28 = THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, JULY 17, 2002
Amateur cameraman: arrest was retaliation
Mitchell Crooks, 28, said he told Los Angeles County district attorney's investigators that he had outstanding warrants against him for 1999 convictions on drunken driving, hit-and-run driving and petty theft.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — An amateur cameraman who taped the violent arrest of a black teenager said Tuesday he believed his own arrest was retribution for not cooperating with prosecutors.
"I had no problem with anything, this whole entire situation. I just wanted to make sure I had legal counsel before I did anything," he said.
But he charged that he was arrested Thursday outside CNN television studios because he failed to willingly appear before a grand jury in the alleged police brutality case.
"I had no problem turning myself in," Crooks said in an interview on ABC's Good Morning America from a county jail in Northern California.
After his arrest, he was immediately
taken to testify before a grand jury in the alleged brutality case.
Crooks also charged he was injured during his arrest.
"I was just basically pushed around," he said. "I was squeezed. I have bruises on my body."
A message left Tuesday with the Los Angeles County district attorney's office was not immediately returned.
Crooks' July 6 video captured Inglewood Police Officer Jeremy Morse, who is white, slamming 16-year-old Donovan Jackson onto a police car and then punching him. Officers had pulled over Jackson's father, Coby Chavis, because the car's license plates had expired.
Morse, 24, has been placed on administrative leave as various agencies investigate.
Black activists have called for sweeping changes within the Inglewood Police Department, tougher legislation involving police misconduct and stiffer penalties for officers convicted of abuse.
Worldcom executive told insiders of wrongdoing
WASHINGTON (AP) — A top officer at Worldcom Inc. acknowledged to insiders last month that the company was violating accounting standards but indicated that Worldcom might fail if it reported its financial condition honestly, according to internal documents turned over to Congress.
The newest documents also included a proposal in March by former Chief Executive Bernard Ebbers to cut funding in half for audits such as the one that ultimately uncovered the company's $3.8 billion in accounting irregularities.
The documents released Monday were among boxes of materials handed over to the House Energy and Commerce Committee as part of a broad investigation into corporate wrongdoing.
"We don't think that the possibility of significant disruptions in service is imminent," he said. "We don't think the current financial troubles — even if they lead to a bankruptcy situation — will present a catastrophic situation for consumers."
Among the most sensational passages disclosed Monday were notes from a June 17 meeting among David Myers, WorldCom's comptroller, and Cynthia Cooper, an internal auditor. Responding to questions about the company's figures, Myers acknowledged that "there were no specific accounting pronouncements supporting these entries."
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell sought Tuesday to reassure WorldCom customers that the company's financial troubles are unlikely to affect phone or Internet service.
Asked how Myers might explain such entries to the Securities and Exchange
Other documents released Monday indicated that WorldCom executives considered these accounting ploys as early as July 2000. But a July 25 e-mail to Myers and another WorldCom official determined there was "no support within the current accounting guidelines that would allow for this accounting treatment."
By June 2002, when Myers met with Cooper, the faltering economy apparently persuaded some executives to reconsider. Myers warned Cooper that without the accounting changes, "the company might as well shut its doors."
The notes from the meeting were Cooper's, according to Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La., the committee chairman. It took place roughly one week before World-Com's public disclosures about its accounting problems.
In a second meeting, just hours later, Myers told Cooper that WorldCom "should probably not have" classified some business expenses to make it appear the company was more profitable, according to Cooper's notes. But since WorldCom had started the practice, during its second fiscal quarter in 2001, Myers told Cooper that "it was difficult to stop."
Commission, "David stated he had hoped it would not have to be explained."
Myers, who was the only person apart from chief financial officer Scott Sullivan to have direct control over WorldCom's books, resigned to avoid being fired by the company when the board learned of the massive misstatement. He could not be reached immediately for comment. Sullivan was fired last month.