Dole dedication

Protester wants video sounds kept from jury

An attorney for a protester charged with battering police chief Ron Olin sought to limit possible evidence in the case during a court hearing Thursday.

Leo C. Jalipa, 22, Columbia, Mo., was arrested during a scuffle with police outside a July 21 protest at a Dole Institute of Politics dedication event.

His attorney argued in court Thursday that jurors shouldn’t be allowed to hear sounds from videotapes that the state plans to introduce as evidence.

The sounds of the crowd — which include shouting at police — might be prejudicial to Jalipa, attorney Hudson Luce argued, and there’s no way to tell if they’re coming from his client.

“At this point I don’t think I can just enter an order prohibiting all audio,” Judge Paula Martin said.

Martin did, however, order that if references to anarchy — the political philosophy of some of the protesters — have been superimposed on the videos, they should be redacted before a jury sees them.

Jalipa’s trial is scheduled to start Dec. 15. Two other protesters are awaiting trial in Douglas County District Court.

Vandalism

Authorities look for leads in tire puncture cases

Police are seeking help identifying at least two suspects caught on video in connection with the vandalism of more than two dozen Nebraska football fans’ cars last weekend.

The Lawrence Police Department has completed its review of video from a surveillance camera in the parking lot of Quality Inn, 801 Iowa. Police said the video shows a vehicle entering the Centennial Park parking lot and at least two people can be seen near cars that were damaged. Police said their efforts to enhance the video images were unsuccessful.

About 25 Nebraskans, in town for the Kansas-Nebraska football game, awoke Saturday to find their tires punctured. The vandalism happened at six hotel parking lots. Damage has been estimated at more than $5,000.

Police said they would post the video on the police department’s Web site at www.lawrencepolice.org, but that had not been done late Thursday. Anyone with information is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 843-TIPS.

Sale

Police to auction found items, evidence

Need a tire iron? How about some lighter fluid, a roll of duct tape or a baseball bat?

These items and more will be for sale Saturday morning as the Lawrence Police Department auctions off found property and evidence at Fifth and Mississippi streets.

Other items for sale include watches, cameras, more than 40 bicycles, a pickup truck and a wheelchair, according to a tentative list.

The sale items have fallen into officers’ hands in one of two ways: They’ve been seized as evidence in now-disposed criminal cases, or they’ve been found and police haven’t been able to determine ownership.

Viewing starts at 8 a.m. and bidding starts at 10 a.m. Proceeds from the auction are split between the state and the city’s general fund.

Obituary

Ex-KU administrator dies

A controversial figure in recent Kansas University history has died.

James “Skip” Turner, former director of affirmative action at KU, died Monday at his home in Norfolk, Va. No cause of death was listed in his obituary.

Turner, 57, served as associate director of affirmative action from 1984 to 1987, when he was promoted to director. He resigned in 1991 after he was quoted in the University Daily Kansan as using slurs against gays and American Indians. Within the same month, he also was accused of selling cocaine in testimony during a Lawrence murder trial.

Turner was one of a group of students dubbed the “Norfolk 17” who defied an angry white mob of parents and city authorities in 1959 to become the first blacks to integrate the Norfolk, Va., public school system.