Tiffany Long too White to Be a "Hate Crime" Victim
Source: Frontpage Magazine, 02-29-00
Tiffany Long:
Too White To Be a “Hate Crime” Victim
10 Year Old Tiffany Long
Dorthia Bynum………….. Joseph Jones……………. Harold Jones
RACIAL AGITATORS of the political left routinely seize any instance of white-on-black violence as evidence of systemic oppression against blacks. Their demagoguery is not limited to instances of “hate crimes,” such as the horrific dragging death of James Byrd at the hands of racist goons in Texas, but includes even episodes in which race plays no role whatsoever, such as the Amadou Diallo shooting in New York. When a white perpetrator harms a black victim, whether on purpose or by accident, whether motivated by bigotry or by a less sensational form of malice, the Sharpton–Jackson coalition launches into attack mode. They hold rallies and press conferences, issue angry statements, and file lawsuits.
Their concern is never for the victim, but for the racial politics. When blacks are attacked by other blacks—a much more common occurrence than white-on-black crime—they say nothing. Or worse, they side with the perpetrators, such as Jesse Jackson’s rush to support the rioting delinquents in Decatur, Illinois.
Naturally, they care even less for the victim of crime who happens to be white, especially if the assailant is black. Because the media subscribe to the left’s bigoted view of American race relations, their reporting reflects this bias. So, despite the constant coverage of the Amadou Diallo trial in New York, there has been nary a peep from the national media about the case of Tiffany Long in North Carolina.
A cherubic, white ten-year-old, Tiffany’s life came to an end in October, 1998, when three neighborhood teens—two male, one female, all black—lured her into an empty house. There, they sodomized her, strangled her with a cable wire, and beat her to death with a board. In the past few weeks, the trials in the Tiffany Long case have received extensive coverage in the North Carolina press. But with two of the three defendants already sentenced to lifelong prison terms, and the third now standing trial, the national media have all but ignored the story. Only the Associated Press has reported on the trials, in a single, cursory piece. The AP, of course, failed to mention the race of the people involved—an oversight it seldom if ever committed in the case of Amadou Diallo.
As for the racial agitators, two nights before the trial, the local chapter of the NAACP held a prayer vigil—for the three brutes charged with kidnapping, raping, and murdering young Tiffany.
The case of Tiffany Long marks the first of a new ongoing series in FrontPage—Politically Incorrect Crimes, dispatches about events that the color-coded national media choose to ignore. We will continue to run the feature until the media drops their bias and returns to their primary responsibility of presenting as balanced and objective a picture of our collective reality as is humanly possible—not a false depiction crafted to serve the agenda of the political left. We encourage other sites to reprint our reports, and our readers to send in suggestions for other such politically incorrect stories we should follow.
Source: The Greensboro Regional News, 9-28-00
Long Had Defensive Wounds
By MIKE FUCHS
FAYETTEVILLE — Harold Jones and Dorthia Bynum followed Tiffany Long after spotting her near a playground the day she was killed, a neighborhood boy testified Wednesday.
“He (Jones) had a mean look on his face,” Austin Evans, 13, testified in Cumberland County Superior Court. “As Tiffany was walking by, they was following behind her.”
Austin’s testimony came on the third day of Jones’ first-degree murder trial. He is also charged with first-degree rape, first-degree statutory rape and three counts of first-degree sexual offense. He faces life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder.
Two people have already been convicted in the murder: Bynum and Jones’ 15-year-old nephew, Joseph Jones. They were convicted and sentenced to prison in February.
In his testimony Wednesday, Austin said he didn’t know Harold Jones well, but was friends with Tiffany, 10.
But one unrelated incident involving Harold Jones stuck in his mind. “When I was on the church bus he tried to put Windex down my throat,” Austin said.
“Did he succeed?” Alamance County District Attorney Rob Johnson asked.
“No. Joseph stopped him,” the boy replied.
In earlier testimony Wednesday, the state’s chief medical examiner said Tiffany could have been trying to wield off blows from her attackers based on “defensive wounds” found on her arm.
Dr. John Butts said Tiffany suffered skull fractures, choke marks, cuts and bruises on her face, wounds on her back and damage to her genital area consistent with being sexually assaulted.
During his testimony, Johnson held up the bloodstained bedrail police found near where Tiffany’s body was found behind a backyard garage.
Holding the bedrail upright, Johnson slammed it on the courtroom floor in front of the jury box, asking Butts whether that could be how she was struck.
One juror gasped.
Butts agreed Tiffany’s injuries were consistent with being hit that way.
