North Carolina Now; North Carolina Now Episode from 12/20/1994

Or did tonight. Why does this Victorian mansion in corners though called Windows only. And a good evening to you everyone I'm watching Kate fail and I'm there in a hard charge glad to have you with us tonight Billy Barnes has a report for us on an incredible mansion built by an eccentric artist in

Kernersville. He'll clue us in on why the mansion is called this artist's folly. And will focus the rest of our program on how the criminal justice system treats the victims of crime. We have both a story of a woman who is still trying to heal herself emotionally after being stabbed and left for dead by an attacker. And our newsmaker tonight will shed some light on a proposal to enhance the rights of crime victims in our state. Audrey last week the new Republican leadership in North Carolina General Assembly unveiled their plan to solve the state's crime problems. One thing they intend to do is to focus more on the victims of crime than ever before. And they've promised to pass a Victim's Bill of Rights this session. Tonight we have a report from producer Elizabeth Hardy about a remarkable woman who was herself the victim of a terrifying violent crime. Rebecca Chris story and her insights about it will be immediately followed by an interview with Catherine Smith the director of the North Carolina Victims Assistance Network. Catherine will tell us about the proposed Victim's Bill of Rights. But first Rebecca

crisp. Oh. I think it would happen. No she wasn't safe in her own home. Twenty eight year old Rebecca Crisp was a victim of crime. A neighbor broke in her apartment while she was sleeping and he put a box cutter against my neck and said Shut up and really have sex with me and or I'll kill you. And so kind of went from me I thought and I shut up but I kept fighting. RATH I think I don't know why I left. Probably I think he thought I was dead. The man who repeatedly stabbed Chris was high on crack when he pled guilty to first degree burglary attempted first degree rape and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill and he's now in prison for how long. He got a life for the burglary and two twenties for the other two charges and he will not be up for parole.

For 20 years on the life sentence and then after that he has to serve the other two. So it's confusing. What is a fair sentence for him. Well the combination of when I have forgiven him when I have healed enough to see him walk down the street again and when he's healed up to do that and him be responsible for his actions my opinion is when a person commits a crime I don't care if they're high on drugs I don't care if they were abused as a child I don't care if they're hungry. I mean a person is making the decision to do that they are acting. Therefore I mean they're responsible for what they did according to Chris. Society's fascination with heinous crimes along with the portrayal of these acts by the media and entertainment industry are rooting out a value system or we were in force to get what we can in what you know where is that message coming from the message to get what you can at any cost without

regard to the impact that your actions may have on other people or society. Well I've been in my life against was just anger hatred blind rage from this person's utter hopelessness. People need to look for love in themselves. Learn how to do that. Learn how to recognize the attack by your neighbor wasn't Rebecca Chris first experience as a helpless they don't respond to similar experience when she was 13 years old. These two crimes letter to testify at a public hearing before the North Carolina General Assembly as a victim what are your crime and what he'll say. As a taxpayer I'm concerned about expenditure. It always comes down to find a way to tackle crime on balance the cost between prevention. Chris puts tougher legislation will deter offenders from repeating their

crimes. She's also taking precautions to protect herself. Kris bought a dog and she plans to buy a gun. I will become educated about how to use a gun take care of the gun and safely store the gun. I don't consider myself a menace to society but I'll kill anybody who tries to kill me. And I know I can do it because I fought for my life before. As far as being vengeful about the past this victim says that would only lead her to be full of rage like her attacker. I think vengeance is a way to continue victimizing yourself. When I look at it I was a victim for 10 minutes since he left that apartment it was up to me to heal myself to physically spiritually emotionally get over the attack. And I mean I went through a period of hating him being very angry feeling a lot of vengeful thoughts

which I think was normal but carrying that anger is a way for me to continue victimizing myself long after the act has gone and done with. It's my responsibility to heal that part in me. And I don't I haven't forgiven him yet and work you know. Ever since the Miranda decision of the 1960s many people feel the American criminal justice system has been moving more and more towards protecting the rights of defendants while not diminishing those rights we also need to consider the rights of crime victims. Joining us this evening to talk about victims rights is Catherine Smith executive director of the North Carolina Victim Assistance Network. Catherine thank you so much for joining us this evening. Thank you. Now I know that your organization is a big proponent of the victim Bill of Rights.

