-------------------------------------------------------------------
February 1999 Phantom Gallery Schedule (Floyd Ferris Landrath
of the American Antiprohibition League posts a calendar of reform events
planned this month at the AAL's Portland headquarters.)
Date: Tue, 02 Feb 1999 02:37:02 -0800
From: Floyd F Landrath AAL (AAL@InetArena.com)
Subject: Feb99 Phantom Sched (last update)
as of 02/01/99 LAST UPDATE (I promise)
PHANTOM GALLERY
*** PORTLAND ***
FEBRUARY 1999 EVENTS SCHEDULE
Monday 02/01/99
Peace with Cuba monthly meeting, 7pm.
Tuesdays 2/2, 2/9, 2/16, & 2/23
Acting Class: Infinity Improv, 7pm.
Instructor: Harlan Mayer
Fridays 02/5, 2/12, 2/19, 2/26...
***> KBOO Radio Theater : VICTOR EGO, rehearsals, readers needed, 7pm.
Wednesday 02/10/99
Monthly Secret Govt. Seminar, SGS, 7pm
The legacy of the late, great Ace Hayes continues: get informed/help
inform,
learn/teach what your government is doing behind our backs, in our names
and with our money. Just because you're paranoid don't mean you're wrong.
Tuesday 02/16/99
Pdx/Van Harm Reduction Coalition, 10am.
Monthly meeting and volunteer orientation.
Saturday 02/20/99
Peace & Justice Works annual meeting, noon - 3pm
The name says it all, now get involved.
Wednesday 02/24/99
Portland NORML monthly (4th Wed.) meeting, 7pm.
National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws, est. 1972
*** SPECIAL EVENT ***
Saturday, 2/27/99
PHANTOM VOICES
Theatre games, improv, political... live music, food and FUN... proceeds
benefit the Phantom Gallery... Produced by Infinity Improv...
Doors open 8p.m., $5 cover, 21 & over only
"So good it should probably be prohibited." -- FF Landrath
Sunday 02/28/99
Event 1
Chiapas Urgent Call slide show, 3-5pm
Event 2
Antiprohibition Lg monthly pot-luck, 6-10pm
Bring food (call 235-4524 for menu coordination).
Tonight planning on city-wide initiative to create an
ordinance directing City of Portland to advocate for
ENDING ADULT MARIJUANA PROHIBITION.
***
"If drug abuse is a disease, then drug war is a crime."
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Trooper faces probe over outburst (The Associated Press says Joseph Michael
Jansen, 28, an Oregon state police trooper assigned to the Madras patrol
office, has been charged with disorderly conduct in Eugene, where he was
attending a wedding. A police report says Jansen appeared to be extremely
intoxicated while yelling racial slurs against blacks and Mexicans 2 a.m.
Jan. 24 on the first floor of the Valley River Inn.)
Associated Press
found at:
http://www.oregonlive.com/
feedback (letters to the editor):
feedback@thewire.ap.org
Trooper faces probe over outburst
The Associated Press
2/2/99 6:04 PM
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) -- A state police trooper accused of shouting racial slurs
and obscenities during an incident in Eugene is facing a criminal charge.
Joseph Michael Jansen, 28, assigned to the Madras patrol office, was in town
for a wedding when he allegedly caused the 2 a.m. ruckus Jan. 24.
Jansen, who is charged with disorderly conduct, is on "modified duty status"
while police investigate, state police spokesman Lt. Gregg Hastings said.
"That type of behavior, whether on duty or off duty, is very serious and
it's taken very seriously," Hastings said.
Jansen and another man were on the first floor of the Valley River Inn
yelling racial slurs about blacks and Mexicans, according to a Eugene police
report.
Jansen gave his badge and state police identification to the officers, who
didn't immediately believe he was trooper because of his behavior.
Officers said they tried to calm him down, noting that hotel guests were
waking up to see what was happening.
They said Jansen appeared to be extremely intoxicated and continued to yell
and swear, telling one officer to "shut up" when she asked him to quiet down.
As officers put him in a patrol car, they said, they warned him that the car
had a recording device, but he continued to yell.
Jansen posted $510 bail five hours later and was released.
Hastings said Jansen is on paid leave, "duty-stationed at home," meaning he
has to be available to perform paperwork-type duties during normal work hours.
Jansen, who was hired Jan. 1, 1997, could be fired, Hastings said. However,
a decision isn't expected until the disorderly conduct charge is dealt with
in court.
(c)1999 Oregon Live LLC
Copyright 1999 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not
be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Wilsonville death brings reward offer (The Oregonian publicizes a $1,000
reward offered by a woman in Columbus, Ohio, for information regarding the
heroin-related death of her brother last month in Wilsonville, a suburb of
Portland. Christopher Dell, 37, died Jan. 23. Emily Boothe, his sister,
thinks someone might have sold her brother a lethal batch of heroin. Her
family is offering the reward to anyone who knows who might have sold him
the drugs.)
The Oregonian
Contact: letters@news.oregonian.com
1320 SW Broadway
Portland, OR 97201
Fax: 503-294-4193
Website: http://www.oregonlive.com/
Forum: http://forums.oregonlive.com/
Wilsonville death brings reward offer
Tuesday, February 2 1999
From staff reports
WILSONVILLE-- A Columbus, Ohio, woman is offering a $1,000 reward for
information regarding the death of her brother here last month.
Christopher Dell, 37, died Jan. 23 of an apparent heroin overdose in a room
he rented in a Wilsonville home, according to police reports. Clackamas
County sheriff's deputies found Dell's body in a bathroom near syringes
containing heroin.
