PROBE CARRIES OVER TO 2004

Black elected officials to voice concerns

State and federal investigations into the Dec. 10 fatal shooting of Kenneth
B. Walker by a Muscogee County deputy sheriff continue into the new year.
Area black elected officials will add their voices on Friday to the cries of
concern aired by others in the community about the incident.

Meanwhile, attorneys for the Ledger-Enquirer and at least one local
television station are pressing for court action to force disclosure of
public records denied by law enforcement agencies.

Muscogee County Sheriff Ralph Johnson continued his policy Wednesday of
declining comment until the investigation is complete. The sheriff is chief
executive of the Metro Narcotics Task Force that ran the drug investigation
that led to the Interstate 185 traffic stop of the vehicle in which the
39-year-old Walker was a passenger. Johnson again declined to identify the
deputy sheriff whose shot fatally wounded Walker as Walker and three other
men were being removed from a gray GMC Yukon and ordered to lie face-down on
the paved roadside. An informant's tip had indicated a Yukon would be
carrying armed drug traffickers from Miami, but no drugs or arms were found,
and the four occupants were local men.

Friends of the Walker family, attorneys, groups of ministers, civic action
groups and even national Democratic presidential candidate Al Sharpton have
publicly condemned the incident, called for state and federal
investigations, and criticized Johnson for refusing to disclose the identity
of the deputy involved.

State Rep. Calvin Smyre of Columbus last week contacted all black elected
officials of Columbus and Muscogee County, inviting them to a meeting on
Wednesday to discuss concerns about the Walker incident. Twelve of the 15
elected officials attended the meeting, Smyre said, with the other three
later concurring with the conclusions reached.

The result will be a news conference at 11 a.m. Friday, Smyre said, at which
the African-American elected officials will come together on the steps of
the Columbus Government Center to air their views.

"People have been speaking and we have been listening," said Columbus
Councilor Nathan Suber. "Now, we think it's time for our voices to be
heard."

Suber said the group of elected officials reached unanimous accord on the
need to address the issue, including a statement on what they want to see
emerge from this investigation, and the direction of law enforcement and the
justice system in the future.

"There are some things that we've been seeing for a while, but we know they
haven't really been acted upon by government overall -- federal, state and
local," Suber said. "We have an opportunity now to voice our concerns."

No timetable

Georgia Bureau of Investigation and Federal Bureau of Investigation
spokesmen indicated Wednesday that their separate investigations are not yet
complete. Neither agency has set a timetable for completion.

Rebuffed at attempts to obtain public records touching on elements of the
Walker incident, an attorney for the Ledger-Enquirer has filed a petition
for a Muscogee Superior Court order requiring the Muscogee County Sheriff's
Department and Columbus Police Department to comply with the Georgia Open
Records Act.

"We are specifically requesting the 911 Center tapes concerning the incident
and the personnel file of Deputy Sheriff David Glisson," said attorney Neal
Callahan of Hatcher, Stubbs, Land, Hollis and Rothschild, representing the
Ledger-Enquirer.

Callahan said City Attorney Clifton Fay, representing both law enforcement
departments, has denied the newspaper's access to those records and others,
citing exemptions to the Open Records Act. The city attorney indicated the
records are not required to be released because they are part of a criminal
investigation, he said.

"We don't believe they can take records that are kept in the normal course
of business -- such as the personnel file -- and turn them into an
investigative file and protect them that way," Callahan said. "The city also
has said these records are in the possession of the GBI, but they have told
us they don't have those records or documents."

The newspaper attorney said no court hearing date has been scheduled.

Callahan said the Ledger-Enquirer and WRBL-TV also are seeking access to the
video tape of the I-185 traffic stop and shooting incident that was captured
by a camera mounted on a patrol car. That tape is among other records being
withheld by the GBI as part of the ongoing investigation.

Attempts to reach Glisson for comment about the incident have been
unsuccessful. Attorney Richard Hagler of Columbus, who has been retained by
the deputy, said Glisson has no comment at this time.

"He is, of course, tremendously distraught over this entire situation,"
Hagler said.

Yukon occupantsseeking police video

Also seeking access to the patrol car video is Montgomery, Ala., attorney
Dwayne Brown, 35, who said he represents the other three men who were in the
Yukon. They are local high school basketball coach Warren Beaulah, Anthony
Smith and Daryl Ransom, all of Columbus.

Brown said he is confident the tape will substantiate what the three men
have said occurred on the interstate roadside that night. Although no suit
has been filed, there were, Brown said, apparently civil rights violations
and "humanitarian rights violated" during the incident.

None of the men have been formally interviewed by GBI investigators, the
attorney said.

A GBI spokesperson said the holidays and scheduling conflicts have delayed
completion of interviews, which are expected to be concluded next week.

Muscogee County Coroner James Dunnavant met with Cheryl Walker on Wednesday
to explain results of the autopsy on her husband's body.

Walker was shot twice in the head, the coroner said, and the official report
classifies the incident as a homicide. That means he died as a result of the
actions of another but does not address whether it was justifiable. Those
conclusions will be for the GBI investigation, Dunnavant said.