cushing said. (source: Associated Press) ILLINOIS: Historic gallows to be sold on auction For sale to the highest bidder: 1 gallows. Expanded 5-felon capacity. Historically significant. Featured on stage and screen. Only 2 owners. May need work (untested since 1927). For nearly 30 years, the gallows first built in 1887 to hang anarchists from Chicago's Haymarket Affair has belonged to Mike Donley. In recent years it has been part of Donley's Wild West Town, a tourist theme park and steakhouse in this McHenry County town. But with Wild West Town increasingly catering to children, Donley, who bought the grim device from Cook County in 1977 for a price he declines to reveal, says it's time for the gallows to go. After all, an ice cream parlor, a model steam train and a petting zoo make odd neighbors for a bare wood and hemp killing machine on which 86 people went to their deaths over a span of 40 years. "It really doesn't fit into our theme of what we do here," said Donley, 54. As a result, Donley is putting the gallows up for auction. Bidding will start Nov. 20 through Burr Ridge-based Mastro Auctions, which will put the device in its catalog and Web site. The auction will close Dec. 6. The opening bid will be $5,000. Some death penalty experts worry the sale could attract morbid collectors of "murderabilia," items somehow related to serial killers and criminals. But the auctioneers presume a museum or other institution will provide the winning bid for the gallows. Historical items seem to garner more respect, said Brian Marren, vice president of acquisitions at Mastro Auctions. And the gallows has history to spare. It was constructed for the hanging of some of the 8 men convicted of complicity in the May 4, 1886 fatal bombing in Chicago's Haymarket Square - even though none of them were responsible for throwing the bomb. In what many historians have called a classic miscarriage of justice, Albert Parsons, August Spies, Adolph Fischer and George Engel were hanged on the gallows on Nov. 11, 1887. A 5th man, Louis Lingg, had committed suicide in his cell the night before by using a blasting cap for a cigar. After the Haymarket hangings, the gallows remained in use for 40 years at the old Cook County Jail, which was located in the back of what was then the Criminal Court building on Chicago's Hubbard Street. After the June 24, 1927, hanging of convicted murderer Elin Lyons, Cook County shifted to electrocution as a supposedly more humane means of execution. The gallows would have been destroyed then, had it not been for the Dec. 19, 1921, escape of convicted cop-killer "Terrible Tommy" O'Connor three days before he was scheduled to hang. 2 former Chicago newsmen, ace screenwriter Ben Hecht and former City News Bureau of Chicago reporter Charles MacArthur, used a highly fictionalized account of that escape in their 1928 stage play, "The Front Page." That dark comedy has been one of the true perennials of American theater and has spawned at least 4 movie versions, notably 1940's "His Girl Friday," starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. Hecht, incidentally, was more than passingly familiar with the gallows, since he was instrumental in sending a man there. His investigation of two killings for the old Chicago Daily News revealed that World War I hero Carl Wanderer had solicited a drifter to kill his pregnant wife, and had then killed the drifter himself. Wanderer was hanged March 19, 1921. Even without the national notoriety provided by Hecht and MacArthur, O'Connor's escape created a serious problem for Cook County authorities. Since his sentence specified that O'Connor was to die on the rope, if he was recaptured he could not be strapped into "Old Sparky" and electrocuted. He had to be hanged. Instead of being scrapped, the gallows was dismantled and relegated to a jail basement, where it remained for 50 years. Finally, in 1977, Cook County Circuit Court Judge Richard Fitzgerald ruled that there was no longer any reasonable hope of O'Connor's recapture. He ordered the gallows removed from the jail basement. That's when Donley bought it. And now that he's selling it in an open auction, there is no knowing who may submit the winning bid. With a growing collectors' market for such grisly items as old electric chairs and mementoes of notorious murderers, the thought that the gallows may go to such a private collection horrifies noted death penalty foe Sister Helen Prejean, the author of "Dead Man Walking." But the Roman Catholic nun told the Chicago Tribune she would not mind seeing the gallows installed in a museum that shows concrete evidence of the death penalty and how it was carried out. Another capital punishment opponent, Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, agreed. "An auction can go 1 of 2 ways," Dieter said. "I would hope it would be bought by some archive or university or state - someone who would be interested in preserving it as part of some larger historical installation." (source: Associated Press) ********************* 'Healing, not vengeance' Former Gov. George Ryan's political legacy may have crashed in flames after his corruption conviction, but he had one shining moment in Colleen Cunningham's eyes: He stopped his state from killing people. The Illinois moratorium on the death penalty is the thin end of a wedge Cunningham would like to see pushing its way into every state in the union. "It's a step in the right direction," said Cunningham, 21, a philosophy and political science major at Millikin University. "And I really think abolition of the death penalty - in Illinois and across the country - is something that could happen soon." Cunningham found herself among friends Sunday afternoon when Millikin's Pilling Chapel was the scene of an interfaith prayer vigil in support of abolition of the death penalty. The event was part of the National Weekend of Faith in Action on the Death Penalty and was jointly organized by Millikin's Amnesty International chapter, of which Cunningham is president, and a group called Macon County Citizens Opposing Capital Punishment. Catholic nun JoAn Schullian, OSF, is president of the citizens group and shares Cunningham's optimism about winning the argument on the death penalty. She maintains her confidence even in the face of high-profile horror stories such as the alleged deliberate drowning by their mother of children aged 6, 3 and 23 months in Clinton Lake. That trial is due to get under way today in Decatur. "More people are aware of the whole concept that we don't have a right to take another person's life just because someone else allegedly killed someone," Schullian said. "We keep learning that if vengeance is the reason (for the death penalty), it is not going to bring healing." Giving a prayer that beseeched God to care for criminals and their victims, Schullian asked for the dealth penalty to be abolished and quoted the words of Christ as he died on the cross. "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Addressing the small congregation of about 20, the Rev. Robert Wiedrich, a retired United Methodist minister, remembered the Amish community in Pennsylvania that forgave and prayed for the killer who shot five girls to death in their one-room schoolhouse. Wiedrich said God had told humankind that vengeance belonged only to him. "There is no closure, there is no satisfaction, there is no peace in vengeance," added Wiedrich, 81. "We never seem to get even." - More than 1,000 people have been executed in America since the death penalty was reinstated by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1976. More than 3,000 people are on death row nationwide. (source: Herald & Review) MISSISSIIPPI: Execution raises waiver issue----Wilcher waived rights then changed his mind The end came for Bobby Glen Wilcher after three federal courts in different jurisdictions said they would take the death row inmate at his word: that he wanted to be executed. In a June federal court hearing in Jackson, Wilcher said he wanted to drop all appeals and be executed. A month later, as time was running out, Wilcher had changed his mind and the U.S. Supreme Court gave him a brief reprieve. By October, the Supreme Court said it would hear nothing more from Wilcher. A state court set the execution date and after appeals failed, 43-year-old Wilcher died by lethal injection this past Wednesday. For some legal scholars, Wilcher's case presented the courts with the opportunity to clarify when a death row inmate can change his mind. They say the courts, and the Supreme Court in particular, have hinted that the issue is one to be considered. Why not Wilcher? "Death row cases take so long that I think courts are reluctant to stop the ones where the green light has sort of been on, and the inmate says, at some point, he wants to go ahead with the execution" said Richard Dieter, executive director of the anti-capital punishment Death Penalty Information Center in Washington. "They are ones that the courts can say, 'It's not our choice; it's his choice.' Once he says that, it can go forward without a lot of contentious issues," Dieter said. Wilcher was convicted and sentenced to death in 1982 for the murders of 2 Scott County women. Wilcher's case went through 2 trials, 2 resentencing hearings and countless appeals. Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps said Wilcher's mood on Wednesday was much more somber than it had been in July, when Epps said Wilcher was more talkative and animated. "He's not as playful or joyful as he was... all of that is gone. He's very serious. He feels he will be executed," Epps said during a briefing for reporters at the penitentiary at Parchman. Epps said Wilcher had cried when the execution was stopped in July. Wilcher had no final statement. "I have none," Wilcher said when asked if he had anything to say. Matt Steffey, a law professor at the Mississippi College School of Law in Jackson, said 4 justices on the U.S. Supreme Court could have granted the application for review of Wilcher's case. "All we know for sure is that there weren't four justices who wanted to intervene in this case. That doesn't mean that there won't be four justices who want to intervene in a future case," he said. Dieter said there are cases around the country related to what questions courts should review when defendants voluntarily waive their rights to appeal. "Given the amount of time people are on death