Emily Boothe, Dell's sister, thinks someone might have sold her brother a
lethal batch of heroin. Her family is offering the reward to anyone who
knows who might have sold him the drugs.
"We feel somebody probably knows" where he bought the drugs, Boothe said.
Dell's death is at least the third heroin overdose in Clackamas County in
the past six months, according to sheriff's spokesman Damon Coates.
"I don't think two or three heroin overdoses could be considered any kind of
pattern," Coates said.
Anyone with information on Dell's death should contact Coates at the
sheriff's office at 655-8218.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Bill requires 'chemical castration' (The Oregonian says state Rep. Kurt
Schrader, D-Canby has introduced House Bill 2500, which would require that
all repeat sexual offenders be chemically castrated with Depo-Provera before
they were paroled from Oregon's prisons - but there is no provision for
providing counseling in conjunction with the drug. The proposed bill would
also grant the Board of Parole and Post-Prison Supervision the discretion to
inject first-time offenders when paroled - something that already happens on
a case-by-case basis. The proposal also gives inmates "the option" of
surgical castration. In 1996, California became the first state to pass a
"chemical castration" law. Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Montana passed
measures in 1997. Efforts are under way to enact similar legislation in Iowa,
Kansas, Missouri and Wisconsin. A Texas law allows repeat sex offenders to
elect for surgical castration under certain conditions. Schrader argues that
the shrinking availability of treatment programs for sex offenders is
precisely why chemical castration is needed now.)
The Oregonian
Contact: letters@news.oregonian.com
1320 SW Broadway
Portland, OR 97201
Fax: 503-294-4193
Website: http://www.oregonlive.com/
Forum: http://forums.oregonlive.com/
Bill requires 'chemical castration'
* Repeat sexual offenders would not be paroled unless they get the
testosterone-reducing shots, according to the proposal before the Legislature
Tuesday, February 2 1999
By Michelle Roberts
of The Oregonian staff
In an ordinary gray house nestled in Portland's Sellwood neighborhood, Dr.
Barry Maletzky quietly injects a drug -- and a controversy -- into the arms
of men who have committed unspeakable acts against women and children.
Twice a month, about a dozen male patients slip into Portland's Sexual Abuse
Clinic, tucked amid antique shops lining the 8300 block of Southeast 13th
Avenue, and roll up their sleeves for a dose of medicine that some lawmakers
contend could offer a cure for repeat rapists and child molesters.
A bill before the 70th Oregon Legislature would make the state one of a
growing number of states to mandate "chemical castration" -- regular
injections of a testosterone-reducing drug -- for sexual predators.
According to Maletzky, the clinic's director and a professor of psychiatry
at Oregon Health Sciences University, the treatment reduces sex drive but
doesn't eliminate it. The effect wears off when the injections stop, said
Maletzky, who uses the treatment on fewer than 5 percent of his 250
patients. Some of those patients take the shot voluntarily; others take it
as a condition of their probation.
House Bill 2500, introduced by state Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Canby, would
demand that all repeat sexual offenders be chemically castrated before they
are paroled from Oregon's prisons. It also would grant the Board of Parole
and Post-Prison Supervision the discretion to inject first-time offenders
when paroled.
"I'm a veterinarian," Schrader said. "I think there's a very straightforward
answer to this. Take care of it. Why always beat the heck out of the dog --
or the individual -- when you could modify the behavior?
"If we give animals the same tools to be successful in society, shouldn't we
at least do that for people?"
If released sex offenders stop showing up for their shots, they would be
sent back to prison under the proposed legislation. Schrader said the shots
would be required for the length of an offender's probation.
"This is a direct way to track these people and a huge incentive for them to
go to the doctor," Schrader said. "It's a lot cheaper to go get a little
tiny shot than to spend the rest of their lives in jail, especially if
they're productive members of society in every other way."
A similar bill passed the House last session but died in the Senate without
a hearing. The proposal also gives inmates "the option" of surgical
castration, Schrader said.
Depo-Provera -- the drug that would be used under Oregon's proposed
legislation -- originally was developed as a contraceptive for women. Its
side effects, when used in men, include breast enlargement, nausea and
hypertension.
Despite the constitutional, medical and ethical questions chemical
castration raises, several states have passed laws mandating the procedure.
In 1996, California became the first state to pass a measure known as a
"chemical castration" law. Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Montana passed
measures in 1997. Efforts are under way to enact similar legislation in
Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Wisconsin. A Texas law allows repeat sex
offenders to elect for surgical castration under certain conditions.
It is too early to tell what kind of hurdles Schrader's bill will face as
the Legislature progresses. But the proposal already has drawn emotional
responses from both sides.
"I will not be someone who is supporting this legislation," said state Rep.
Jo Ann Bowman, D-Portland. "This is cruel and unusual punishment and no data
that shows this works for everyone. Besides, sex crimes are not about sex.
They're about power."
Others said they do not have enough information about the effectiveness of
chemical castration to express support or opposition to the bill.
Rep. Jeff Kruse, R-Roseburg, who said he encouraged Schrader to reintroduce
the bill this session, said he thinks the controversial method could help
protect children who would be put at risk when sex offenders are released.
"This is a user-friendly way to help people change their behavior patterns,"
said Kruse. "It's not a solution in and of itself, but it's a tool."
Some ex-cons take the shots
Depo-Provera injections are already being ordered on a case-by-case basis
for a handful of Oregon ex-convicts whom the parole board has determined are
at extreme high risk of repeating their crimes, said Diane M. Rea,
chairwoman of the Oregon Board of Parole and Post-Prison Supervision.
