[Open-Heads]
[ANCHOR=Joy]
[NEWSCAST=Sat Am]
[WRITER=jen]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=none]
[roll cold out of the open]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=#4070;weekend headline banner]
[SUPER=@Joy1;]
[SUPER=@Jacey1;]
Coming up on News 7 Saturday Morning.......
A deathrow inmate will get a new trial in the murder of a New River Valley teen...
(------------)
And the U-S Embassy in Singapore may be a target for a terrorist attack...
We will have more on those stories in just a few minutes.
(-------------)
[2-shot toss to Hello]
[Thomas]
[ANCHOR=Joy]
[NEWSCAST=Sat AM]
[WRITER=khu]
[TAPE#=02-10 TC13:22]
[GRAPHIC=Jeff Thomas]
The man convicted of killing a Radford teen is getting a NEW trial.
Yesterday, the state Supreme Court overturned Jeffrey Thomas' murder conviction and death sentence.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Pulaski/March 2001]
Thomas has spent the past year on death row for the attempted rape and murder of 16-year old Tara Munsey.
But the Court says the original trial judge failed to properly consider the impact of pre-trial publicity.
It was not just the extensive coverage the case generated.
According to the supreme court opinion- "The tenor of the publicity went beyond dispassionate reporting...."
Justice Elizabeth Lacy said one newspaper article said police had tied the bullets to the suspect, when in fact the bullets could not be linked to Thomas.
Last year, Judge Colin Gibb refused to move the trial out of Pulaski, believing he had seated an impartial jury.
But that was not easy. It took five days to find enough people to fill the jury.
"...the more difficult it is to seat a jury," Justice Lacy says: "the more likely it is that the public will believe the judicial process to be tainted by prejudice."
(------------)
[React-Thomas]
[ANCHOR=Joy]
[NEWSCAST=Sat AM]
[WRITER=rca]
[TAPE#=01-57]
[GRAPHIC=Hold]
People on both sides of the case are reacting to the decision.
(------------)
[VO-NAT :21]
[SUPER=03-Pulaski;]
Commonwealth's Attorney Mike Fleenor says he's surprised but is prepared to try the case again.
Fleenor believes the Supreme Court will decide where it will be once a notice is filed to prosecute Jeffrey Thomas a second time.
Sheriff Jim Davis says the evidence is strong no matter where it's heard and that it's difficult for the families involved.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 35:10:14]
[IN Q=i don't ]
((JIM DAVIS/PULASKI CO. SHERIFF; I DON'T KNOW WHERE THEY WILL FIND THE STRENGTH AND THE WILLPOWER TO SIT THROUGH ANOTHER TRIAL, THEY'RE LENGTHY THEY'RE VERY MOVING THE EVIDENCE IS VERY REVEALING AND I DO FEEL SORRY FOR THAT. ))
[SUPER=01-Jim Davis/Pulaski Co. Sheriff;]
[RUNS=:11]
[OUT Q=SORRY FOR THAT ]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Tara Munsey's mother did not return calls to News 7 ...while Thomas's former brother-in-law, Gary Davis says he's glad there'll be a new trial.
In a phone interview, defense attorney Brian Scheid said...We're pleasantly surprised by the decision.... the Supreme Court really focused and asked a lot of questions about change of venue.... hopefully now we'll have something more like an even playing field."
(------------)
[Children-Killed]
[ANCHOR=Joy]
[NEWSCAST=sat am]
[WRITER=jsu]
[TAPE#=NET]
[GRAPHIC=NONE]
Was Andrea Yates legally insane when she drowned her five children in a bath tub?
That's what the defense is trying to prove and it has some help from a well known psychiatrist.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Houston, TX]
Defense Psychiatrist Phillip Resnick worked for the prosecution in the cases against the una-bomber, Timothy McVeigh and Jefferey Daumer. But this time he is working for the defense.
In court yesterday, he testified that in his opinion Yates was insane when she killed her children.
Jurors also heard from another psychiatrist who spoke with Yates five days after the murders. He says he believed she was out of touch with reality.
[SOT5:08:04]
[IN Q=I know]
((I know she's sick. There's no doubt in my mind at
all.))
