Suspect back in court

A man accused of trying to kill a Chicago police officer was in a Cook County courtroom Friday -- nearly 40 years after he is said to have fired three bullets into the man. Joseph Pannell, 58, said nothing other than to say his name in a hearing that came days after he returned to Chicago from Canada, where he fled to avoid prosecution on a charge of attempting to murder Terrence Knox. Pannell, who is being held without bond at the Cook County jail, is scheduled to return to court Feb. 22, when his attorney is expected to argue that Pannell should be allowed to post bail. Authorities say Pannell, whose hair is now graying and who is deaf in both ears, was a 19-year-old member of the Black Panthers in 1969 when he shot Knox, then a 21-year-old patrolman. Pannell was arrested but fled the country when he was released from jail on bail in the early 1970s.