But there is no formal state policy mandating the practice.
The American Civil Liberties Union has argued that "chemical castration is
cruel and unusual punishment when forced."
David Fidanque, the group's Oregon lobbyist, said the procedure should
continue to be used only at the discretion of the parole board.
"We would oppose taking that discretion away from the parole board,"
Fidanque said. "There are numerous potential side effects to these
treatments that need to be part of the calculation. In some cases we believe
(chemical castration) may be appropriate, but those situations need to be
subject to the discretion of the parole board."
Although Schrader said most feedback on the bill has been positive, medical
professionals have been slow to embrace legislation of the procedure, saying
it should not be used as a blanket punishment because it does not work on
all offenders.
"Our concern about mandating is that legislation makes it sound like a
complete treatment when it really is a temporary preventive, rendering a
person safer to be at large while they're in treatment," Maletzky said.
"It's only the behavioral and cognitive (treatment) methods that can take
hold and last for a lifetime."
Maletzky is the only psychiatrist in the state who prescribes the procedure,
and one of only a few doctors to administer the drug.
Legislators who support chemical castration point to European studies, which
have shown that reducing the testosterone levels of sex offenders reduced
their sexual offenses dramatically. In a Danish study of 900 surgically
castrated sex offenders followed for up to 30 years, their recidivism rate
was only 2.2 percent.
But what the Denmark study doesn't show, according to Dr. Fred Berlin,
founder of the Johns Hopkins Sexual Disorders Clinic in Baltimore, is what
effect the drug will have on patients who have been forced to take it.
The Denmark study only included sex offenders who "volunteered and were
interested in having this treatment," Berlin said.
"It's out on whether (chemical castration) can lower recidivism in people
who have it imposed on them against their will," Berlin said. "It won't work
in someone who's not trying their best to help themselves."
No conclusive studies fully support the contention that sex offenders are
the most compulsive, recidivistic and unrepentant of all criminals.
"A vast majority of these guys will get out and do it again," argued
Schrader. "They can't stop themselves."
Study results vary
Recidivism studies have produced conflicting results. Although some studies
show the rates in the United States to be as low as 18 percent, experts say
the number is much higher.
No matter how high the recidivism rate, chemical castration is not the best
response, said Berlin, who argued that Depo-Provera is nothing more than an
"appetite suppressant." If you want to stick to a diet, an appetite
suppressant helps you resist temptation. If you don't want to resist, it
doesn't stop you from eating, he said.
Berlin also said that not all offenders are sexually driven pedophiles who
can be helped by reducing testosterone levels. For example, some sex
offenders are motivated by violent urges, rather than by sexual desires, and
others are sociopaths who suffer from a lack of conscience, not a surplus of
testosterone.
Another problem, according to Berlin and Maletzky, is that the Oregon
proposal does not mandate counseling, and little treatment is offered
offenders inside prison or out.
Four years ago, lawmakers shelved an Oregon State Hospital program for
imprisoned sex offenders, saying the program was too expensive and produced
little proof that it reduced recidivism. Two years later, during the 1997
Legislative session, lawmakers decided to stop funding in-prison programs
for sex offenders for much the same reason.
Responsibility for treating the state's worst sex offenders after they are
released has since fallen on individual counties.
But Schrader argues that the shrinking availability of treatment programs
for sex offenders is precisely why chemical castration is needed now.
Many of the state's worst sex offenders will be released over the next seven
years. Measure 11, which created long, mandatory sentences, is now in
effect, but is not retroactive to those who were imprisoned before the law
was passed, Schrader said.
"There are people who will be getting out of prison in relatively short
periods of time up until 2006, when Measure 11 will start to phase in with
these guys having longer terms," Schrader said. "Our longer sentences don't
help us now."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Always Keep An Exact Goal In Mind (An op-ed in the Santa Maria Times,
in California, by Will Powers, a clinical psychologist, ponders a little
wisdom once imparted by golf legend Jack Nicklaus, and how the war on some
drug users characteristically lacks tangible goals.)
Date: Wed, 3 Feb 1999 16:43:32 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US: OPED: Always Keep An Exact Goal In Mind
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project
http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Jo-D Harrison Dunbar
Pubdate: Tuesday, Feb. 2, 1999
Source: Santa Maria Times (CA)
Copyright: 1999 Santa Maria Times
Fax: 1-805-928-5657
Section: Life, On Your Mind
Author: Will Powers, Ph.D.
ALWAYS KEEP AN EXACT GOAL IN MIND
A reporter once asked golf legend Jack Nicklaus what the difference
was between his performances and those of others who might have about
the same ability as he had. He responded that he felt what
distinguished from other talented people was that he always had an
exact goal in mind for every shot he attempted.
What a great lesson that is for all of us, whether we're making a move
as insignificant as a golf shot(though we golfers believe our shots
are very significant), or something as weighty as a life choice
regarding a career or relationship.
It seems to me that a great deal of energy is wasted, and numerous
poor choices are made because the individual involved has not thought
out what he/she is trying to accomplish.
Take the person who is upset with a product or service and either
calls or goes in person to the supplying company. Beginning with a
desire to "give them a piece of my mind," the customer may have no
idea what the goal of the message? And, if there is a goal in mind, is
the behavior likely to accomplish that goal, or push the situation
further from it?
Even worse, clients often tell me that they knew a particular response
was not going to achieve the stated goal, yet they went ahead anyway.
