Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

4 Young and , r\ mocentr October's 'Rolling Stone' focuses on South Carolina and the fate of one young man on death row AMY HAZELWOOO Staff Writer "Rolling Stone" writer Tina Rosenberg focuses on a teenager possibly wrongly convicted of murder in the Oct. 5 edition. Joseph Hudgins was convicted of murder when he was 17. Two and a half years later he still sits on death row. Hudgins, now 20, is being held at Broad River Correctional Institute for the murder of Chris Taylor, a Sheriffs Deputy from Anderson, S. C. Upon his sentencing on July 27,1993, Joseph was the youngest individual ever to be placed on death row in the U.S. Joseph's petty thievery began with stealing pencils at school at age seven and escalated to stealing car stereos in his teens. Joseph was caught by authorities only twice. But on Sunday, Dec. 6,1992, Joseph's luck ran out. He and his best friend, 18-year-old Terry Cheek, stole an Or kin Exterminating truck. Sheriffs Deputy Chris Taylor noticed the truck driving along Highway 24 near Lake Hartwell with its hose dragging from the reel on the back. Taylor stopped them, and Terry said the truck belonged to his father. After all three examined the truck, Taylor asked the boys to sit in the back of his patrol car because it was rain ing. umcer Taylor was then shot in the face with a .25-caliber semi-automatic pistol shared by Joseph and Terry. He was dead by early the next morning. Chris Taylor's death launched the largest manhunt in the history of Anderson County. As Jeff Miller from The State newspaper reported in the Dec. 8,1992 edition, there were 100 officers, bloodhounds, and three helicopters looking for the murderers. Joseph and Terry were finally caught because classmates phoned Crime Stoppers and told of the boys' stealing records. Joseph's fingerprints were found on the ignition. "All I really remember of the trial is that one of the boys told his classmates that if he ever shot a cop he would shoot them in the face because they wore bullet-proof vests," Kelly Burdette, a resident of Anderson County said. Joseph confessed to killing Taylor and Terry was to be prosecuted as an accessory after the fact. But Joseph's two lawyers recreated the murder scene and decided that Joseph couldn't have possibly killed Taylor because of the body's angle to the car, the angle of the shot (slightly above Taylor's right eye from behind), and the bullet shell that landed next to the rear left tire. They determined that the shooter had to be standing between Taylor and the rear of the car. Joseph and Terry had each drawn maps of their position at the time of the murder. Both boys placid Cheek between Taylor and the rear of the car. Joseph finally broke down and told his attorneys that he and Terry had agreed Joseph would take the blame for the shooting because he was a minor and both believed he would not get into trouble. Terry became a witness for the prosecution and pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact with the guarantee that he never to be prosecuted for anything related to the murder. The jury deliberated for eight hours and found Joseph guilty. After another four hours they sentenced him to death. Terry Cheek was sentenced to thirty years in prison in McCormick Correctional Institution. He has already earned his General Education Degree, is currently enrolled in college courses, has joined the Jaycees and expects to be out on work release next year. He will be eligible for parole in 1998. Joseph Hudgins' cell, 14 feet by 6 feet, contains a bed, table, chair, toilet, sink, and a locker for his clothes. It also sits 250 yards away from the electric chair. The truth may die with him. Tina Rosenberg writes, "Minors are thought too immature to sit on a jury, vote, buy beer, or watch an X-rated movie, yet they are considered responsible enough to pay for their crimes vith their lives." Even if wrongly convicted. For more information on the events leading to the convicion of Joseph Hudgins, see the Oct. 5 issue of "Rolling Stone" nagazine. INTRAMUR/ SIGN Entries being accepted now I Thursday, October 5. 202 call DEPARTMENT OF STUDENT LIFE/1 ETC. iBBiPffi % . B flB I fl | MR " > "ImTi Iff" i i j ? '* . - I I I , , flsV* Srlif' %? 