The Nation - News from June 24, 1988

Syndicated columnist Carl T. Rowan will not be charged with assault after shooting a youth who had taken a pre-dawn dip in the swimming pool at his Washington home, the U.S. attorney’s office said. Instead, prosecutors reinstated charges of unlawful entry against Benjamin N. Smith, 18, and a companion, 19-year-old Laura Bachman. Smith, who suffered a wrist wound in the June 14 incident, and Bachman pleaded innocent to the misdemeanor charge before a District of Columbia Superior Court hearing commissioner. U.S. Atty. Jay B. Stephens said his office found insufficient evidence to warrant an assault charge against the 62-year-old Rowan.