The Greenville News from Greenville, South Carolina • Page 1

SPORTS Conine's home run gives National League 3-2 victory. Page 1C Simply refreshing Summer's perfect beverage lemonade. Food, IB Mantle warns others not to try to live his lifestyle and expect to get away with it. Page 1C lad exam I.L"'I' tf 1. .1 Weather Mostly sunny, low near 70.

High 96 Details, 10A Greenville, South Carolina Wednesday, July 12, 1995 Final Edition Ex-youth minister faces sex charges Before the judge: Donald Chrisler Batson, left, sits with his attorney, Mike Spivey, at arraignment in Easley Tuesday morning. could widen to include alleged acts on other youths. Batson, who resigned as minister of youth and children at Brushy Creek on June 25 after serving in the post since 1990, appeared before Municipal Judge J.E. English on Tuesday and was released after posting a $100,000 surety bond. Batson will be arraigned at a later date.

Assistant Solicitor Doug Richardson asked English to mention specifically that the condi- See CHARGES on page 4A ing to warrants and Easley Police Chief Larry Thomas. The incidents, involving young males between the ages of 12 and 15, allegedly occurred on church field trips, in the church gymnasium or at Batson's former residence an apartment on Rae Circle, authorities said. Batson's attorney, Michael Spivey of Greenville, said when his client appears in Circuit Court to face the charges, he will plead not guilty. The police chief said additional charges could be filed against Batson and the investigation By Dale Perry Pickens Bureau EASLEY A former youth minister at Brushy Creek Baptist Church has been charged with molesting or assaulting seven boys in incidents allegedly stretching back to 1991. Easley police on Tuesday arrested Donald Chrisler Batson, 30, of 202 Hinton Road, on a dozen charges, including lewd act on a minor, assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature and criminal sexual conduct with a minor, accord IS I I'll ALAN DEVORSEY Staff tadge rates mm Is it to sftumid Vietnam now U.S.

partner Clinton normalizes relations amid protests By Terence Hunt AP White House Correspondent Missing husband charged in slaying Body of senator's daughter was found on abandoned road By Robert King Staff Writer Judge questions her about her understanding of trial By William Fox And Tim Smith Capital Bureau UNION A circuit judge ruled Tuesday that Susan Smith is competent to stand trial after she stood before him and said in a voice barely above a whisper that she WASHINGTON Two decades after the war that bitterly divided Americans and left 58,000 U.S. servicemen dead, President Clinton normalized relations with communist Vietnam Tuesday. He called it "a time to heal and time to build." NEWBERRY A nationwide search is under way for the estranged husband of a state senator's daughter found dead in a car off a deserted road just over a year ago. Newberry County Sheriff Lee Foster said a murder warrant has SUSAN SMITH if V- sS'i 1 I -V- Clinton's historic White House announcement was boycotted by the American Legion, the nation's largest veterans group, and the leading POW-MIA organization. They disputed Clin INSIDE American corporations say they will have an uphill battle winning business in Vietnam.

Story, Page 6D been issued for Steven A. Beckham, and authorities don't know the whereabouts of Beckham's three children, ranging in age from 5 to 16. A second suspect, a Myrtle knew she faced the death penalty for the murders of her sons. In a hushed courtroom where observers craned forward to hear, Smith rose to answer the judge's questions as a photo of the two boys rested on the defense table before her. Before issuing his ruling, Circuit Judge William Howard asked Smith whether she understood the two offenses she faces.

"Murder," she said, her hands clasped in front of her. "All right, do you know what the state is seeking?" Howard asked. Smith replied, "Yes, sir, the death penalty." The exchange with the judge marked Smith's first comments at her trial Tuesday Smith found competent to stand trial. Smith lets stand the plea of not guilty entered previously on her behalf. Two jurors seated.

Wednesday Continued jury selection in search of 10 more jurors and six alternates. Thursday Jury selection continues. nr i.i Hi ton's argument that Hanoi has made major strides toward a full accounting of missing Americans. Key Republican leaders including most contenders for the presidential nomination also opposed the decision. "All signs point to Vietnam willfully withholding information which could resolve the fate of many Americans lost in the war," Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole said.

