WWW . THESKANNER . COM
M ARCH 28, 2012
S EATTLE , W ASHINGTON
V OLUME XXXIV, N O . 13
25
CENTS
For The Skanner
news alerts
Text "NEWS" to
503-715-0890 or
scan this QR code
C HALLENGING P EOPLE TO S HAPE A B ETTER F UTURE N OW
Trayvon
SKITTLES, TEA AND JUSTICE
Martin's
Parents
PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED
Family of murdered
teen tells Congress
about racial profiling
Trayvon Martin’s cousin, Cedric President-Turner, 18, from Tacoma, led hundreds of people on a march to Martin
Luther King, Jr. Memorial Park March 25 to celebrate the life of his cousin.
Child’s School Shooting Plea: Not Guilty
Elementary student’s mother charged with allowing access to gun
By Doug Esser
The Associated Press
SEATTLE (AP) -- A prosecu-
tor said he will try to stretch the
law to go after a Bremerton
woman and her boyfriend who
are accused of having a role in a
shooting that critically wounded
an 8-year-old girl when the
woman's 9-year-old son took a
gun to school.
The couple were charged with
unlawful possession of a
firearm and felony assault for
allowing the boy access to the
gun, Kitsap County Prosecutor
Russ Hauge said.
"It's not been done before, that
we know, but we're confident in
our research," he said Thursday.
"We think the law in Washing-
ton is sound - that under the def-
inition of cause that Washington
uses, the situation that was cre-
ated by the mother and
boyfriend that allowed the boy
to come into possession
amounts to them being legally
responsible for it."
The boy took the .45-caliber
handgun from a car glove box
INDEX
News .....................2,3,8
Calendar ....................2
Opinion ....................4,5
Bids/Classifieds............7
and brought it to Armin Jahr
Elementary on Feb. 22 in a
backpack, authorities said. It
fired when he dropped the back-
pack on a desk.
The bullet struck Amina
Kocer-Bowman, who remains
in Harborview Medical Center
in Seattle. The little girl was
transferred out of the intensive
care unit Thursday and is now
listed in satisfactory condition, a
hospital spokeswoman said. The
child has a shattered elbow and
serious injuries to internal
organs. The bullet is still lodged
in muscle near her spine.
Hauge initially charged the
boy's mother, Jamie Lee Chaf-
fin, and her boyfriend, Douglas
L. Bauer, with unlawful posses-
sion of a firearm. Hauge added
the third-degree assault charges
Tuesday. If convicted of the
felony, Chaffin and Bauer could
be sentenced to up to five years
in prison.
Chaffin, 34, is charged with
two counts of unlawful posses-
sion of a firearm - one for
allegedly having a gun in her
See GUN on page 3
By Suzanne Gamboa
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) -- In a packed
forum on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, the par-
ents of Trayvon Martin found support
among members of Congress who turned
the death of their 17-year-old's son into a
rallying cry against racial profiling.
Martin's parents spoke briefly before a
Democrats-only congressional panel as
cameras clicked noisily in front of them.
Many in the crowd, which filled the seats
and lined the walls, strained to catch a
glimpse of the parents whose son was shot
and killed Feb. 26 in a Sanford, Fla. gated
community.
"Trayvon was our son, but Trayvon is
your son," Sybrina Fulton, Martin's mother,
told the panel. "A lot of people can relate to
our situation and it breaks their heart like it
breaks our heart."
Martin's father, Tracy Martin, thanked
"everyone who is holding the legacy of
Trayvon."
"Trayvon is sadly missed and we will con-
tinue to fight for justice for him," said Tracy
Martin, who wore a weary look.
During the two-hour forum, the lawmak-
ers and witnesses openly criticized the
police investigation of the shooting and the
failure of police to arrest the admitted shoot-
er, George Zimmerman. Those attending the
hearing applauded the couple when Debo-
rah Ramirez, a law professor at Northeast-
ern University School of Law in Boston,
praised the parents' "dignity and grace in the
face of this tragedy" and said they were an
"inspiration to all."
Zimmerman, 28, has said he acted in self-
defense. Federal and state officials are
investigating.
"It is very important that we have inde-
pendent eyes on this situation," said Rep.
Corrine Brown, a Democrat whose district
includes Sanford. "I am hoping we take this
as a teachable moment. I am looking for-
ward to how the Justice Department handles
See TRAYVON on page 3
Murray on Violence Against Women Act
Senator uses ‘war on women’ as platform for reintroducing law
By Laurie Kellman
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senate Democ-
rats fired the latest political shot in what
they're calling the Republican "war against
women" this month, pushing to renew and
expand a law that fights violence against
women and pays to help victims. They
dared GOP senators to vote against it.
"Protecting women against violence
shouldn't be a partisan issue," Sen. Patty
Murray, chairwoman of the Democratic
Senatorial Campaign Committee, said from
the Senate floor, where a group of female
senators spoke in favor of the legislation.
Money for the Violence Against Women
Act has been widely supported by lawmak-
ers of both parties since the law was first
signed in 1994. But the timing of the 2012
Senate debate is unmistakably political. It
comes at the height of an election year in
which the presidency and the congressional
majorities are at stake. And it fits neatly into
the Democrats' overarching campaign
theme that Republicans aren't standing up
for women on contraception, abortion
rights, health insurance and now domestic
See WOMEN on page 3