Sabotaging, self-defeating behavior is not as uncommon as we might
imagine, and failure to develop a hoped-for outcome in advance of
action is a primary source or such failures.
Because we have been conditioned over the years to respond in certain
ways, we may follow established patterns despite the fact that we
continue to achieve undesirable results. I've often said that the
American way is this: If you do something and it does not work, do it
harder. Does is not make more sense to consider a different approach
instead?
Let me tiptoe into a minefield topic related to the above. American
society has been working for decades to stop drug abuse among its
citizens. Despite lipservice to prevention, the primary "weapon" in
the "war on drugs" has been threats of punishment, followed by
punishment itself. The outcome? There has been no significant change
in the drug-abuse behavior.
What, then, should we do? Because our society seems to believe that
any other approach would amount to sanctioning drug use, other
approaches are not tried. Instead, we attempt to devise more effective
ways to find the suppliers and punish them, cut off the supplies and
punish those who use the drugs that get past this "net."
The result is that our prisons are overflowing with those who have
been thereby convicted, leaving the question: What was the original
goal and how well-defined was it? Once we have answered those
questions, it naturally follows that we must ask: Is what we're doing
achieving that/those goal(s)?
Many other examples can be cited on the personal, family, and societal
levels of problems resulting from actions being taken with-out: 1)
adequately defining the goal in advance of the behavior; 2) connecting
the behavior to the goal; and, 3) assessing the degree to which the
behaior has achieved the agreed upon goal. Reversing the order of
those steps, or inadequately pursuing the steps, is sure to result in
failure to achieve the desired goals, as individuals, families, and as
a society.
Will Powers works as a licensed clinical psychologist in Santa
Maria. Address questions for his column to: 705 E. Main St.,
Santa Maria, CA 93454-4558
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Inebriated End to Cop's Exemplary Life (San Francisco Examiner columnist
Stephanie Salter eulogizes Jake Stasko, a "good" San Francisco police captain
who slammed his car into a tree on the way home to Petaluma
while driving drunk.)
Date: Wed, 3 Feb 1999 08:59:42 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US CA: Inebriated End to Cop's Exemplary Life
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: compassion23@geocities.com (Frank S. World)
Pubdate: February 2, 1999
Source: San Francisco Examiner (CA)
Copyright: 1999 San Francisco Examiner
Contact: letters@examiner.com
Website: http://www.examiner.com/
Author: Stephanie Salter EXAMINER COLUMNIST
INEBRIATED END TO COP'S EXEMPLARY LIFE
ALTHOUGH I barely knew Jake Stasko, I assume no one could have been any
angrier or more ashamed than he himself would have been for dying as a
drunken driver.
I believe this because - long before the police captain's car slammed into
a tree on the way home to Petaluma - he was a near-legend in the San
Francisco Police Department. I never heard one negative thing about him.
Cops I do know always spoke of George "Jake" Stasko with a kind of
little-sibling reverence. He was one of the good ones, a smart, decent man
with a healthy ego, a good family life, a sense of community and a genuine
desire to serve and protect the citizens of San Francisco.
Even reporters, who are not quick to admire people they cover, granted
Stasko special status. He wasn't a hotdog or cowboy; he was an honorable,
stand-up guy whose word was solid; the department could have used 200 like
him.
But, in the early morning hours of Jan. 16, the 22-year SFPD veteran
forever colored his exemplary life with his death: He lost control of his
unmarked police car, veered off Highway 101 and crashed into a tree.
According to California Highway Patrol Officer Wayne Ziese, preliminary
toxicology reports show that Stasko had a blood-alcohol level of 0.26
percent, measured by a urine sample, and 0.36 percent, measured via blood.
Both are well above any state's legal limit and at least three times
California's limit of .08 percent. Even though the CHP officer who
investigated the accident scene said there were none of the usual signs or
smells of a drunk driver, the numbers say Stasko was
indisputably drunk.
When this news broke, many of the people I work with shuddered. Despite the
powerful consciousness-raising that has occurred in this country, thanks to
groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving, many of us did not have to
stretch too far into our past (or, in some cases, the present) to identify
with the police captain.
Stasko's last day was a stress-packed 17-hour work shift that included his
tactical squad's role in a downtown bank robbery and fatal shoot-out. After
meetings, debriefings and paper work, the 47-year-old cop went to the
hospital to visit officers wounded in the gun fight.
At some point, he reportedly shared a bottle of wine with his twin brother,
an SFPD sergeant. Then he headed up 101 to his wife and three kids in Santa
Rosa.
Because our society finally has acknowledged that drunken driving takes an
ungodly toll on innocent people, it has metamorphosized from hangover joke
to serious crime. Everybody knows it is dangerous and wrong.
But a lot of people still drink and then drive. And in a state where two
glasses of wine can put you over the maximum blood alcohol limit, a lot of
people drive legally drunk. Every time we make it home without incident, it
reinforces the notion that we know our limit, know when our level of
functioning drops from adequate to impaired.
The perniciousness of alcohol - especially when aggravated by fatigue,
illness or medication - is that it scrambles your "knower." Impaired can
seem adequate. Dangerously impaired can seem, "Really, I'm OK."
