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(Testimony of Nancy Monnell Powell)
I have seen him argue with his best friends and tell them to get out of the club and don't ever come back. He and Earl Norman got into a fight one night up there too. And he and Earl were good friends.
Mr. Griffin.
Was this a fight or an argument?
Mrs. POWELL. He hit him, but it was Earl's fault.
Mr. Griffin.
What happened there?
Mrs. POWELL. Earl came in the club, and he drinks quite a bit, and he used to work up there as an emcee, but he drinks a lot, and when he gets drunk--well, we better go back to Jada, because this happened over that deal. On that night, Jack told Jada she couldn't finish out the night. She was going to do it anyway, and she called the union man so she could finish doing her last two shows. And the union man came up there and he talked to them, and he told Jack to let her go ahead and finish. So, they got together and decided to let her finish the week before she left.
Then they got into it again over something, I don'.t know, and she says that he threatened to hit her and all this, so the next night she is on stage working and the police came up there, and she had got a warrant for his arrest for threatening her or something, I don't know, filed charges against him, and they come up and took Jack and Jada before the night judge, got him out of bed or something.
Mr. Griffin.
Were you there and did you actually see the police come up and get Jack?
Mrs. Powell.
Yes; they took Jada with them. In the meantime, she had put all her stuff and packed it away in trunks and bought this paraffin that you seal things with and seal all her things up so if. Jada missed anything--she said he threatened to burn her wardrobe also. And he went down to the police station and went before the judge, and they were gone about 2 hours, and he came back. The reason they went is because Jack didn't want to pay her for the week. He wanted her to leave, and she got her money, $250. The judge gave it to her. And he came back and was furious, and he said she went down and told the judge all kinds of bad things about all of us, and he got the other girls worked up, and they were going to go to the motel where she was staying and do all kinds of things. And I am sitting there. I am pretty levelheaded, and I like Jack, but he likes to fabricate, and I couldn't believe that she said all the things he said she did. Anyway, if she did, she was telling the truth She said, "I told the judge I pulled my pants down too, so I did."
I took up for her. I said, "Now, when you are calling her all these things, you go out and jump on her, and that is not going to make you any better than she is." He got mad at me because I didn't want to go out and jump on her. He felt like I was against him, so he was hollering at me and said, "I used to have respect, but I lost all respect. He thought I was stuff and tough." And I don't know, so I just left the club. I said, "I don't even want to talk to you."I went inside and I went back in and-Earl Norman came over, because he is on the board of directors. The union man couldn't come over, and he sent Earl over there to stay there until Jada got her things and got out, so there would be a representative there in case anything happened. And she filed a claim. Jack thought Earl was against him also because he came over there.
So, he was in the club, and Jack started hollering at him and told him--first of all, it started out as a nice conversation, and Earl is great about quoting you new rules. He knows all of them, and he goes by the book, and especially when he is drinking. That is all he can talk about is union rules. He drives you crazy sometimes. And he was explaining to Jack, Jack said, "You are against me. You are against me." And he said, "No; I am not. I had to come over, Tom Palmer told me to, and it is my job as a member of the board." And Jack told him to get out. He said, "I want you to leave. If you don't, I am going to punch you in the mouth, so you get out now." And he was walking the floor He was really, very, very angry. So Earl tells him, "You better not ever hit me, or I will get a gun and come back and shoot you." He shouldn't have said that. Jack went to pieces and he smashed him in the mouth, but Earl wasn't going to give up.
Mr. Griffin.
Did Earl leave at that point?
Mrs. Powell.
No; he kept explaining and mouthing off, but Jack didn't hit
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