[SUPER=01-Stephen Rosenblatt/Defense Psychiatrist]
[RUNS=04]
[OUT Q=no doubt in mind at all]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
But prosecutors suggest it was the death of Yates children and her arrest that made her psychotic.
The trial resumes on Monday.
(------------)
[Animal-Cruelty]
[ANCHOR=Joy]
[NEWSCAST=Sat AM]
[WRITER=jda]
[TAPE#=02-]
[GRAPHIC=VA Capital]
A couple of animal cruelty cases in Western Virginia have prompted legislative action in Richmond.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Richmond]
The recent deaths of two dogs in the area prompted lawmakers to take a serious look at the legislation.
Similar bills have now cleared both houses of the General Assembly... and yesterday the Senate approved amendments requested by the House.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 12:28:35]
[IN Q=We took care]
((WE TOOK CARE OF SOME TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS TODAY . IT WILL BE GOING TO THE GOVERNOR. WHAT THIS MEANS IT WILL BE A FELONY FOR THE FIRST OFFENSE TO TORTURE AND KILL A DOG OR CAT THAT IS A COMPANION ANIMAL. AND I THINK IT'S TIME TO MAKE THIS A FELONY.))
[SUPER=@edwards]
[RUNS=:15]
[OUT Q=time to make this a felony.]
(-------------)
[ANCHOR=Joy]
[GRAPHIC=none]
Roanoke Senator John Edwards says he expects Governor Warner to sign the animal cruelty legislation.
[Monty-Arrest]
[ANCHOR=Joy]
[NEWSCAST=sat am]
[WRITER=jsu]
[TAPE#=none]
[GRAPHIC=Accident]
A man is behind bars this morning after ramming his pickup into a Montgomery County Deputy vehicle.
Authorities say Matthew Hall was coming out of the parking lot of a convenience store on Roanoke Road when he narrowly missed one deputy.
Another deputy attempted to stop the man - who then slammed his pick-up into the second deputies vehicle and fled.
Hall was finally taken into custody in Shawsville.
He faces several charges including felony assault on an officer and driving under the influence.
[Embassy-Target]
[ANCHOR=Joy]
[NEWSCAST=sat am]
[WRITER=jsu]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=War on Terrorism]
U-S Warplanes are apparently bombing suspected terrorist hideout in Eastern Afghanistan.
That's according to the Afghan Islamic press which reported the attacks started yesterday.
There has been no comment from U-S Central Command in Florida.
(------------)
[VO-NAT5:13:49]
[SUPER=03-Singapore]
Meanwhile, the Singapore government has released a video they say was made by a group of Muslim men for an alleged bomb plot.
The C-D shows video of the U.S embassy, Israeli embassy, the British and Australian high commissions and naval bases.
Singapore Officials confiscated the C-D from two men now being detained along with several other people for plotting a wave of bombings.
(------------)
[Henry-School]
[ANCHOR=Joy]
[NEWSCAST=Sat Am]
[WRITER=rle]
[TAPE#=02-06]
[GRAPHIC=Henry School Consolidation]
The fight over Henry County's school reconfiguration plan will continue - at least through the middle of next week -
(------------)
[VO-NAT - :17.5]
[SUPER=03-Henry Co.;]
Yesterday at a personnel hearing, the Henry County School Board did NOT act on a proposal by the superintendent of schools to scrap the consolidation plan.
The school superintendent says, regardless major cuts are coming to the school system, either by closing schools or cutting back on personnel expenses.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT - 42:03]
[IN Q=83-percent of our budget...]
((SHARON DODSON/SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS; 83 PERCENT OF OUR SCHOOL BUDGET IS PERSONNEL. SO ANY ADJUSTMENTS IN OUR REVENUE WOULD HAVE TO BE REFLECTED TO SOME DEGREE IN THAT 83 PERCENT OF OUR BUDGET, I'M CERTAIN. THERE'S JUST NO WAY TO GET AROUND THAT.))
[SUPER=01-Sharon Dodson/Superintendent of Schools;]
[RUNS=19]
[OUT Q=no way to get around that.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT - :06+]
The reconfiguration plan is expected to be dropped at the school board's meeting next Thursday.
(------------)
[5-Kids-Dental]
[ANCHOR=Joy]
[NEWSCAST=Sat AM]
[WRITER=jsu]
[TAPE#=501-04 1:28:05]
[GRAPHIC=Children's Health]
When children need teeth pulled, cavities filled, or crowns put on --some parents are opting for the operating room over the dentist office.