Earlier Wednesday outside the presence of jurors, defense attorney Charles Thompson III objected to the use of autopsy photographs that he argued would be inflammatory.
Superior Court Judge Lynn Johnson agreed to let the prosecution show nine of the 12 photos.
Thompson also asked the judge to bar the use of an overhead projector to display the pictures.
“Because of the size of that screen, that would enhance the inflammatory nature of the photographs,” Thompson told the judge.
Johnson denied that request.
After the jury returned to the courtroom, Rob Johnson began displaying the photos on the overhead projector.
One juror seated in the back row winced and put her hand to her face after a closeup of Tiffany’s head injuries was shown.
Nancy Long, Tiffany’s legal guardian and grandmother, left the courtroom at the beginning of Butts’ testimony.
Harold Jones, wearing a white, button-down shirt, black pants and tan shoes, sat quietly behind a defense table during Butts’ testimony.
Prosecutors charge that the Joneses and Bynum beat Tiffany to death inside a vacant house in Burlington less than two blocks from her home the night of Oct. 16, 1998.
The Joneses and Bynum had lived in that house until they were evicted three weeks before her death, according to court testimony.
In other testimony Wednesday, Cpl. Dwayne Chambers of the Burlington Police Department testified that the morning after Tiffany was killed, police questioned Bynum and AlNeisa Jones, Harold Jones’ half-sister, at an apartment in Burlington.
Chambers said he noticed Harold and Joseph Jones seated inside the apartment “fully clothed” at 5 a.m.
“At that time in the morning most people are dressed for bed or would come out and find out why two police officers were at the door,” Chambers said.
Burlington police Staff Sgt. Doug Murphy said AlNeisa Jones sobbed loudly upon hearing the news Tiffany was killed despite not knowing her well. Bynum, meanwhile, showed no emotion although she and Tiffany rode the church bus together, Murphy testified.
“Their actions seemed like it should have been reversed,” Murphy said.
Murphy was the last of six witnesses who testified Wednesday. Additional testimony is expected to begin this morning.
Source: The Greensboro Regional News, 9-27-00
Experts Testify About Tiffany Long Crime Scene
By MIKE FUCHS
FAYETTEVILLE — A crime-scene expert testified Tuesday about finding Tiffany Long’s fecal-stained panties, jacket and a blood-stained bedrail behind a house where police say she was was killed.
Special Agent William Lemons of the State Bureau of Investigation said he saw blood on the back porch and “drag marks” that led police to Tiffany’s body lying face down behind a backyard garage.
A coaxial television cable was wrapped around her neck, Lemons testified in Cumberland County Superior Court.
Lemons’ three-plus hours of testimony came during the second day of Harold Jones’ trial for Tiffany’s rape and murder.
His testimony, which included describing dozens of crime scene photographs to jurors, comprised the bulk of Tuesday’s proceedings. He is expected to resume testifying this morning.
Outside the jury’s presence, defense attorney Charles Thompson III asked that the prosecution not be allowed to show all the photographs of the crime scene, which included pictures of Tiffany’s body, because it would be “inflammatory.”
Superior Court Judge Lynn Johnson denied the request. “They’re not inflammatory in any way,” he said.
Jones, 18, faces charges of first-degree murder, first-degree rape, first-degree statutory rape and three counts of first-degree sexual offense. He faces life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder.
Jones’ 15-year-old nephew, Joseph Jones, was convicted in February of first-degree murder in Tiffany’s death. Harold Jones’ girlfriend, 19-year-old Dorthia Bynum, pleaded guilty in February to charges including second-degree murder. Both are serving sentences exceeding life in prison.
Police say the Joneses and Bynum kidnapped, raped, sexually assaulted, choked and beat Tiffany to death the night of Oct. 16, 1998.
The trial was moved to Fayetteville about 100 miles southeast of Burlington because of widespread publicity.
In his opening remarks Monday, Thompson told jurors that Harold Jones was elsewhere that evening and had nothing to do with the killing. His statements he gave to police were coerced, Thompson said.
Alamance County District Attorney Rob Johnson argued that Harold Jones first lied about not knowing Tiffany, but then voluntarily confessed to participating in the attack.
During Tuesday’s testimony, Lemons described a pool of blood found in a front bedroom of the house at 614 Lakeside Avenue where police say Tiffany was murdered.
Three bedrails were also sitting in a corner, Lemons said. The blood-stained bedrail found behind a backyard fence appeared to belong to that set, he said.
A pocketbook described as belonging to Tiffany also was found near the back porch, Lemons said. Its contents, including a piece of candy and play money were scattered on the ground, he said.