Tell me what would be included in this bill of rights and what it's all about. Mary Lou very simply put it will provide crime victims as defined by law provide them with a basic right to be notified to be heard to be present at all court proceedings relating to the case as the defendant has such rights. Now why is this so necessary that that we look at victims right now. I think over the past 20 or so a real concerted effort has been made on behalf of the defendants crime victims have not been afforded the right to be notified of court proceedings Oftentimes you find individuals who have been seriously assaulted brutally raped and have no idea that the defendant was either made a plea bargain with the defense and the prosecutor. Oftentimes you will find that a victim sees that their rapist has been let out of prison without them being notified they could be in a 7-Eleven store one evening and all of a sudden come up behind them which is the case which has happened in North Carolina and it's appalling.

And this is it right now the randomness of violent crime right now. It could happen to any of us. So all this information is very important right now. Now if there were a victim's bill of rights how exactly does this work. Legally does it become a constitutional amendment. That's what we're proposing we are proposing that we amend our state constitution our Constitution is silent with regards to crime victims. Victims are not basically recognized within the Constitution defendants are our system caters to focuses entirely on the fense rights constitutional protections and leaves pretty much the victims by the wayside with regards to notification information information about the criminal justice system and how it works. You would want to know that you as a law abiding taxpaying citizen of this state have no idea about the system and how it works. A defendant is brought through the system each step and each face is brought through that with information from his defense attorney. You are not no one sort of coaching us. That's right when we're the victim. I know

that this this bill of rights has been introduced several times before the General Assembly and nothing has happened. But now with the new Republican leadership they have said that they're very supportive of this and they want to make sure that it gets to the voters for constitutional amendment. As far as your organization is concerned where do you stand do you think it will pass this time. Absolutely. I mean we had 75 sponsors on the bill. Marilou back in 1990. Our legislative research commission study that one individual in our state house at that time the leader of the state house was a opponent to the victims rights constitutional amendment and never allowed it to get out of committee. And the reason for a possible opposition of just some of the excuses and their very weak excuses is that it will cost the state an enormous amount of dollars and that's not so. We have proven them with facts from the 20 other states that have had constitutional protections for victims on their books for the past decade and a half. The cost is minimal. And even if it did cost the taxpayers in this state it shouldn't matter any more than the

cost that we put out for defendants their constitutional rights. You can't you can't it's you're comparing apples and oranges there and software. Are there other states that have this sort of bill of rights. Yes they do. There are 20 states that have them. Seven additional states have proposed bills in various stages of their legislature as I see this as a movement that wants more than half of the states in the nation have it we will amend this the federal bill of rights in the Constitution to recognize crime victims. If I'm a victim of crime today what what sort of recourse do I take now. The big thing that we want to stress here is that. As a victim you're not represented in the criminal court. You can sue your attacker or the defendant as many times as you want to civilly but you can't criminally right. What do I do what kind of recourse to you virtually have no recourse other than going out civil way and you would have to put a big buck up before for a civil attorney to take your case. You have got to rely on our state's attorneys our district attorneys in

this state and they have Victim Witness Assistance within their offices. The problem is our district attorneys have and their offices have never properly been funded to provide for the information and that if occasion requirements for victims rights regarding their case I think that's why your organization is so important because if you are a victim of crime your organization is sort of the mediator the one to say here's who you need to call to get this help is that right you're absolutely right we have a statewide information referral network and if anyone listening tonight is a victim of crime and is not being provided with information about their trial. About their case in any way shape or form. Poor old notification. They need to call us because we will help facilitate the communication. We will help knock down the barrier that's obviously existing between them and perhaps the district attorney's office. And I'm not sure what that might be. It might be something very small but we will help them with that. Again Catherine your phone number is 1 800 3 4 8 5 0 6 8.

Wonderful and it's a wonderful organization. I know you've got a little bit of a fight ahead of you but again as I said this could happen to any of us at any moment so this is really important information for everyone here in North Carolina. Catherine thank you so much for joining us this evening. Thank you. In just a moment Mitchell Lewis will bring us up to date on the events making news around the state. And coming up right after that Billy Barnes takes us to see corners folly. Don't go away. Thanks it's Thanks. Good evening I'm Michel Louis with a review of today's top North Carolina news stories. At a time when most Democrats have fallen out of favor with many American voters Democratic

governor Jim Hunt is more popular than ever. A recent newspaper poll shows that some of the 1 percent of the six hundred eight adults surveyed approve of the job that hunt is doing. That's an increase of six points from a poll conducted in May. Polls go up and they go down. When you have good approval rating that means that people maybe think you've been doing a good job. But sometimes you have to do things that they don't like. Sometimes you have to do things that are unpopular if they are the right thing to do. And that case should poser go down so I'm going to keep moving the state forward as best I can and trying to serve the people right and I'm delighted when when they approve and I appreciate the standing right now 16 percent of the polls respondents disapprove of the job hunt is doing and 13 percent had no opinion. The survey also found that the number of people who think the state is headed in the right direction matches Hunt's approval ratings 72 percent. 21 percent of those surveyed believe the state is heading in the wrong direction. Charges of