1 ' * * ' i<i\ 1{,JW; , -ii . . is . Vi'.fik 4 .' '*? -it . - Big Head Todd and the Monsters Is Brian Nevln, Todd Park Mol kL SPORTS UPS Have km Jr Z. . .... my jup Be wining Applications ar i up in the / Generalof ^ C i (404) 892-5067 ce of Campus Recreation ????? Blatt PE Center. J 777-5261 for more info jj DIVISION OF STUDENT AFFAIRS Ameri ,,.,s> .. . 411 ** - & ^ 5 I & I A\ :mS^M " ; ^ a? 4 'M V 'J ' '; ^ ir and Rob Squires. STEPHANIE SONNENFELD Features Editor S Maybe Big Head Todd and the Mon- ^ sters aren't rivaling Hootie and the Blowfiah for the number one slot on ^ the Billboard Charts this week, but ^ they are doing one thing Hootie isn't b they're headlining this year's Cockfest event at e the State Fairgrounds Known primarily within the college music o scene, Big Head Todd and the Monsters is quite i< the opposite of last year's Cockfest band, REO Speedwagon. Big Head Todd and the Monsters n is actually a far cry from anything remotely pop, ^ actually finding their roots in the blues. The band, which consists of Todd Park Mohr (guitar, keyboards, vocals), Rob Squires (bass, vocals) and Brian Nevin (drums, percussion and vo- n cals) began in 1986 at the University of Colorado. ^ Mohr, Squires and Nevin had played in high school ^ bands together, yet it wasn't until they were at N UC that they assembled as BHTM and paid homage C to their blues heroes, such as Eddie "Clean Head" p Vinson. li After playing clubs and college campuses across ^ country and after the release of two self-produced albums, "Another Maybeny" (1989 and "Midnight ^ k Radio" (1991), Big Head Todd and the Monsters w | captured national attention from publications such as Rolling Stone and The Washington Post. Most recently, big Head Todd and The Monsters released "Strategem," which was recorded F* in the Boulder Theater in Boulder, Colorado. Tve been thinking about this album for years," P< said Mohr in a recent press release from the band's ye record label, Giant. ei "This album is why we became band," Mohr continued to say. aj Strategem, which was written in a sixth month ^ sitting, comes after the band's 1993 Gold album, ge Teach English in junior and senior high Learn about Japanese culture a Gain international experie ixcellent command of the English language lachelor's degree by June 30,1996 citizen I to relocate to Japan for one year *4 * e now available for program beginning August 1996. Foi pan, 100 Colony Square Building, Suite 2000, 1175 P , or call 1-800-INF0-JET (1-800-463-6538). y GIVE THE lean Red Cross Thursday, October 5,1998 fJv j'r.' II Qiant Records lister Sweetly, which is an excellent example of be band's true musical styling. The two songs most generally attributed to he success of this album are "It's Alright" and Bittersweet." These two songs are outlined with lues undertones that help create the laid back, xtremely mellow rhythms of the two songs. Yet beyond these two known songs lies a wealth f undiscovered hits such as "Broken Hearted Sav>r," "Sister Sweetly," "Circle" and "Tomorrow fever Comes." All of these songs, like the above lentioned two, are similar; tinged with a bit of be blues and filled in with a unique style that )ok a few years and a lot of miles to cultivate. This style among other things opened up a ew world for Big Head and the Monsters - a world lat didn't consist of sticky-floored college bars, i the last 18 months, Big Head Todd and the [onsters played on the David Letterman Show, onan O'Brien and the Today Show. They also srformed on Robert Plant's U.S. tour and headned four tours of their own, with Sheryl Crow id 4 Non-Blondes opening up. Big Head Todd and the Monsters played two lows this past spring in Charleston and Greenville ith Dave Matthews. At the Charleston concert, hich took place at the Citadel Fieldhouse, the ma piayea ior more man an nour and a half, irforming everything from selections form "Sisr Sweetly" to an excellent rendition of Led Zepilin's "Tangerine," which was included on this jar's Atlantic Records tribute to Led Zeppelin, ititled "Encomium." Tickets for Big Head Todd and the Monsters id Cockfest are still on sale at the Russell House formation Desk. The prices are $7 for reserved ats and $2 for general admission. schools in Japan / md people ince * % f I r more information, contact The Consulate eachtree Street, NE, Atlanta, GA, 30361, : GIFT OF LIFE, GIVE BLOOD V '