In earlier testimony Tuesday, the Rev. Bill Gindlesperger said Tiffany would collect the play money, called “bus bucks,” as a reward for good behavior while attending Lowe Memorial Baptist Church.
Candy, some coins, an earring and a figurine were found inside the bedroom containing the pool of blood, Lemons testified.
Later Tuesday, Leonard Foster testified that the Lakeside Avenue house had been rented by Harold Jones’ half-sister AlNeisa Jones.
Foster, who owns the house, said all three defendants lived with AlNeisa Jones until they were evicted less than three weeks before Tiffany was killed.
Source: The Greensboro Regional News, 9-21-00
Judge Rules that Suspect’s Statements are Admissible
By MIKE FUCHS
FAYETTEVILLE – A judge Wednesday refused to throw out statements Harold Jones gave to police implicating him in 10-year-old Tiffany Long’s death.
Superior Court Judge Lynn Johnson said Jones, 18, was not in custody when he voluntarily gave statements during questioning by police. That means it didn’t matter whether he understood his Miranda rights because they weren’t required, Johnson ruled.
The defense has maintained Harold Jones was confused about those rights and was coerced into confessing about his role in the crime.
Miranda rights are based on a 1996 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that includes requiring suspects to understand they have a right to an attorney and a right to remain silent before being questioned by authorities.
Johnson’s ruling came on the third and final day of Jones’ pretrial hearing in Cumberland County Superior Court on charges he participated in the death of Tiffany on Oct. 16, 1998. His girlfriend, Dorthia Bynum, 19, and his nephew, Joseph Jones, 15, have already been convicted on murder and other charges in the case and sent to prison.
Jury selection began Wednesday afternoon. It is expected to continue this morning.
In seeking to have his statements thrown out, defense attorney Charles Thompson III argued Harold Jones was not free to leave during police questioning despite the prosecution’s assertion he was not in custody.
“He was not only taken downtown to the police department, he was in the police department with the door shut most of the time,” Thompson said. “He was not told you’re free to leave any time.”
Alamance County District Attorney Rob Johnson said he could have left whenever he wanted and didn’t have to say anything.
“The defendant was told he didn’t have to talk,” the prosecutor said. “He chose to go with them. Plain and simple.”
In earlier testimony Wednesday, Staff Sgt. Larry Smith of the Burlington Police Department said Harold Jones voluntarily accompanied officers to the police station after meeting him at the principal’s office at Cummings High School the afternoon of Oct. 21, 1998.
Smith said he explained to him he was not under arrest and could leave at any time.
“I didn’t threaten him,” Smith said under questioning by Thompson.
Jones also signed a “rights advisal,” which included having the right to remain silent, according to Wednesday’s testimony.
At the police station, Harold Jones admitted participating in the sexual assault of Tiffany, but only after Joseph taunted him, Smith testified.
Harold Jones recalled watching Joseph hitting her with a board and choking her during the attack, Smith said. Harold Jones said Bynum held her down.
Smith said he asked him why he didn’t intervene.
“I couldn’t do anything,” was Harold Jones’ response, Smith said.
During the interview, Harold Jones picked at his hands and kept looking down, Smith said.
“He was very soft-spoken,” he said.
Later that evening, Harold Jones was taken to the hospital for blood and hair analysis, Smith testified. He was then arrested that night.
Harold Jones faces life in prison if convicted on charges of first-degree murder, first-degree rape, first-degree statutory rape, first-degree kidnapping and four counts of first-degree sex offense.
Later Wednesday, Judge Johnson addressed nine remaining pretrial matters, including granting a defense request that most witnesses be sequestered during jury selection and the trial.
A defense request that the jury also be sequestered is pending. That request was made before the judge decided in November to move the trial 100 miles southeast to Fayetteville because of pretrial publicity.
Source: The Greensboro Regional News, 9-17-00
Final Tiffany Long Murder Trial Set
By MIKE FUCHS
BURLINGTON — It has been nearly two years since 10-year-old Tiffany Long, a shy, heavy-set girl who played with dolls, was raped and sodomized, choked with a TV cable and beaten to death with a metal-tipped bedrail.
Two teenagers have been convicted and sentenced in the killing.
The trial of Harold Jones, 18, the last defendant facing charges, will start Monday, 23 months after the crime occurred.
“Is it ever going to be over?” asked Nancy Long, Tiffany’s legal guardian and grandmother. “No matter what the outcome it’s a no-win situation. We don’t get our little girl back.”
