DATE: Thursday, October 2, 1997             TAG: 9710020470

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 

DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS                      LENGTH:   28 lines

JURY CLEARS CRUMPLER IN 4 OF 5 CLAIMS OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION

Two black tenants and two white former managers of a trailer park owned by auto dealer Bob Crumpler failed to prove claims of racial discrimination against the businessman, a jury concluded Wednesday.

But jurors in the U.S. District Court trial did not reach a verdict in the case of a fifth plaintiff, former tenant Kathy Lasha, and will return today for more deliberations. The jury deliberated four hours before going home Wednesday.

The case centered on a secretly recorded videotape in which Crumpler uses a racial epithet and berates an employee of his Country Village Mobile Home Park in James City County.

Timothy Fishe, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said the tape captured a side of Crumpler that he hides in public.

But Glen Huff, Crumpler's attorney, said ``mere words'' weren't enough to prove discrimination.

After the videotape became public, Nissan Motors began proceedings to strip Crumpler of his Newport News dealership franchise. That case is being considered by an administrative hearing officer. KEYWORDS: RACIAL DISCRIMINATION VERDICT

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