On the highest moral plane, all the good that Jake Stasko did in his life
will not be wiped out by the circumstances of his death. Fresh air and fun
will not be rescinded for all those poor, inner city kids he hauled up to
Lake Tahoe for fishing and camping as part of his Operation Dream. The
legions of young cops he trained will not lose their street smarts. His
family and colleagues will continue to love and respect the whole person
they knew. But the rest of the Bay Area knows only what it reads and hears
in the news: The results of a toxicology report attached a tragic addendum
to the epitaph of a hero cop: drunken driver. From all evidence, Stasko
would have been the first person to see that as a terrible shame - and the
first to lay the blame where it belonged.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Ex-Basketball Star Convicted Of Killing Woman Over Drugs
(The Philadelphia Inquirer says a Montgomery County jury yesterday
convicted Howard McNeil, a Seton Hall University basketball star
drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in 1982, of killing a Norristown
drug dealer to get her stash and feed his thirst for crack cocaine.
McNeil has faced murder charges before. At a party in 1976 McNeil shot
and killed his best friend, but a jury found the shooting accidental.)
Date: Tue, 2 Feb 1999 19:34:04 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US PA: Ex-Basketball Star Convicted Of Killing Woman Over Drugs
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: General Pulaski
Pubdate: 2 Feb 1999
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer (PA)
Copyright: 1999 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc.
Contact: Inquirer.Opinion@phillynews.com
Website: http://www.phillynews.com/
Forum: http://interactive.phillynews.com/talk-show/
Author: Matt Stearns
EX-BASKETBALL STAR CONVICTED OF KILLING WOMAN OVER DRUGS
A Montgomery County jury yesterday convicted onetime college basketball
star Howard McNeil of killing Frances "Francine" Brennan, a Norristown drug
dealer, to get her stash and feed his thirst for crack cocaine.
McNeil was found guilty of third-degree murder. With guilty verdicts on
related theft and drug charges, he faces 35 to 70 years in prison. The jury
declined to convict McNeil of first-or second-degree murder, which could
have put him in jail for life.
"I think they focused on the fact that he was high on crack when he did
it," said Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Cynthia Davidoff.
"But he's facing enough time to keep him in jail for the rest of his life.
And that's what we'll be seeking."
McNeil's attorney, Stephen Jarrett, said he expected McNeil to appeal.
It was the nadir of a long decline for McNeil, 39, whose life has been
blessed with talent but marred by violence.
A Seton Hall University basketball star from Abington, McNeil was drafted
by the Los Angeles Lakers in 1982. Poised at the cusp of an NBA career, he
was already being compared to Magic Johnson.
In the courtroom yesterday, ravaged by addiction, he was a long way from
basketball glory.
Davidoff convinced the jury that McNeil, high and broke -- but desperate
for more crack -- went to Brennan's apartment to get more. When Brennan
would not give it to him, the 6-foot-9, 265-pound McNeil took it anyway --
with deadly force.
Brennan, who weighed 100 pounds, was beaten, stabbed, strangled and
suffocated in her apartment in the 1000 block of West Main Street. Her
crack was stolen.
Jarrett, while conceding McNeil had taken the crack, had tried to blame
Brennan's murder on her drug-dealing partners.
Davidoff said: "The jury clearly rejected the defense that McNeil didn't do
it."
McNeil had no comment as he was led from the courtroom in handcuffs. His
sister, Luretha Simms, said she thought the verdict was unfair.
"All the evidence pointed to somebody else, and they didn't look at it,"
Simms said. "I hope there's a retrial."
Brennan's family was no happier with the verdict.
"I don't understand how all that constitutes third-degree murder," said
Frank Golson, Brennan's son. "You stab, beat, strangle somebody. How much
worse does it have to get?"
McNeil has faced murder charges before. At a party in 1976, while still a
standout center at Abington High School, McNeil shot and killed Mitchell
Lee Jr., his best friend.
A Montgomery County jury found the shooting accidental, and acquitted
McNeil. McNeil went on to a stellar career at Seton Hall. While he never
made the NBA, he did play basketball professionally in Europe, South
America and Israel.
McNeil will be held in Montgomery County prison until his sentencing, which
has not been scheduled. He also is awaiting trial on unrelated assault
charges.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
A $475,000 Bribe Is OK, If Paid By DA (Paul Carpenter, a columnist
for the Morning Call, in Allentown, Pennsylvania, pans the recent decision
by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversing its own three-judge panel
in the Singleton case. Prosecutors who "pay" witnesses with leniency should
be seen as violating a federal bribery law, and Carpenter, a veteran court
reporter, recounts several instances of injustice attributable to such
prosecutorial bribery.)
Date: Wed, 3 Feb 1999 06:40:29 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US PA: Column: A $475,000 Bribe Is OK, If Paid By DA
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: aahpat (aahpat@enter.net)
Pubdate: Tues, 02 Feb 1999
Source: Morning Call (PA)
Copyright: 1999 The Morning Call Inc.
Contact: letters@mcall.com
Website: http://www.mcall.com/
Author: Paul Carpenter, Morning Call columnist
A $475,000 BRIBE IS OK, IF PAID BY DA
Please consider the following fictitious scenario:
Joe Schmo is arrested and charged with bashing in the faces of several
elderly people as a way of stealing all their valuables.
Luckily, Schmo recently came into a goodly sum of money, so he hires a
crackerjack lawyer, Malignio Savage, who immediately makes an offer to
several potential witnesses.
''Now, we don't want anybody to tell any fibs, of course, but we'd
very much appreciate it if anyone who can provide Mr. Schmo with an
alibi would come forward,'' Savage says.
''We would appreciate it to the tune of $475,000 per alibi,'' he
continues, ''provided that your completely truthful [tee-hee]
testimony results in Mr. Schmo being acquitted.''
Schmo is later found not guilty by a jury and the defense's alibi
witnesses walk away with $475,000 each.
Does everything here seem on the up and up to you?