Alamance County District Attorney Rob Johnson said it has taken longer to try Jones than he would have liked.
“We’ve just had to deal with it,” Johnson said. “Certainly, I’m going to be glad to have it all behind.”
Barring a last-minute plea deal, Jones will stand trial Monday in Cumberland County Superior Court on charges he, his girlfriend Dorthia Bynum, then 17, and his nephew Joseph Jones, then 13, kidnapped, sexually assaulted and murdered Tiffany inside a vacant home at 614 Lakeside Ave. on Oct. 16, 1998.
The defendants, who knew Tiffany, had lived there until three weeks before her murder.
“Four families have been destroyed,” Long said.
After an emotion-packed, eight-day trial, Joseph Jones was convicted Feb. 23 on charges including first-degree murder and sentenced to life plus 25 years in prison.
During that trial, Johnson argued Joseph Jones slammed a bedrail with metal brackets against Tiffany’s head, cracking her skull. She drifted in and out of consciousness during the attack while she was choked, Johnson said.
Bynum, 19, was sentenced to a minimum 124-year prison term after she pleaded guilty Feb. 4 to charges including second-degree murder.
Harold Jones also faces life in prison if convicted on charges of first-degree murder, first-degree rape, first-degree statutory rape, first-degree kidnapping and four counts of first-degree sex offense.
Before Harold Jones’ case begins, Superior Court Judge Lynn Johnson will hear renewed arguments by defense attorney Charles Thompson III that his client is not competent to stand trial.
The judge ruled in November that Harold Jones was competent after a psychiatrist for the prosecution testified he knew right from wrong and had become more knowledgeable about court proceedings.
But Thompson argued in his latest request filed in February that additional evaluations since the November ruling show he is mentally incapable of proceeding with trial.
And by declaring him incompetent, statements he gave to police also should be thrown out, Thompson argued in court papers filed in Cumberland County Superior Court.
Under state law, “competence” for criminal defendants means they can understand the nature and object of the court proceedings against them and comprehend their situation in reference to those proceedings. They also must be able to assist in their defense in a rational and reasonable manner.
If defendants do not meet those standards, they are deemed “incompetent” and cannot be tried. But that condition is not necessarily permanent.
Judge Johnson will consider that issue and other pretrial matters Monday.
The prosecution has maintained Harold Jones knew what he was doing the day police say he sexually assaulted and killed Tiffany.
According to court papers, Harold Jones told police he watched Joseph Jones grab Tiffany and choke her with a cable cord. Bynum then told the Joneses to remove Tiffany’s pants.
Bynum held Tiffany down while Harold Jones watched Joseph Jones sexually assault Tiffany, police said in court papers.
“Joseph Jones taunted Harold Jones also to perform forcible sex acts upon the victim as well, which Harold did,” police said.
Harold Jones also described to police how Tiffany was beaten before her body was dragged out of the house and disposed of behind a backyard shed, according to court papers.
At his trial, Joseph Jones maintained his innocence. He testified he watched helplessly as his uncle and Bynum attacked Tiffany.
Joseph Jones has appealed his conviction.
But police say they also have physical evidence linking both Harold and Joseph Jones to the crime.
During Joseph Jones’ trial, police testified two pairs of blue jeans and two wrestling T-shirts found in the Joneses’ apartment were stained with fecal matter, which was also found at the crime scene. In statements to police, all three said Tiffany lost control of her bowels during the attack.
Tiffany’s death drew widespread publicity and shocked neighbors in the normally quiet Elmira neighborhood in northwest Burlington.
In agreeing to move the defendants’ cases to Fayetteville, Judge Johnson has said Tiffany’s death prompted the most community interest in Alamance County than any crime since the 1950s.
After her murder, hundreds of people who didn’t know Tiffany visited her grave and sent cards and letters of sympathy to Nancy Long.
Alamance Memorial Park, the cemetery where Tiffany is buried, donated more than $1,300 in her name to Crossroads Sexual Assault Response and Resource Center, a rape crisis center that helped counsel the Long family after her death.
A granite bench was donated to the cemetery, and it sits facing her grave. A Burlington woman created a Web site in her memory.
The community also paid for a new, $60,000, five-bedroom trailer for the Long family.
As Harold Jones’ trial draws near, Tiffany’s family still struggles to cope with her death.
Sammy Long, 11, one of Tiffany’s five siblings, has trouble understanding what happened, Nancy Long said.
“He seems to think she’s going to come home after the trial,” she said. “I keep telling him, ‘No, Sam. She won’t come back home. She’s at the cemetery.’”