Many parents are choosing to put their children to sleep for dental work rather than trying other methods.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=Two year old Evan Spencer ]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke;00]
[SUPER=01-Janet Spencer/Parent;10]
[SUPER=01-Dr. John Davis/Pediatric Dentist;1:32]
[RUNS=1:44]
[OUT Q=with the toy trains]
((Two year old Evan Spencer is a playful and happy child, but his mom says try to get him to sit in a dentist chair and it's a different story.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT1:42;17]
[IN Q=Even didn't want to get in ]
((EVAN DIDN'T WANT TO GET IN THE CHAIR AT ALL. SOMETIMES I THINK WHEN THEY SEE THINGS LIKE THAT THE ARE OVERWHELMED BY IT. IT LOOKS TOO CLINICAL))
[RUNS12]
[OUT Q=it looks to clinical]
So when he needed dental work, Janet Spencer says it was best to have him put under so the experience would be less traumatic and less stressful.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT1:42:50]
[IN Q=I don't want him to have lasting negative]
((I DON'T WANT HIM HAVE LASTING NEGATIVE EFFECTS FROM SOMETHING LIKE THIS AND IF HE'S ASLEEP HE'S NOT GOING TO REMEMBER ANY OF IT))
[RUNS08]
[OUT Q=any of it]
Pediatric dentist John Davis say it's a growing trend.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT1:49:40]
[IN Q=I believe it's become less tolerable]
(( I BELIEVE IT'S BECOME LESS TOLERABLE FOR PARENTS TO HAVE A CHILD IN ANY TYPE OF DISTRESS WHETHER IT BE RESTRAINED AND SOMETIMES USING DRUGS IN THE OFFICE))
[RUNS10]
[OUT Q=drugs in the office]
Davis says one the safety benefits of general anesthesia is that the child's airway can be controlled at all times --which he says is one of the biggest dangers when a procedure is done in the office using other methods.
And Evan's mother says knowing a pediatric anesthesiologist was putting her son under and monitoring him eased her fears.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT1:44:40]
[IN Q=I want to know the person that's]
((I WANT TO KNOW THE PERSON THAT'S DEALING WITH HIM HAS DONE A LOT WITH CHILDREN. ANESTHESIA CAN BE SERIOUS PEOPLE DON'T' WAKE-UP FROM IT. I WANT TO MAKE SURE MY CHILD DOES))
[RUNS07]
[OUT Q=my child does]
Davis says while there is some risk as with any procedure --it's relatively low.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT1:51:04]
[IN Q=If you have a healthy child]
((IF YOU HAVE A HEALTHY CHILD IN A CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT I WOULD SAY IT'S PROBABLY MORE DANGEROUS DRIVING TO THE HOSPITAL IN THE CAR))
[RUNS08]
[OUT Q=in the car]
And for Evan the most memorable part of his trip to the hospital will probably be playing with the toy trains .))
[2Open-Heads]
[ANCHOR=]
[NEWSCAST=Sat Am]
[WRITER=jen]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=none]
[roll cold out of the open]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=#4070;weekend headline banner]
Coming up on News 7 Saturday Morning......
A new trial could mean new life for a death-row inmate in the New River Valley...
(------------)
And the newest Miss U-S-A was crowned last night from the District of Columbia...
We will have more on those stories in just a few minutes.
(-------------)
[2-shot toss to hello]
[2-Thomas]
[ANCHOR=Joy]
[NEWSCAST=Sat AM]
[WRITER=khu]
[TAPE#=02-10 TC13:22]
[GRAPHIC=Jeff Thomas]
The man convicted of murdering a Radford teen WILL get a new trial.
Yesterday the state Supreme Court overturned Jeffrey Thomas' murder conviction and death sentence.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Pulaski/March 2001]
Thomas spent the past year on death row for the attempted rape and murder of 16-year old Tara Munsey.
But the Court says the original trial judge failed to properly consider the impact of pre-trial publicity.
It was not just the extensive coverage the case generated.
According to the supreme court opinion- "The tenor of the publicity went beyond dispassionate reporting...."