Clinton, however, argued that Hanoi "has taken important steps to help us resolve many cases" of the more than 2,200 Americans still listed as missing from the Indochina war. See VIETNAM on page 4A Steven Beach man ar- Beckham rested late Monday, also is charged with murder in the case, the sheriff said. The body of Victoria "Vickie" Lander Beckham, 36, daughter of state Sen. James A. Lander of Newberry, was found in her father's car in a ditch on a deserted road east of Little Mountain the night of June 12, 1994.

At the time, authorities said she had suffered a fatal blow to the neck, but that it wasn't caused by a traffic accident. Foster said Tuesday authorities believe the accident was See SLAYING on page 4A which was in its second day and almost the only time she has spoken in public since her arrest Nov. 3 in the drowning deaths of her children. The competency issue threatened to derail Smith's trial after a state psychiatrist, Dr. Donald Morgan, testified Monday that she wanted to kill herself so badly that she might ask the jury to help her by sentencing her to die.

Morgan said she was competent only if she did not take the witness stand to testify in her own defense. On Tuesday, Howard said his research of case law led him to conclude she met the legal thresh- SeelWULonpageSk It Start ALAN HAWES On trial after all: Susan Smith is taken out of the Union County Courthouse Tuesday afternoon. In an early morning decision Tuesday, Judge William Howard found Smith competent to stand trial. 2 jurors seated; 4-week trial expected Man charged with stealing bus, raping passenger The Associated Press CHARLESTON A man stole a Greyhound bus, then kidnapped and raped a woman who thought she was getting on the bus to Charleston, police said Tuesday. Samuel Rodriquez, who was arrested Sunday, was held on multiple charges, but authorities weren't sure how the 22-year-old Charlotte, N.C., man knew how to start the bus.

He was not a Greyhound driver, the company said after a preliminary search of personnel records. No one realized the bus had been stolen from a Charlotte bus station until state Highway Patrol troopers arrested Rodriquez along Interstate 26 near Ridgeville on Sunday afternoon, Charleston County See on page 4k INSIDE Abby 2B Bigar's stars 9B Bridge 9B Business 60 Classifieds 10B Comics 88 Crossword Cryptoquote 9B Donohue SB Editorial 8A Food Health 2A Jumble 9B Metro ID Obituaries 40 Willie T.Smith III Sports 1C Television 4B Theaters 5B Circulation hot line 298-4110 Classified Ads 298-4221 THE NEWS IS PRINTED USINO RECYCLED PAPER Copyright 1995 Greenville News-Piedmont Company A Multimedia Newspaper 120th year Issue No. 182 4 sections, 44 pages A QUESTION OF COMPETENCY HOWARD: "Ms. Smith, do you understand that the state has charged you with two offenses?" SMITH: "Yes, sir." HOWARD: "And do you know what they are?" SMITH: "Murder COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT ON PAGE 5A trial to last more than four weeks. One man broke into tears while recounting the drowning death of his 4-year-old brother in a farm pond 26 years ago.

"I feel no pity for Susan Smith," the man wrote in his questionnaire. He was rejected. On the first day when potential jurors were considered, none was excused by the judge or rejected because he or she knew too much about the case. Five said they couldn't impose the death penalty under any circumstances, which automatically excluded them from the jury by law. A man was excused after he said he worked at a local textile mill with Smith's mother, Linda Russell, seven years ago and could not be fair.

A woman was excused for medical reasons after SeelMORSonpageSX By Tim Smith And William Fox Staff Writers UNION A divorced mother of four who professed little knowledge of the Susan Smith case and a black man who said he was not bothered by the case's racial overtones were the first two jurors seated Tuesday to consider her fate. Eleven other candidates were either rejected by the judge, defense or prosecution after they were asked to "search their souls" in answering questions about intimate details of their lives and whether they could send someone to his or her death. The judge told the two seated jurors that he expected to finish choosing a jury of 12 and six alternates in a couple more days, and that he didn't expect the 1.