row nowadays, this issue is not going to go away. People do give up, lose hope, have mental breakdowns... so we can expect more of these troublesome cases, and I think we will see some rulings for greater clarity about what to do," he said. Wilcher's attorney had argued that Wilcher had mood swings because of bipolar disorder and "made a rash decision at a low point in his life" after more than two decades on death row. Steffey said Wilcher failed to show the courts there was a problem with the waiver of his rights to appeal. "A person with mental health issues or poor legal representation might be able to overcome the waiver, (but) in this case, he really couldn't," Steffey said. Steffey said the U.S. Supreme Court is going to have to look at the question of waiver in death penalty cases. "I tend to think that they will be inclined to uphold the principle that a defendant can waive his rights, including his rights to further review of his case," he said. "To hold otherwise would suggest that a person can at some point drop all further review of his case... and then on the eve of execution decide to reinstate them. "That could have a potentially disruptive effect on the whole process. The U.S. Supreme Court has, in general, over the last 10 or 15 years been inclined to whittle down the avenues a defendant has to put off execution," Steffey said. (source: Associated Press) OHIO: Prosecutor to stick with death penalty Both the current and the future commonwealth attorneys in Kenton County, Ky., say the transition in office that will occur in January should have little impact on the prosecution of two death penalty cases. Earlier this month, Commonwealth Attorney Bill Crockett filed notice in two cases that he would seek the maximum punishment. The situation is noteworthy because it's rare - only 3 times before in his 6-year term has Crockett sought to have a defendant put to death. None of those cases went to trial, and each defendant eventually pleaded to a deal that proscribed a lesser penalty. Crockett said the situation in the recent cases gave him little choice but to seek the ultimate penalty. In one, Dominic Raifsnider, 28, of Covington, is accused of fatally stabbing a gas station attendant during a robbery. David Joseph, 43, died after being stabbed numerous times Oct. 3. In the 2nd, Broderick Brown, 18, of Covington, is charged with walking up to Michael Kidd, 31, of Cincinnati, in the Peaselburg section of Covington, demanding money, then fatally shooting him on Aug. 2. "Both of these cases have particularly egregious and reprehensible conduct," Crockett said. "In these types of senseless, random crimes, the penalty is appropriate for deterrence purposes." In both cases, he cited the fact that the killings took place during a robbery, one of the aggravating factors needed to raise the potential penalty to death. In Raifsnider's case, the death penalty notice also cited his long criminal record, which includes a conviction for assault. Rob Sanders, who defeated Crockett in the Republican primary in May and faces no Democratic opposition in November, said he agreed with Crockett's decisions. "I'm comfortable with the fact that Mr. Crockett's office is seeking the death penalty," Sanders said. "Based on my limited knowledge of the cases, I think I would have made the same decision." Crockett didn't consult with Sanders before making the decision, and both said that was appropriate. "The facts of each case are what drove the decision," Crockett said. "The passing of the baton was not an issue." It will help that Sanders plans to keep on the assistant commonwealth attorneys who are prosecuting the cases. He said Christy Muncy, who is prosecuting Brown, and Jim Redwine, who is prosecuting Raifsnider, will remain in their jobs after Crockett leaves office. Both Raifsnider and Brown were indicted earlier this month, and both have had just one appearance since then - when each was arraigned and pleaded not guilty. Brown is charged with murder, robbery and possession of cocaine. He is due back in court Nov. 14 for a pre-trial conference before Circuit Judge Steve Jaeger. Raifsnider is charged with murder and robbery, and will appear before Circuit Judge Patricia Summe on Nov. 20. (source: The Cincinnati Post) *********** Appeals Court Rejects En Banc Hearing In Death Penalty Case A Cincinnati-based federal appeals court has denied the state's request for a full-court hearing in death row prisoner Jeffrey Lundgren's attempt to avoid execution. However, the court referred the motion to a 3-judge panel that could still rule later today. The state has asked the court to vacate a Columbus judge's order delaying tomorrow's scheduled execution and allowing Lundgren to join a lawsuit challenging Ohio's use of lethal injection. Lundgren was convicted of murdering a northeast Ohio family of 5 in 1989. The lawsuit he seeks to join was filed by another death row prisoner. It contends that the method used to administer a lethal injection is painful enough to amount to cruel and unusual punishment. (source: WCPO News)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.H., ILL., MISS., OHIO
Rick Halperin Tue, 24 Oct 2006 10:21:26 -0500 (Central Daylight Time)
