Threats, Violence Described by Rahm's Defense Witnesses
By Dawson Duncan
News Staff Writer
Orange, Texas - Defense witnesses told of threats and violence Thursday at a June 16 Brownsboro school board meeting in which a spectator was killed by the secretary, Dr. Charles C. Rahm.
Dr. Rahm, on trial here for murder in the shooting of Thurman Jackson, is pleading innocent by reason of self-defense.
Initial defense witnesses called by Dr. Rahm's attorney, Charles W. Tessmer of Dallas, built on the self-defense theme in telling of a night of violence in the school board by spectators.
Tension had built up to the boiling point in the little East Texas town over the dismissal of Homas Bass, who had been superintendent for 23 years. There was bickering in the school board, too, over the hiring of teachers for the Negro school in the district.
Tessmer told the jury the defense would show that Dr. Rahm shot in self-defense after being attacked by three men and while he was being stomped, kicked and hit in the head with a chair. There were several fights as the board meeting ended, testimony has shown.
Defense testimony started after Dist. Judge Homer Stephenson overruled a motion for an instructed verdict, sought mainly on ground there had been insufficient evidence presented by the state.
Ivan Long, who was president of the school board at the time, told of continued interruptions of the meeting by an unruly audience.
He said he had heard threats that "they were going to put the school board out and they had it in for me and Dr. Rahm."
He said he got permission of the sheriff to cary a gun for self-protection and went with Dr. Rahm to Dallas where they bought weapons.
Long testified that Thurman Jackson, with his brother Clarence, was one of the leaders of the commotion that disrupted the board meetings, which deputy sheriffs were attending to preserve peace.
He said he was hit in the face and knocked to the floor in the first fighting of the evening and at the same time heard gunfire.
Thomas Walker, a Brownsboro farmer, said he saw a man hit Long, "and three men after Dr. Rahm," one of whom, he said, hit him on the head with a chair. One of the three he said, was Thurman Jackson.
H. Grady Larkin, Malakoff teacher who temporarily succeeded Bass, testified he saw two men "charge in on Dr. Rahm," as he was leaving the room and did not see the shooting.
John Stokes of Brownsboro, father of a former school board member told of inquiries about whether his son would attend the June 16 meeting, which he deemed to constitute a threat.
Two days before the meeting, he related A. T. Brewer had told him, "they are going to beat the hell out of that board."
Six additional defense witnesses gave further testimony of violence at the school board and of threats.
One of them, J. P. Parker, a school board member, said he was hit in the head with a chair, requiring five or six stitches, but did not see what happened to Dr. Rahm. Tessmer indicated the defense would close, perhaps Friday, with final testimony by Dr. and Mrs. Rahm and another physician.
Three concluding state witnesses all testified Dr. Rahm was standing when the shots were fired that killed Thurman jackson, a lumber yard operator. That point is in conflict with Dr. Rahm's claim he was on the floor and being stomped when he shot twice.
Clarence Jackson, brother of the shooting victim, testified that after he heard shots behind him he turned, saw his brother half way down and clinging to a wall with Dr. Rahm standing in an unbalanced position with a gun in his right hand.
"I made a dive at him," related Clarence Jackson. "I hit his body with my body to keep him from using his gun." He said he grabbed the doctor's right hand and pushed him to the floor and hollered for someone to get the gun from his hand.
Jackson at the time was a teacher of agriculture in the Brownsboro school but was preparing to resign, he said. His wife also was a teacher, he said. She was a sister of Homer Bass, the veteran superintendent whose dismissal by a new board elected last April fired the long-simmering dissension at Brownsboro school.
Defense Atty. Tessmer drew from Jackson a statement that Dr. Rahm had had his son arrested for disturbing the peace, but Jakcson said it had "not necessarily" created hard feelings.
Jackson said that if he hit Dr. Rahm, as other witnesses have testified, after the shooting, he had "no memory of it," but added he might have hit him many times for "I was mentally wild."
George Rash of Brownsboro, a retired Army servant with a crippled leg, testified he heard shots fired and saw Dr. Rahm with "his fist closed up in Thurman Jackson's chest."
He said he swung his cane and struck Dr. Rahm on the back of his head and saw Clarence Jackson grab the doctor and carry him to the floor.
Defense Attorney Charles Tessmer of Dallas hit hard at Rash's actions at the school board meeting. While he was not charged for striking Dr. Rahm, Rash testified under cross-examination he paid fines for assault and battery on W. Russell Davis and for aggravated assault on Gus Crow. The cane-swinging that resulted in charges were in the melee at the school board.
Rash said he swung at Crow only after he was cut with a knife, and insisted he did not "clobber" Davis, even though he paid a fine on the assault charge.
Rash testified that after the shooting Thurman Jackson fell first, a point at variance with some earlier testimony that he fell across the legs of Dr. Rahm.
Tessmer has stressed that Jackson's spinal cord was severed by the shots and could not move a muscle in his legs afterward.
Special Prosecutor William Steger of Tyler closed the state's case in the absence of Dist. Atty. Jack Hardee of Athens, who was attending his father-in-law's funeral at Chandler.
The final prosecution witness was Deputy Sheriff Thomas Whitehead of Trinidad, one of three Henderson County deputies at the school board meeting to provide protection.
Dallas Morning News
Friday, December 16, 1960
Section 1, Page 13