Justice Elizabeth Lacy said one newspaper article said police had tied the bullets to the suspect, when in fact the bullets could not be linked to Thomas.
Last year, Judge Colin Gibb refused to move the trial out of Pulaski, believing he had seated an impartial jury.
But that was not easy. It took five days to find enough people to fill the jury.
"...the more difficult it is to seat a jury," Justice Lacy says: "the more likely it is that the public will believe the judicial process to be tainted by prejudice."
(------------)
[2-React-Thomas]
[ANCHOR=Joy]
[NEWSCAST=Sat AM]
[WRITER=rca]
[TAPE#=01-57]
[GRAPHIC=HOLD]
People on both sides of the case are reacting to the decision.
(------------)
[VO-NAT :21]
[SUPER=03-Pulaski;]
Commonwealth's Attorney Mike Fleenor says he's surprised but is prepared to try the case again.
Fleenor believes the Supreme Court will decide where it will be once a notice is filed to prosecute Jeffrey Thomas a second time.
Sheriff Jim Davis says the evidence is strong no matter where it's heard and that it's difficult for the families involved.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 35:10:14]
[IN Q=i don't ]
((JIM DAVIS/PULASKI CO. SHERIFF; I DON'T KNOW WHERE THEY WILL FIND THE STRENGTH AND THE WILLPOWER TO SIT THROUGH ANOTHER TRIAL, THEY'RE LENGTHY THEY'RE VERY MOVING THE EVIDENCE IS VERY REVEALING AND I DO FEEL SORRY FOR THAT. ))
[SUPER=01-Jim Davis/Pulaski Co. Sheriff;]
[RUNS=:11]
[OUT Q=SORRY FOR THAT ]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
Tara Munsey's mother did not return calls to News 7 ...while Thomas's former brother-in-law, Gary Davis says he's glad there'll be a new trial.
In a phone interview, defense attorney Brian Scheid said...We're pleasantly surprised by the decision.... the Supreme Court really focused and asked a lot of questions about change of venue.... hopefully now we'll have something more like an even playing field."
(------------)
[2-Children-Killed]
[ANCHOR=Joy]
[NEWSCAST=sat am]
[WRITER=jsu]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=none]
The trial of Andrea Yates continues. The Defense is trying to prove Yates was not sane when she drowned her five children in a bath tub.
As Jim Acosta reports jurors heard from a psychiatrist yesterday who painted a picture of a woman barely fit for motherhood.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT]
[IN Q=He worked for the prosecution in the cases]
[SUPER=03-Houston, TX; :10]
[SUPER=01-Stephen Rosenblatt/Defense Psychiatrist; :48]
[SUPER=01-Jim Acosta/Reporting; 1:10]
[RUNS=1:26]
[OUT Q=standard out]
((
HE WORKED FOR THE PROSECUTION IN THE CASES AGAINST THE UNABOMBER
TIMOTHY MCVEIGH AND JEFFREY DAUMER.
NOW PSYCHIATRIST PHILLIP RESNICK IS WORKING FOR THE DEFENSE OF ANDREA
YATES.
(SUPER: COURTROOM ART BY PAT LOPEZ)
IN COURT THE EXPERT TESTIFIED IT IS HIS OPINION THAT ANDREA WAS LEGALLY
INSANE THE DAY SHE KILLED HER FIVE CHILDREN.
RESNICK POINTED OUT HE TURNED DOWN A CHANCE TO WORK FOR SUSAN SMITH THE
SOUTH CAROLINA MOTHER WHO DROWNED HER CHILDREN IN A LAKE.
IN THAT CASE RESNICK THOUGHT SMITH WAS SANE -- THE SAME VERDICT REACHED
BY THE JURY.
IN THE MORNING -- PSYCHIATRIST STEPHEN ROSENBLATT TOLD THE JURY WHAT HE
OBSERVED WHEN HE ANALYZED ANDREA YATES FIVE DAYS AFTER THE MURDERS.
SOT: Stephen Rosenblatt, Defense Psychiatrist: "I thought she was very
disturbed and very psychotic at that point."
IN COURT ROSENBLATT SAID YATES TOLD HIM "SHE FELT IT WAS WRONG TO KILL
HER CHILDREN."
