Q&A on the News

Q: I read where the homeless man, Basil Eleby, who is being charged with setting the blaze on I-85, has four attorneys representing him at taxpayer’s expense. Why is he given four attorneys instead of one attorney? —Sarah Westbrook, Cumming

A: The private lawyers notified the court that they would be representing Eleby and are working for him without charge. The attorneys are not being paid with tax dollars, as would be a public defender. These four all volunteered their services so, in that case, he can have as many or as few as want to help him.

Eleby pleaded not guilty in April to arson and criminal damage to property, the AJC previously reported.

Q: The first heart transplant recipient, how long did he live?

A: The recipient, Louis Washkansky, a South African grocer who was in his 50s and suffered from heart disease, died 18 days after receiving the human-to-human heart transplant in 1967. Dr. Christiaan Barnard conducted the procedure at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town.

“Washkansky’s body did not reject the heart, due in large part to the immunosuppressive drugs he received,” according to Wired.com. “But those drugs also weakened his immune system, and he contracted double pneumonia, which killed him 18 days after the transplant.” Fast Copy News Service wrote this column: AJC staff writer Rhonda Cook contributed. Do you have a question? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).