Less than a week after Anne Arundel County prosecutors dropped murder charges against four white men in the death of a black teenager at a party, the county's state's attorney said yesterday that he plans to hold a special grand jury session Friday to look into the case. "The grand jury will be meeting weekly until we get this resolved," said State's Attorney Frank R. Weathersbee. Meanwhile, two Maryland members of Congress backed yesterday the Anne Arundel NAACP's request that the Justice Department conduct a federal civil rights investigation into Jones' death. "The Anne Arundel NAACP has raised very serious questions about the death of Noah Jamahl Jones, and possible violations of his civil rights," U.S. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski said through a spokeswoman last night. "His family and the community deserve answers. That is why I am urging Attorney General [John] Ashcroft to launch an investigation.Robin Jones, the victim's mother, said "I think what happened to Jamahl was a racial incident, and letting the boys go is another racial incident," she said yesterday. [more ]
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