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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 19, 1979)
Reliability of police radar guns ’challenged in speeding case THE BATTALION THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 1979 Page 9 Campaign attacks lawyers United Press International 1IAMI — The fate of 4,000 tick eted speeders depends on a judge’s ^lision whether police radar guns are reliable or if— as the “Fuzzbus- ter” designer contends — they are just as likely to show a tree going 80 ' in sud 'ho 1 wn e s(ioii«li ■ Based on what we see, probably about 30 percent of all radar speed ing tickets are bogus,” Dale T. Smith said, during a break in Tues day s hearing before Chief Adminis trative Judge Alfred Nesbitt. J bj|^esbitt will decide whether radar "(IH^dings can be introduced as the sole evidence in a speeding case. ijSome 4,000 speeding cases in volving radar in Dade County alone have been postponed pending the outcome of his hearing, which could last several more days. mith is technical adviser to the ide County public defender’s of fice which is representing 27 de- idants caught speeding by radar, he 35-year-old designer of the Fuzzbuster radar detector contends design limitations, improper use by untrained officers and delib- ,te abuse to give a “speeding” ding result in 30 percent of the ets issued being ‘ flawed. ” “This trial could very definitely become a landmark case,” Smith said. The hearings were called after Miami television station WTVJ did a series about the radar detectors in which one clocked a house at 28 mph and a stand of trees at 86 mph. Smith points out that legal ac ceptance of a radar reading as clear-cut evidence of speeding began in the 1950s. Back then, radar units were stationary, bulkier and more accurate. “What has really happened is we are awash in federal funds to buy radar. And there has been a scram ble by manufacturers to build to a low cost rather than to perform ance,” Smith said. The Dade County state attorney’s office will present its own expert witnesses, many of whom will be supplied by the four major radar manufacturers — Decatur Elec tronics, CMI Inc., Kustom Signal and MPH Industries. Assistant State Attorney Ken Drucker contends “there should be no inherent problems (in operating the radar guns) if used by a qualified operator. ” But fust how qimlified is part of the question. Dr. William Stem, a New York physicist who did his doctoral thesis on radar speed guns, testified that each officer using radar should have “a week’s classroom time and a month in the field to help overcome officers’ gross misunderstanding of how it should be used.” 846-6714 & 846-1151 UNIVERSITY SQUARE SHOPPING CENTER CINEMA Daily 5:00 7:15 9:30 lPGl«» A PARAMOUNT RELEASE MJRRICANE CINEMA II Daily 5:10 7:25 9:40 itageCenter, Inc. Presents “The Sunshine Boys” 'id m NEIL SHACK'S 8:00 P.M. at StageCenter Theatre April 19, 20, 21, & 26, 27, 28 Children Adults $1.50 x $2.50 204 W. Villa Maria (just W. of South College) THE CHINA SYNDROME JACK LEMMON JANE FONDA MICHAEL DOUGLASF Florida Highway Patrol officers receive 15 hours of instruction in radar operation. Radar guns broadcast microwave signals out in a coneshaped beam. Stern said the typical spread of the beam was 19 degrees, which trans lates into 213 feet wide at 1,000 feet — encompassing a four-lane high way. The officer is left to decide which object he is reading. Stern said. IPTHanorTaS™"''" Buck Rogers Fast Break Young Frankenstein SKYWAY TWIN Firepower Plus Eat My Dust EAST Halloween Plus The Driver CAMPUS Midnight Express Welder runs for president United Press International PORT ARTHUR — Donald R. Beagle, 56, a welder, goes to work in worn jeans that match his heavily calloused hands. He is also running for the presi dency. “People call me crazy,” he says, “but they called Thomas Jefferson crazy too. ” Beagle has a simple, three- pointed presidential campaign platform: get the lawyers out of politics, return governmental controls to the state and slash in flation. An unsuccessful candidate in the 1978 Texas gubernatorial race. Beagle’s major political weapon has been his attack on lawyers, primarily lawyer- politicans. “Lawyers operate in all three branches of our government at the same time, take more than one oath of office and get by with it,” Beagle said in one of his newsletters. Beagle’s anti-lawyer crusade began in 1975 when he at tempted to gain custody of his son, then 7. The custody suit lasted 11 months. At first two at torneys helped Beagle obtain three overnight visitations, but nothing else. “I fired both attorneys and went to learning the law myself,” he said. Beagle eventually won his first case. The boy has been living with him for a year now. Beagle participated in the cre ation of the male answer to wo men’s liberation. The organiza tion is called MEN-USA, first chartered at the University of California-Los Angeles. i mm UNIVERSITY SQUARE Featuring a new lunch menu. This month’s SPECIAL ... A big bowl of stew served with cornbread . . . Week* days at noon . . . just $1.95 at FORT SHILOH. presents THIRSTY THURSDAYS every Thursday Night 25c bar drinks 50c call drinks FREE Wine, beer and cokes guys- $3.50 GALS $2.50 ASTRAPTES TAKES CARE OF THE LADIES! Y? OUR NEW HAPPY HOUR! 3 FOR 1 DRINKS PLUS FREE NACHOS & CHILI EVERY NIGHT, TUESDAY THRU SATURDAY 5 P.M. TO 9 P.M. WITH A BIG PRECIOUS STONE GIVEAWAY! EVERY WEEKEND 1/- / ^ Carat Emerald Given Away Friday Night (approx, value $300) Aggie Ring Diamond Given Away^ Saturday Night REGISTER DURING [APPY HOUR ONLY A AT 813 Wellborn Road 696-1100 WATCH FOR OUR GIANT GEM GIVEAWAY The First Week In May sponsored by DIAMOND BROKERS Diamond Importers & Wholesalers College Station, Texas 77840 693-1647 209 University Drive E. (in the George Green Building)