No? Why not? Many people seem to think it's a great way of doing
things. It's great, that is, if it's the prosecution paying the bribes.
I came up with that $475,000 figure, by the way, like this:
A fine fellow (nonfictional) named Michael Kuzmann of Gilbert, Monroe
County, went to California to acquire 90 pounds of methamphetamine. He
returned and gave it to Stephen Konya of Bethlehem for distribution in
the Lehigh Valley. Kuzmann, Konya and others involved in the speed
selling scheme got caught.
Who is more culpable? The wheeler-dealer who gets the dope in
California, transports it to the Lehigh Valley and arranges for some
wretch to spread it around, or the wretch?
I vote for the wheeler-dealer. But Kuzmann got a five-year minimum
prison term and, in Lehigh County Court on Dec. 18, Konya got 24 years.
Why the 19-year difference? Kuz-mann ''cooperated'' with prosecutors
by testifying against Konya.
I figure that even wretches, if given a choice between, say, paying
$25,000 and doing a year in prison, would come up with the $25,000.
That amount times 19 years is $475,000. So prosecutors paid Kuzmann
something valued at $475,000 for his testimony, and it's all on the up
and up.
That case was mentioned in a story that ran Sunday. The story noted
that a federal appeals court, ruling in a Kansas drug case, said such
deals are not on the up and up. That court said that paying witnesses
with leniency violates a federal bribery law.
Prosecutors across the land went ape and the ruling was appealed to a
higher federal court, which restored the right of prosecutors to bribe
witnesses. The U.S. Supreme Court has yet to be heard from, but with
the Supremes' present motto of ''the authorities are always right,''
prosecutors probably are not too worried.
I have been sitting through court proceedings for many years and most
of the people who get prosecuted richly deserve it. But not all.
One case has haunted me since 1974. I covered the murder trial of Tony
Boyle, national president of the United Mine Workers, and to this day
I am convinced he was innocent. He had no reason to kill UMW rebel
Jock Yablonski, already defeated by Boyle.
Those with a reason included William Turnblazer, who got off with a
sweet plea bargain deal after agreeing to be the key witness against
Boyle. Turnblazer copped his plea and walked; Boyle died in prison.
More recently, Allentown Monsignor Stephen Forish was prosecuted on
vice charges based entirely on the word of a junkie ex-con who was in
violation of his parole at the time and who lied to police from the
start.
Had junkie Angel Figueroa made a sweet deal with Northampton County
District Attorney John Morganelli? Jury members suspected he had, as
Morganelli presented Figueroa's testimony with a straight face.
Forish was acquitted, but you wonder what might have happened if he
had not been a respected priest. How many lesser lights get convicted
because a DA is allowed to pay bribes for testimony in the form of
years of prison, dangled one way or the other?
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Ex-Hialeah Officer Accused Of Drug Trafficking (The Miami Herald
says Osvaldo Guillermo Heredia, a former police officer in Hialeah, Florida,
has been indicted on charges that he ran cocaine, served as lookout
for members of a drug-trafficking operation and gave them information
on police activities while on the force. Heredia was fired in 1994
for leaving the city while on duty to help a friend get a driver's license.
But the department had been suspicious of his alleged drug activity
since 1989.)
Date: Tue, 2 Feb 1999 19:12:48 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US FL: Ex-Hialeah Officer Accused Of Drug Trafficking
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: General Pulaski
Pubdate: Tue, 02 Feb 1999
Source: Miami Herald (FL)
Copyright: 1999 The Miami Herald
Contact: heralded@herald.com
Website: http://www.herald.com/
Forum: http://krwebx.infi.net/webxmulti/cgi-bin/WebX?mherald
Author: Damarys Ocana
EX-HIALEAH OFFICER ACCUSED OF DRUG TRAFFICKING
A former Hialeah police officer has been indicted on charges that he
ran drugs, served as lookout for members of a drug-trafficking
operation and gave them information on police activities while on the
force.
Osvaldo Guillermo Heredia, 40, of 4821 Grapevine Way, was arrested
Monday morning at his Davie home, after the weekend arrests of four
others who have been indicted on related charges.
Two more arrests are pending before the nine-year investigation by the
Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Marshals Service and Hialeah
Police concludes, said John Schlesinger, spokesman for the Miami-Dade
state attorney's office.
Heredia, fired by Hialeah Police in 1994 for leaving the city limits
while on duty, was involved in a trafficking ring that already has
yielded 19 other arrests, authorities say.
"We have evidence that while he was a Hialeah police officer, he used
his cruiser to transport cocaine," said Pamela Brown, DEA spokeswoman.
"He also provided security for cocaine loads and gave intelligence
information about law enforcement activities."
Heredia, now a real estate agent, is being held at the Federal
Detention Center in Miami until a Thursday hearing.
Arrested last weekend on drug charges were four Miami men: Miguel A.
Martin Jr., 44; Guillermo Cabrera, 56; Sixto J. Farrat, 38; and Jorge
Menendez, 43.
Schlesinger said all were part of an operation run by reputed kingpin
Mario I. Gonzalez out of Miami International Airport.
According to the charges, Farrat and Menendez, cargo handlers at Air
France, would separate marked cargo boxes that contained cocaine.
Heredia was paid to oversee delivery and distribution and keep
Gonzalez aware of police activity, Schlesinger said.
He also said Martin distributed cocaine and laundered money for the
organization and hid Gonzalez, who is a fugitive.
Cabrera, who at the time owned AGR Electronics, provided cellular
phone service to members under fake names and helped launder money,
Schlesinger said.
