H.M. Michaux
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Justice Department reviewing
Michaux's Nov. 3 case advice
By MARK McDONALD
Record Staff Writer
U.S. Attorney H. M. Michaux said
this morning that Justice Department
officials in Washington have asked him
to withhold his recommendation on
whether to seek civil rights indictments stemming from the Nov. 3,
1979 slaying of five Communist Worker's Party members.
"I have acquiesced in a request not
to release my recommendations until
department officials have had time to
assess the issues and reach a conclusion," Michaux said.
Michaux had prepared a three-page
memo on the subject, and he had intended to read a two-paragraph announcement to the press today.
U.S. attorneys must obtain higher
approval before seeking an indictment
involving civil rights violations where
death is an issue, Michaux said.
Michaux's announcement put a damper on speculation that he might seek
indictments in the case involving six
Michaux.
Ku Klux Klan and Nazi Party members who were cleared of first-degree
murder charges last November in
Guilford County Superior Court.
Approval must come from the assistant attorney general who handles civil rights issues, Michaux said. James
Turner, the acting assistant attorney
general, could not be reached this
morning for comment.
Earlier in the week Michaux said he
had planned to make a brief statement
on his recommendations to the Justice
From CI
istration, labor organizing, interstate
travel and commerce and public accommodation. (
Lewis Pitts, a staff attorney with
the Greensboro Justice Fund which is
representing the survivors of the Nov.
3 shooting and several widows of participants, said this morning that Michaux told him Tuesday that the case
was being handled from Washington.
"We can only assume that he's recommended prosecution. Both Michaux
and we have talked to experts on fed
eral jurisdiction and the civil rights
statutes, and it appears likely he was
advised to prosecute," Pitts said.
"Our hope is that the scope of the
investigation will be broad enough to
include inquiry of the alleged wrongdoing by federal as well as state and
local officials and the Klan-Nazi participants," he said.
Wilson said Michaux's views and
recommendations will be part of the
decision-making process. Michaux will
leave office on June 24.
Department. But Tuesday afternoon
he received a call from Dan Rinzel, the
chief of the criminal section of the civil
rights division.
Justice Department spokesman
John Wilson said the civil rights division must authorize all grand jury investigations and approve indictments
"in every civil rights case, whether it
involves death or not."
Wilson said he and Rinzel met with
a group of anti-Klan representatives
on Tuesday and said the group, which
included the widow of Cesar Cauce,
told government officials it wants a
full-scale investigation of the Nov. 3,
1979 incident.
Wilson said he doesn't know when
the department's recommendation will
be announced. "The case is under active review at this time. It is a very
complex case involving difficult questions of jurisdiction, law and fact."
Wilson said four department staffers are working on the case. With a
five-year statute of limitations on the
case, Wilson said the government has
plenty of time to study the issues. "So
far, we've spent several months on the
case," he said.
The key questions for the government, according to sources close to the
case, are: Will the government authorize further investigation and against
whom might indictments be sought?
The government must determine if
federally protected civil rights were
violated in the Nov. 3, 1979 killings..
Civil rights statutes outline several
protected rights, including voter reg-
(See Michaux: Page C2, Col. 4) " -'
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