BUT THE DOCTOR TESTIFIED HE DID NOT BELIEVE YATES SAYING SHE WAS
SEVERELY PSYCHOTIC: "HER ACTIONS WERE BASED UPON A DELUSIONAL SYSTEM
SHE DID NOT KNOW RIGHT FROM WRONG."
(prosecutor file)
PROSECUTORS SUGGESTED IT WAS THE DEATH OF YATES' CHILDREN AND HER ARREST
THAT MADE HER PSYCHOTIC.
BUT ROSENBLATT SAID -- BASED ON YATES' CONDITION WHEN HE SAW HER -- HE
BELIEVED ANDREA WAS "OUT OF TOUCH WITH REALITY" ON THE DAY OF THE
MURDERS.
SOT: Rosenblatt: "I know she's sick. There's no doubt in my mind at
all."
STAND-UP:
JIM ACOSTA CBS NEWS, HOUSTON.))
[2-Embassy-Target]
[ANCHOR=Joy]
[NEWSCAST=sat am]
[WRITER=jsu]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=War on Terrorism]
The U-S is reportedly bombing Eastern Afghanistan again. That's according to the Afghan Islamic press.
The news agency says the bombings started yesterday and are targeting terrorist hideouts.
There has been no comment from U-S Central Command in Florida.
(------------)
[VO-NAT5:13:49]
[SUPER=03-Singapore]
Meanwhile, The Singapore government has released a video they say was made by a group of Muslim men for an alleged bomb plot.
The C-D shows video of the U.S embassy, Israeli embassy, the British and Australian high commissions and naval bases.
Singapore Officials confiscated the C-D from two men now being detained along with several other people for plotting a wave of bombings.
(------------)
[2-Henry-School]
[ANCHOR=Joy]
[NEWSCAST=Sat Am]
[WRITER=rle]
[TAPE#=]
[GRAPHIC=Henry School Consolidation]
The fight over a re-configuration plan that would close some Henry County schools will go on until at least next week.
(------------)
[VO-NAT - :17.5]
[SUPER=03-Henry Co.;]
Yesterday at a personnel hearing, the Henry County School Board did NOT act on a proposal by the superintendent of schools to scrap the consolidation plan.
The school superintendent says, regardless major cuts are coming to the school system, either by closing schools or cutting back on personnel expenses.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT - 42:03]
[IN Q=83-percent of our budget...]
((SHARON DODSON/SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS; 83 PERCENT OF OUR SCHOOL BUDGET IS PERSONNEL. SO ANY ADJUSTMENTS IN OUR REVENUE WOULD HAVE TO BE REFLECTED TO SOME DEGREE IN THAT 83 PERCENT OF OUR BUDGET, I'M CERTAIN. THERE'S JUST NO WAY TO GET AROUND THAT.))
[SUPER=01-Sharon Dodson/Superintendent of Schools;]
[RUNS=19]
[OUT Q=no way to get around that.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT - :06+]
The reconfiguration plan is expected to be dropped at the school board's meeting next Thursday.
(------------)
[Miss-USA]
[ANCHOR=Joy]
[NEWSCAST=Sat AM]
[WRITER=kgu]
[TAPE#=net]
[GRAPHIC=none]
One of the most coveted crowns was passed on last night to a woman from the District of Columbia...
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Gary, Indiana]
Shauntay Hinton was crowned the new Miss U-S-A.
Hinton is a Broadcast Communications major at Howard University.
She is also the first winner from the nation's capital in 38- years.
In addition to her duties as the new Miss U-S-A... Hinton plans a dual career as a news anchor and entrepreneur of health and beauty day spas.
Runners- up are.... Miss Kansas, Miss Indiana, Miss Minnesota, and Miss Connecticut, respectively.
(------------)
[Tease#2]
[ANCHOR=Joy]
[NEWSCAST=Sat Am]
[WRITER=jen]
[SS=None]
[BOTH MICS HOT]
What psychological toll does terrorism take on children...
[ANCHOR=Jacey]
Still to come on News 7 Saturday Morning.......
(----------------)
[VO-NAT]
We'll talk with a local doctor about the impact of terror on our youth.
But first if you are traveling today........
[Jacey ad-lib the travel forecast -- WX PRO]
(-------------)
[Jacey MIC hot]
[ No 2-shot toss go straight to Travel Bump]
[soft music under]
by SS