Hialeah fired Heredia after he allegedly left the city while on duty
to help a friend get a driver's license. But the department had been
suspicious of his alleged drug activity since 1989, according to a
written statement released by Hialeah Police.
However, Heredia was not fired until Mayor Raul Martinez reviewed the
case in 1994, the statement said.
Authorities say the ring tried to distribute more than 1,000 kilograms
of cocaine -- valued at more than $20 million.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Dutch Parliament Votes To Lift Brothel Ban (Reuters says the vote on Tuesday
to legalise brothels was based on arguments that proper regulation of the sex
industry would help reduce trafficking in women, exploitation of minors and
drug-related crime. The draft law now passes to the upper house for "rubber
stamping." If the reform becomes law, an estimated 2,000 brothels will become
legal January 1 next year.)
Date: Tue, 2 Feb 1999 19:56:45 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: Netherlands: Wire: Dutch Parliament Votes To Lift Brothel Ban
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: General Pulaski
Pubdate: Tue, 02 Feb 1999
Source: Reuters
Copyright: 1999 Reuters Limited.
Author: Janet McBride
DUTCH PARLIAMENT VOTES TO LIFT BROTHEL BAN
AMSTERDAM, Feb 2 (Reuters) - The Dutch parliament voted on Tuesday to
legalise brothels, swayed by arguments that proper regulation of the sex
industry would help reduce trafficking in women, exploitation of minors and
drugs crime.
Only the opposition Christian Democrats and three small religious parties
came out against the draft law, which now passes to the upper house for
rubber stamping.
If the reform becomes law, from January 1 next year an estimated 2,000
brothels will be treated exactly the same way as any other business. They
will be required to register their workers, meet minimum safety standards
and conditions.
Labour Prime Minister Wim Kok's coalition government argues that an end to
the ban on brothels will bring myriad social benefits, making it difficult
for criminals to use illicit sex clubs as a cover and for illegal
immigrants to find work.
Under existing legislation, prostitution is legal but brothels are not,
although they are tolerated in many cities.
According to the cabinet, lifting the ban on brothels will strip from the
world's oldest profession the evils of drugs crime, trafficking in women
and smuggling of firearms.
The prison sentence for exploiting minors will be raised to six years from
one. Deputies also pushed through an amendment to allow the police to
prosecute anyone found having sex with girls under the age of 17 or boys
under the age of 16.
Prostitutes and sex club owners gave a mixed reaction to the proposals. It
was not immediately clear whether prostitutes in Amsterdam's notorious red
light district would abandon their street windows for the comfort of a
brothel existence.
"We will have to wait and see how this pans out. My initial reaction is
that are far too many rules," a voluntary worker at an advice centre for
prostitutes told Reuters.
One Amsterdam prostitute sensed an imminent clampdown by the tax authorities.
Brothel keepers welcomed official recognition of their business but were
suspicious that the government would begin a drive against foreign workers
under the guise of liberalisation. It has been estimated that 40 percent of
prostitutes are illegal immigrants from outside the EU.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
IOC Panel Proposes Bans for Drugs (The Associated Press says Juan Antonio
Samaranch, president of the International Olympics Committee, in Lausanne,
Switzerland, opened a world summit on drugs in sport by calling for the
creation of an autonomous international anti-doping agency to coordinate
drug testing around the world.)
Date: Tue, 2 Feb 1999 19:16:42 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: IOC Panel Proposes Bans for Drugs
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: General Pulaski
Pubdate: Tue, 02 Feb 1999
Source: Associated Press
Copyright: 1999 Associated Press
Author: Raf Casert
IOC PANEL PROPOSES BANS FOR DRUGS
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch
opened a world summit on drugs in sport by calling for a new drive to
wipe out "this odious and unhealthy form of cheating."
In his opening address, Samaranch also referred to the corruption
scandals which have plunged the IOC into the worst crisis of its
105-year history.
"As you all know, over the last few weeks the International Olympic
Committee has been confronted with a serious situation with regard to
allegations of wrongdoing leveled against some of its members,"
Samaranch said today. "We have swiftly taken all the necessary
measures and are continuing our investigations to ensure that Olympic
ethics are respected."
Nine IOC members have resigned or been expelled for receiving cash
payments, gifts and other favors stemming from Salt Lake City's
winning bid for the 2002 Winter Games.
Turning to the drug problem, Samaranch proposed the creation of an
international anti-doping agency to coordinate drug testing around the
world one of the centerpieces of the three-day conference.
He said the agency should be autonomous and run by a board of
directors composed of Olympic officials, scientists and
representatives of government and non-governmental organizations and
pharmaceutical companies.
Critics have insisted that the agency must be fully independent to
have any credibility, an issue which will certainly play a major role
during the rest of the conference.
On Sunday, Samaranch said he would oversee the agency and proposed
that IOC medical commission chief Prince Alexandre de Merode should
run the body on a day-to-day basis. The proposal has already drawn
opposition from delegates and IOC members.
Samaranch said de Merode had done "a very good job" as the Olympic
drug chief for almost three decades. His detractors claim he has been
largely ineffective while doping has become one of the chief issues in
sports.
In today's speech, Samaranch said athletes had turned to doping in
"the pursuit of victory at all costs."
On the controversial issue of drug sanctions, Samaranch said the IOC
cannot force sports federations to apply specific penalties.
"We apply sanctions whenever they are necessary," he said. "But we are
not a court and we do not wish to become one. All we ask is for the
rules we have set to be observed by all those concerned."
