MAN AND FAMILY BATTLE THE SYSTEM

FRIENDS have advised him to just give up and take it because no way
can he beat the system. But Marcellus Wright won't quit.

He looked for a new attorney in the Yellow Pages. One told him that
for $10,000 he could make the problem go away. Wright doesn't have
$10,000. It's all he and Judy, his wife of 11 years, can do these days
to feed the family and keep a roof over their heads. But he won't quit.

Wright said he called 911 the night of Feb. 16, 1999, when they saw
that Marcellus Jr.'s arm was broken, but after waiting several minutes
Judy said they should drive their son to the emergency room themselves.

On the way to the hospital Wright called to cancel the 911, he said.
But a little later when he called home to tell their three daughters
they would be back soon, officers from the police and fire departments
were there.

About a week later a police officer called to tell Wright he was being
investigated about his son's injury.

>From a briefcase full of papers, Wright fetched a copy of a statement
that he had later submitted to police Internal Affairs. In it, he said
the officer told him she had been to the school to interview two of
his daughters, ages 9 and 7. Wright asked how she could do that
without his permission or notification. The officer told him her job
was to investigate "whenever she felt a crime to a child had been committed."

`It was really a freak accident'

Wright said there had been no crime; "I tripped over my son coming in
through the patio door. I told her that I was 6-foot-9 and 250 pounds
and that it was really a freak accident."

Wright said his daughters' descriptions of their police interviews
differ from the officer's version but he has not been allowed to see
the videotapes of those interviews.

On March 1, 1999, two officers came to the auto parts store where
Wright worked and arrested him and carted him off to jail. Judy, who
works in a hospital, said they managed to scrape together $1,000 for a
lawyer.

Wright, 31, said that fellow advised him to accept the DA's offer of
probation for a no-contest plea and he could get out of jail right
away. Said they could appeal later. Said pleading not guilty would
mean six months to a year in jail awaiting trial.

As a result of the arrest and spending 10 days in jail, Wright lost
his job. He said that being on probation, and keeping up with the many
hours of community service it requires, has kept him from finding
another job as good as he had. The probation expenses he is required
to pay have been a crippling financial blow to the family.

He said that when he tried to pursue appealing the no-contest plea,
his lawyer quit returning his calls. He has written letters to the
judge, the police chief, the mayor, the governor, and he has visited
the offices of various officials, trying to spark an investigation
into his predicament and how it came about.

A letter from the doctor

>From his briefcase Wright pulled a copy of a letter he acquired from
the doctor who treated Marcellus Jr. The doctor described the fracture
and said that in his opinion it happened in a fall. He said that since
there was no evidence of bruises, he had no reason to doubt the
Wrights' story.

The doctor wrote that on several follow-up visits until a final X-ray
on May 4, 1999, showed "everything was doing well," the boy was
brought in by his father "and there seemed to be a good relationship."
He concludes by stating, "At no time was I contacted by the police."

But Wright's efforts to get an official investigation going to change
the results of his case have thus far gone unrewarded. Now he fears
his probation may be revoked because he has resisted some conditions,
such as carrying a sign saying he broke his son's arm and spending a
day in prison. He said that makes his no-contest plea the same as
guilty and he denies it.

I visited the Wrights in their small duplex near the western edge of
the city. The kids all are good-looking and well-behaved. No one acted
nervous or uncomfortable. They appeared to be a forthright,
functioning family, with ideals and goals.

Wright said he can't understand how a system that is supposed to
protect families could cause such pain and problems for his. He said
it actually is a system to make money off people. And he plans to keep
fighting it.

"I'm not one to just lay down and quit," he said.