Marsalis speaks out on cancellation

        Jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis on Tuesday cited Cincinnati's police-community relations as the primary reason for canceling his March 16 concert at the Aronoff Center for the Arts.

        In a statement released through his agent, Mr. Marsalis said, “Because of the sensitive issues currently prevalent in the city of Cincinnati surrounding its police department's relationship with minority communities, I must respectfully decline the invitation to appear in concert.”

        Mr. Marsalis said he would continue to support the Aronoff Center in its efforts to promote the arts. He also said he looked forward to “future opportunities to bring jazz to the community.”

        His statement was the artist's first since his cancellation last Thursday.

        In 1997, the 40-year-old trumpeter became the first jazz artist to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize in music. The jazz great was the latest black entertainer to honor the Coalition for a Just Cincinnati's call for a boycott. Others include Bill Cosby, the Temptations and the O'Jays.

        The Marsalis cancellation prompted threats of a lawsuit against the coalition by the Cincinnati Arts Association, which oversees the Aronoff Center. The CAA said it would seek to recover more than $77,000 in damages from the boycott group unless it agrees by March 16 to cease all contact with artists booked at its venues.
       

Execution date set for serial killer

        COLUMBUS — The Ohio Supreme Court on Tuesday set April 26 for the execution of Alton Coleman, who was twice sentenced to death for Cincinnati-area slayings in 1984.

        The slayings were part of a crime spree that also led to death sentences for Mr. Coleman in Indiana and Illinois.

        Mr. Coleman, of Waukegan, Ill., was sentenced to die in Ohio for the strangulation of Tonnie Storey, 15, of Over-the-Rhine, and the beating death of Marlene Walters, 44, of Norwood.

        A three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals threw out the sentence in the Storey case after concluding that Mr. Coleman's attorneys didn't adequately represent him in a 1985 trial. The court, however, upheld Mr. Coleman's conviction.

        The court earlier had upheld Mr. Coleman's death sentence for Mrs. Walters' death.

        Mr. Coleman's attorneys have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Walters' ruling. They argue that because the same two attorneys represented Mr. Coleman in both Ohio cases, it is inconsistent that his sentence be overturned in one case and upheld in the other.
       

2 injured in scuffle after warrant served

        FOREST PARK — A Hamilton County sheriff's deputy suffered minor injuries Tuesday afternoon in a fight with a man in a restaurant parking lot at Waycross and Hamilton avenues.

        Deputy Kevin Statzer was treated at Mercy Franciscan — Mount Airy Campus for injuries to his nose, mouth, left elbow and right hand, sheriff's spokesman Steve Barnett said.

        The other man in the fight, Richard Mansfield, 24, of Colerain Township, was treated at University Hospital after complaining of neck and back pain, Mr. Barnett said.

        Police say deputies were assisting two Hamilton County Court bailiffs serve Mr. Mansfield with a warrant for an alleged probation violation about 2:45 p.m. at the Taco Bell at 11020 Hamilton Ave. when Mr. Mansfield started to run.

        “Our two guys grabbed him, but he broke free,” Mr. Barnett said. “They chased him and a struggle ensued.”

        Forest Park officers were also called to the scene.

        Charges are pending.
       

Sentencing delayed in morgue photos case

        The sentencing hearing for Mount Auburn photographer Thomas Condon and former Hamilton County morgue pathology fellow Dr. Jonathan Tobias has been rescheduled for next month.

        The men were convicted in October of multiple charges of gross abuse of a corpse. They had been scheduled for sentencing Thursday.

        Mr. Condon and Dr. Tobias now will appear before Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Norbert Nadel on April 16

        Mr. Condon's attorney, H. Louis Sirkin, asked for a new date because of a personal emergency that took him out of town, officials said.

        The two men were charged last year after police found hundreds of negatives inside Mr. Condon's photography studio.

        Dr. Tobias, who was doing a one-year fellowship at the morgue at the time, was convicted of helping Mr. Condon.

        Both remain free on bond. Mr. Condon was found guilty of eight counts of gross abuse of a corpse. Dr. Tobias was found guilty of two counts of gross abuse of a corpse and could lose his medical license. Each count carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison.
       

Hamilton Co. court Web site to be down

       The Hamilton County clerk of courts Web site will be inaccessible for at least a portion of today, officials said.

        The site's server software is being upgraded to handle what Clerk Jim Cissell says is a “unprecedented increase in activity.”

        During January, the site received nearly 7 million hits, Mr. Cissell said.

        The site at www.courtclerk.org was begun in 1999 and allows users to access court records. It also provides links to state and federal courts, as well as links to other sites.
       

Forest Park man gets prison in robbery

        A 20-year-old Forest Park man, convicted Feb. 7 of aggravated robbery, was sentenced Tuesday to four years in prison.

        Taijuan Johnson apologized Tuesday in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court for helping to rob Mahandesh Mahalmani in October.

        He and two others, Roderick Robinson and Larry Thompson, accosted Mr. Mahalmani with a BB gun.

        Mr. Robinson and Mr. Thompson both were convicted of similar charges and sentenced to four years in prison.
       

Service today for slain reporter

        The Hillel Jewish Student Center invites the community to a memorial service today for Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, who was killed in Pakistan recently.

        The service will be noon at the center, 2615 Clifton Ave.

        Speakers will include Rabbi Abie Ingber, Hillel's executive director.

        The service will also include music performed by Deborah Netanel, Hebrew poetry read by Noga Maliniak and a French poem by Marguerite Feibelman.

        For more information, call 221-6728.

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