impropriety is based on partisan politics have been levied against the state board of elections by the head of North Carolina's Republican Party. GOP chairman Jack Hawke is specifically complaining about how the state senate election for North Carolina's 15th District has been handled and the November ballot. Republican Dan Paige unseated Democratic incumbent Elaine Marshall by only a handful of votes. Marshall demanded a recount. The new figures show that page won by a slightly larger majority than the first count indicated. But Page's victory was still under a 1 percent margin. Now Marshall has been granted a second recount by the Democratically controlled state Board of Elections and Hawke and his fellow Republicans are fuming. It has been handled in a very partisan uneven manner and in every step of the way we have been misled. You necking only lead to the conclusion that something is going on down there. And I'm here to tell you today that if that recount. Comes back with a significant change.

You will have seen the outright stealing human left shoes state of North Carolina. Hawk is concerned that the second recount may not be legitimate because he claims the ballots have been unsecured for the last several weeks and in the hands of partisan people. State officials have announced a 1 million dollar fine against Still case incorporated for improperly releasing toxic fumes into the atmosphere. The State Division of Environmental Management has charged that the Henderson County furniture plant installed new painting equipment without the required pollution controls or permits and deliberately violated state regulations for four years by continuing to operate without them. Officials say the company is now in compliance but that the fine it will have to pay will believe will be equal to the extra mated one million dollars that saved itself by ignoring the regulations. The company says it has spent a million dollars on improvements that were not required by laws or regulations. Still case which makes office furniture employs 600 people at

its plant. And Fletcher. A small earthquake shook Winston-Salem again this past weekend. The tremors felt on the city's southeast side registered about 1 on the Richter scale. University of North Carolina geophysicist Christine Powell reassured residents yesterday during a news conference that it was unlikely the tremors would lead to a California sized earthquake. But Powell did say the tremors could continue for weeks or months. Seismologists are not sure what is causing the quakes since there are no fault lines under Winston-Salem. Today it was sunny across the entire state. Temperatures were in the low 50s everywhere but in the northern mountains the night skies will be clear statewide and temperatures will be dropping into the 20s and the mountains. The Triad and the triangle as elsewhere it will be in the low 30s. Tomorrow it'll be mostly sunny in the Piedmont and the Elizabeth City area. The rest of the state will see partly cloudy skies. Jim Bridger's will be in the 50s perhaps hitting

60 degrees around the Wilmington area. North Carolina's banks have been getting a 50 million dollar a year tax break because of a loophole some say should be closed according to a report by Durham's Institute for Southern Studies North Carolina banks. Unlike those in most other states pay no tax on the end come from certain investments and they can deduct the expenses related to those investments from other taxable income. The report says that no other state allows this sort of double dipping which many experts call a subsidy or a form of welfare. On Monday the nonpartisan institute urged state legislators to remove the loophole during the upcoming legislative session. Bob Haller research director for the Institute says previous attempts to change the law have been defeated because of the influence of the banking industry. The influence the banking industry wields Hall says a North Carolina bank spend one million dollars annually on political lobbying

and campaign contributions. The North Carolina Bankers Association disputed Hall's findings stating that the tax break keeps the state's banking industry strong providing jobs and capital for North Carolina's economy. State legislators hope to create a business court system to handle commercial lawsuits incoming House majority leader Leo Daughtry says. The business court would help attract companies to North Carolina because any complicated commercial court cases would be handled more efficiently. The new court would use a period court and appeals court judges who are experts in commercial litigation. The preliminary plan has attracted bipartisan support in part because it could be tested at little or no cost. Supporters say it could be in place with existing resources and without legislative action. The stock market was mixed today. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 23 and a half points to close at thirty seven sixty seven point fifteen advancing issues lead decliners by a narrow margin has about three hundred twenty seven million shares were traded on the New York Stock

Exchange. The Standard Poor's 500 index was off fractionally and the Nasdaq composite index was ahead fractionally. And now for some stocks of North Carolina interest in. Tonight we visit corners folly a home built in 1890 that what is one of North

