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© St. Petersburg Times, published August 5, 2002
Lawyers describe deadly mob assaults
CHICAGO -- A suspect in a fatal mob beating kicked both victims "until he was out of breath," while another man smashed one victim's head with a concrete block, prosecutors said Sunday.
The description of the assault was presented at bail hearings for four of the seven men charged with murder and mob action. The suspects are accused of beating two men -- Jack Moore, 62, and Anthony Stuckey, 49 -- whose van ran off the street and struck three women Tuesday outside a home on the city's South Side.
A judge ordered the four suspects held without bail. Two men whose hearings were Saturday are being held, and the seventh suspect's hearing was set for today.
Prosecutor Megan Goldish alleged that Robert Tucker, 20, broke the driver-side window, punched Moore and pulled him to the ground, where he and others began to stomp on him.
She said Antonio Fort, 16, helped pull Stuckey out of the van, kicked him and beat him with a slab of concrete.
Lynch said Henry Lawrence, 47, punched Stuckey and kicked him. His brother, Roosevelt Lawrence, 43, stomped and kicked both victims "until he was out of breath," said Lynch.
Ricky Lawson, 43, "smashed (Stuckey's) head with a large concrete block," Lynch said. Lamont Motes, 20, and James Ousley, 31, also participated, authorities said.
Of the three injured women, one remained hospitalized Sunday.
WASHINGTON -- Since Dick Cheney became vice president, a subsidiary of his former company was chosen the exclusive contractor for overseas Army troop support and Navy construction despite being under federal investigation for fraud.
The Navy contract went to the Halliburton Co. subsidiary, Brown & Root Services, despite a recommendation from the auditing arm of Congress that new bids be solicited for the construction contract.
The Army deal is unusual because it stretches 10 years and has a payment structure that critics say encourages Brown & Root to spend whatever it takes to keep the troops happy.
Halliburton officials say Cheney played no role in the selection of Houston-based Brown & Root for the two contracts, potentially worth billions of dollars.
PHILADELPHIA -- Abortion rights advocates are urging courts to immediately overturn a judge's unusual decision to temporarily bar a woman from ending her pregnancy.
The order came in a lawsuit filed by a man who is seeking to force former girlfriend Tanya Meyers to carry her pregnancy to term. John Stachokus says he is willing to take full or partial custody of the child and claims in his suit that Meyers is being pressured by her mother to have the procedure.
Luzerne County Common Pleas Court Judge Michael Conahan issued the temporary injunction Wednesday. He did not say when he would issue a final ruling but asked both sides to submit briefs by today.
Until then, Meyers, 23, who is 10 weeks pregnant, has been forbidden from having an abortion.
FIVE KILLED IN SHOOTING: Five people, including three children, were shot to death Sunday night at a Dallas residence, police said. One woman was also hospitalized.
Police said they took a man into custody for questioning and recovered a semiautomatic handgun. Dallas-Fort Worth television station KDFW reported that the children were between the ages of 1 and 15. A man and woman were also among the dead.
SALVAGE DELAYED: Strong undersea currents and shifting winds off Cape Hatteras, N.C., delayed an attempt Sunday to raise the historic revolving gun turret of the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor. The turret could be raised today.