He said "corrective and emergency methods" have a limited effect and
that a campaign of prevention and education would prove more
successful in the long run. He also called on governments and
pharmaceutical companies to collaborate in the fight against drugs,
including drug trafficking.
Among those scheduled to speak today was White House drug czar Barry
McCaffrey.
On the eve of the conference, McCaffrey said the Olympic movement
faced ruin unless effective steps were taken to curb the escalating
drug problem.
McCaffrey planned to call on the IOC to accept a fully independent
worldwide anti-doping agency. He opposed plans that would give Olympic
officials effective control of the proposed body.
"Independent doesn't mean dependent," McCaffrey aide Bob Weiner said
Monday. "He is pushing for true independence with random outside
audits and verification."
McCaffrey was hoping the meeting would smooth the way for a "level
playing field" for all competitors from around the world.
But proposals of an IOC working group to streamline drug policies
around the globe already ran into obstacles before the meeting started.
The panel proposed that athletes face life bans and fines of up to $1
million if found guilty of serious cases of "intentional doping" and
suggested selective bans for some first-time offenders.
The world soccer federation call the proposals too tough and
unworkable while the swimming federation said a unified anti-doping
stance would be impossible under such circumstances.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Anti-Drug Chief Zings IOC (The Associated Press says the White House drug
czar, General Barry McCaffrey, sharply criticized the International Olympic
Committee today in Lausanne, Switzerland, saying its legitimacy had been
damaged by "alleged corruption, lack of accountability and the failure of
leadership" in the Olympics bribery scandal. McCaffrey and European
government officials demanded that a proposed anti-doping agency be kept out
the control of the scandal-tainted IOC.)
Date: Tue, 2 Feb 1999 19:56:43 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: Wire: Anti-Drug Chief Zings IOC
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: General Pulaski
Pubdate: 2 Feb 1999
Source: Associated Press
Copyright: 1999 Associated Press
Author: RAF CASERT Associated Press Writer
ANTI-DRUG CHIEF ZINGS IOC
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) The U.S. anti-drug chief tore into the IOC
today, saying its legitimacy has been damaged by "alleged corruption, lack
of accountability and the failure of leadership" in the Olympics bribery
scandal.
"These events have tarnished the credibility of the movement," Barry
McCaffrey, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control
Policy, told the opening of an anti-doping conference.
McCaffrey and European government officials demanded that a proposed
anti-doping agency be kept out the control of the scandal-tainted IOC.
German Interior Minister Otto Schily suggested that Juan Antonio Samaranch
quit as president of the International Olympic Committee and called the
organization a harmful "constitutional monarchy in sports."
Schily, in an apparent reference to Samaranch, said on German television,
"everyone must know when it's time to go."
The IOC's plan to develop uniform drug-related sanctions for all Olympic
federations suffered another setback, as even one IOC executive committee
member saying that such a system would not stand up in court.
In his opening address to the three-day conference, Samaranch called for a
new drive to wipe out "this odious and unhealthy form of cheating."
But he could not avoid the focus of attention being turned on the
corruption scandals, which have plunged the IOC into the worst crisis of
its 105-year history.
Nine IOC members have resigned or been expelled for receiving cash
payments, gifts and other favors stemming from Salt Lake City's winning bid
for the 2002 Winter Games. But representatives of several governments said
the core of the IOC's credibility had been hurt.
McCaffrey urged the IOC "to consider institutional reform, open books and
financial records." He called for "an elected membership that is
accountable and responsible."
The British sports minister was equally blunt.
"Their internal system of organization and election must be based on
democracy, accountability and honesty," Tony Banks said. "The British
government expects the IOC to clean up its act."
The government officials repeatedly said the proposed anti-doping agency
must be fully independent and not controlled by the IOC.
Samaranch said the agency should be "autonomous." Over the weekend, he
proposed that the Olympic drug chief Prince Alexandre de Merode head the
agency on a day-to-day basis.
"We don't believe the IOC should be that agency. The issue of doping goes
beyond the IOC," said Banks, who suggested the body be created under the
aegis of the United Nations or World Health Organization.
On the controversial issue of drug sanctions, proposals of an IOC working
group to streamline drug policies around the globe already ran into
obstacles and a plethora of different views were put forward at the
conference.
Following the objections and reservations of several international
federations, IOC executive board member Jacques Rogge also came out against
a uniform agreement binding all federations to abide by a unified medical
code. The IOC proposal includes a minimum two-year suspension for serious
doping offenses.
"You have to be reasonable. This is not a debate in black and white," said
Rogge. "You cannot compare athletes. Some careers span eight years, some
span 20 years. Sanctions have to be adapted to that."
In case of an imposed uniform code, "civil courts would never accept this,"
he said.
An IOC panel proposed that athletes face lifetime suspensions and fines of
up to $1 million for serious cases of "intentional doping" and suggested
selective bans for some first-time offenders.
The world soccer federation has said the proposals were too tough and
unworkable while the international swimming federation said a unified
anti-doping stance would be impossible under such circumstances.
Olympic skating champion Johann Olav Koss, representing the IOC athletes'
commission, said the group supported the two-year sanction and that it
should be applied to all sports.
On a day when little went Samaranch's way, de Merode partly blamed him for
setting the anti-doping program a decade back by opposing the establishment
of an anti-doping agency in 1989 on budgetary grounds.
"Samaranch opposed this ... as did practically the whole executive
committee. It was shot down by 90 percent of the people who favor it now,"
de Merode told the Paris sports paper L'Equipe.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
[End]
to the 1999 Daily News index for Jan. 29-Feb. 4