Carolina's most outrageous architectural works. Listen to this. It has 22 rows 20 fireplace with two kissing corner a complete theater and his and hers brick outhouse It's producer Billy Barnes takes us there. Main Street Kernersville North Carolina. Typical homes in a lovely little town between Winston-Salem and Greensborough. But what's this a Victorian mansion 19th century castle. Twenty two rooms on seven levels the most architecturally bazaar home in North Carolina an exercise in eccentricity. This is the house called corners folly. You don't even have to go inside to feel the ambience of this place. Here's a tiny fireplace on the porch and in the tile it says witches corner. The guy who built his house loved a mystery like this jewel corner was a rich painter helped develop that well-known American art form. The billboard he traveled all over the world painting the Bull

Durham smoking tobacco logo on the buildings and signs. This guy was never accused of thinking small. He claimed to have painted the Durham bull on both the Rock of Gibraltar and Egypt's Great Pyramid. His Bull Durham signs are faded now but corners legacy of creativity survives. Here in this castle which he whimsically named corners folly come in and stay a while. Nothing delicate about corner 11 big rooms fancy tiled fireplaces gargoyle statues the corners home is not exactly what you call handicapped accessible between the rooms there are steps in steps and steps and staircases and staircases and these ceilings some sort of a height of 25 feet and are decorated with sweeping murals. But the ceiling in the children's room is only about five and a half feet high. A scheme to keep adults from hanging around too long.

Funny to hear dozens of massive pieces were built right here in these rooms. The House has been pilfered from time to time but places like this couch survived. They're too big to go through a door built in 1880 the house is equipped with an ingenious air conditioning system basement tunnels cool the air and natural convection takes it up the many staircases in summer. Large wall panels were opened to distribute cool air. In winter they distribute warm air from fireplaces on the floors below corners whimsical architectural taste extends to the back yard where a tiny building mimics the roof line of the main mansion. A playhouse kitchen servants quarters it's an elegant 4 holer outhouse with separate facilities for him and her. Back in the mansion there are two rooms that boggle the mind. One is the Grand Ballroom sixteen hundred square feet of space

lined with huge wall mirrors. Sometimes jewel and his wife Allie would entertain 50 couples at a grand ball. Other evenings there were intimate dinners followed by a sedate for just a few couples. And who can say what dalliance went on in the ballrooms to kissing corners. Directly above the giant ball room the corner family pursued its passion for the dramatic in the attic they built a complete theater hand painted backdrops kerosene lantern foot lights an orchestra pit and seating space for an audience of seventy five on Friday nights the corners and their friends entertain townspeople with plays by famous writers and shorter dramas written by alley corner herself. If a scene was boring the audience could enjoy a different kind of diversion in the intricate paintings on the ceiling above cavorting Cupids. So many of them that alley corner like to call this room Cupids park

jewel corner died in 1924 and his beloved ally passed away 10 years later. Since then corners folly has been an antique shop an architect's office and I remember when I was a kid it was an appropriately ghostly funeral parlor. Today the folly is owned by a group of history sensitive citizens of foreigners. They would like to see the state or a private foundation take over the old house. As for me if I were a rich man I would restore it as an elegant bed and breakfast in with its own restaurant dance hall and theater. I think Jewel an alley corner would like that. Boy I bet they had some great parties. Well those gorgeous dancers were members of Green's borrows another time delegates here at dance company directed by Cheryl West water corners folly is just off Interstate 40 on Main Street in Kernersville North

Carolina. It would cost a fortune to heat the old house and that's why it's open to the public. Only during the warm months you contort from March through October every third Sunday afternoon from 1 to 5. For more information call 9 1 0 9 9 3 4 6 4 5. We want to hear from you. Simply call out your comment line at 9 1 9 5 4 9 7 8 0 8. Or write us at P.O. Box 1 4 9 0 0 2 7 7 0 9. You can fax a message to 9 1 9 5 4 9 7 0 4 3 0 0 1. Try out Internet address. That's you and see TV at aol dot com. And please give us a daytime phone number in case we need to follow up. We hope you'll join us tomorrow night in North Carolina now our newsmaker

will be 2nd District Congressman elect Fred trying to make. Michel Lewis will bring us a story about the high rate of prostate cancer among black men in the new research that's being conducted in that area and the holidays are supposed to be a joyous time. But if you've recently lost a loved one especially a child. The holidays are anything but happy for bereaved parents this is a stressful and depressing time. Tomorrow night reporter Maria Lundberg will introduce us to an organization called Compassionate Friends which helps parents who have lost a child make it through the holidays. Well tonight at midnight on the Charlie Rose show the guests will be architect Philip Johnson. Princeton University's expert on the former Soviet Union Steven Cohen and opera singer Samuel Ramsey That's tonight on Charlie Rose But join us tomorrow night for North Carolina now. Until then I'm with you Kate bayonets often now on Mary Lou hard sharp Good night.