Young-Henderson v. Spartanburg Area Mental Health Center Request for Extension of Time and Affirmation

    . Atz THB NEI,/ YORK TIMES, TUESDAY TANUARY 12. 1982

$Alabama Rights Worhent

Eliezer Washingtm, the nsw local
N.A.A.C.P. president and candtdate ln
1980 for conty comm8siqrer, saw lt dlf-
lcrentty. Tbe 5&yearold Mr. lVashtag-
ton cxpressed his Edef, saylng:"Any-
thing llurld have bc€[r better thsprrtat
they doing. I'E nd happy at all. But th
shcrilf told me tiat ll this case eqssod
therc wouldn't be no righB lor the shlte
peopledornherc."

iAr" Jailed for Voting Fraud
:"*:
":"

ByREGINALDSTUART

pABROLLTON, Ala., Jan. U - Tro
of. this ccunty's leading ctvil rtghts
rryrl(cTs, Julia Wilderand Maggte Bozs
mrn, went to jail for vote fraud today
afler an Alabama clrcuit cqrrt judge ra,
jected last-minute pleas lor leniencSr.

Ttecharges sgainst the romen Errose
fiom their solicitation of 39 absentee
b{lotl smmg elderly and illlterate
blgcls in thecannty.

Thclargely black crwd of nearly 3(Il
cotrrlreom spectatoF was visibly upset
wfth the judge's decisim to jail the
women, and tleir angry outburst
drowned out Judge Clatus Junktns's call
that the court had rpt yet recessed.

.''WcSFllNotBeDtor/cd'
lhe crowd rce from benches and

began chanting the old civil rlghts
movement song, "lVe Shall Not Be
Mwed." They were immediately sepa-
rated from the women and court olficers
by Alabama state timpers sent here to
bapk up the local police.

I/Irs. Wilder, 69 years old, was given
thd maximum fir+yrcar smtence by the
al[whlte jury. Mrs. Bozeman, 51, was
seEtenced to four years' imprlsonment.
The women, both of whom are blact,

YoilTlE

were trled separately on charges stem-
ming from the locat elections in 1!178.

In the campaigl, Mrs. lYilder, presi-
dent of the Pictens Cqlnty Voters
League, and Mrs. Bozeman, then prest- '
dent of the local branch of the Natlmal
Associatisr for tlpAdvancement of Col-
ored People, began urging elderly, lllit.
erate blacks to vote by abs€ntee ballot.

The two women ptcked up absentee
ballot applicatims from the County
Electioos Commission and us€d oentral
addresses for mailing them. They
deposited 39 absentee ballots, all nota-
rized by tlle same person, with the
County Eleclton Commissiolr. The can-
didate preferenoes were identical ln all
respects.

Then, ul Election Day, one ol the ab
sentee voteni appeared at the polls, de
manding to vrote. That, District Attor-
ney Presley M. Johnston said, led to an
investigation ol the absentee baltots.

At the trial, 13 of thce whce ballots
were filed bythetwo women testlfied for
the state. All told confi$ed stori6, ex-
oept one, ?}yearold Sophie Spa.nn, the
woman who showed up on Election Day
to cast her vote. She testified that she
knew nothing about an absentee ballot
and had never stgned one.

It was largely m the basts ol that
testimony that the jury voted tor convio
tion, both sides agree. Throughout the
investigation and the trial both women
maintained that they vere not guilty.

Appeab Court's Doub8
In upholdlng the conviction when tt

was appealed, the Alabama State Cotfi
of Appeals rrote in a unanimors oplnlon
that fqlrritness€s had tBtlfted thelrdid
not vote by absentee ballot, "yet alisen-
tee baUoB werc wted tn thelr names."
But the justicexi zuggested that they, too,
were concerned about the sorndness ol
the case, writing:

"The testlmony ol other witnesses
was both confrrsing ard confllcting, de
pending upon who was examlnlng them,
their tGtlmony ras favorable to both
the prosecution and defense. Under the
cincumstances only a jury contd tur-
scramble the hodgepodge ol tesUBG
ny."

Tte State Supreme Court refu€d to
review the case and in Norrember ol last
year the United States Suprene Court

retused to hcar it, maf,ing the appeals
court opinim fttal.

The hearing before Judge Jmlrtn thls
morning was on a motiur for suspclusion
ol the jail scntlnce and ol the probatlor
that might have been given in lian of a
jail sentance. The women said ffihIEg
after hearing that they had lct their bid
for judicial lealmcy. At the cmclusim
of the hearing, tllcy rer: ordercd tnto
the custody ol the county strcriff .

Before the heartng cnded, l5 peoptc
testified as character witneses, many
from countics where blacks have made
gneater electoral gains than Pickens
County. Pickms, about 9) miles santb
west ol Birrringham, is ,() percent black
but has no blact elected cormty oflicials.
There are some black lnayol! of tlny
towns in the coimty.

The witnesses included Greesr CoEty
Sberffl Thomas L. Gilmore Sr., one ol

the Sorth's ltrst blacf sherlffs, and the
Rer,. Jceph L. LorerJr, prcsldent ol tbe
Southern Chdstian Lcadenhtp' Cmlcr.
enoe.

In a teleplrone intendcw precsdins
today's tEaring, Judge Junlin sstd tnat
he was firm ln his beliet that the covie
tim and scntencing verc oorrract. TD
case was simply onc tnvolving "a cople
ol rromen vho jtrst llagrantly teqt fl
and stole 39 rotes," tDe judge safo, add
ing, "To me it's iust a sttaiSht{rt
crime."

Ad.rdltr
Maggle Bo.eman, lett and Julta Wllder, rho tcrc rontmcd to dl lor vote

fraud ltr local ctecttms. Ttelr apgeak lor leolcy rrrc dcatcd.

TbN.rY(tTlE/rrs. XI fEl
Ballots cast ln Plctens Cormty are

the focns otmtlng lraud casc.