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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 14, 1983)
Wednesday, December 14 1983/The Battalion/Page 7 New trial, polygraph test ordered in case allegedly involving racism 1 put it =.now he said, United Press International DALLAS — A state district judge Tuesday granted a new irial and ordered a polygraph lest for a black engineer who laims he was wrongly convicted nd given a life sentence in a obbery case which gained na- ional attention. Edwin Sigel, attorney for fnell Geter who was sent to rison in October 1982 amidst legations of racism from the iAACP, said he was confident is diem would be freed before le weekend because the pro secution had reversed itself and agreed to join him in the motion for a new trial. District Judge John Ovard Tuesday ordered the new trial and scheduled a polygraph test for Thursday. Sigel said it is likely the entire case might be dropped by the judge once the case is returned to him from the appellate court. Meanwhile, at a news confer ence at the Coffield Unit of the Texas prison system near Pales tine, Texas, Geter said, “I’m ex cited I’m going to get another Casa Chapultepec 1315 South College 775-6052 Toledo’s Special Two cheese enchiladas with rice & beans, 1 taco, and 1 bean tostada and guacamole on the side for $3.75 Hours: Mon-Fri 10-2, 5-9 Friday & Saturday nitc - reopen H:30pm-2am chance to prove my innocence.” He said he was still bitter ab out his experiences. “All I can see is what has hap pened to me in the past, what the officers said about me and the gun being placed at my head (when he was arrested),” he said. In a dramatic gesture Mon day, Dallas County District Attorney Henry Wade, whose office had resisted previous attempts to grant a new trial to Geter, announced the reversal of his stand in the case reported recently on the CBS news maga zine “60 Minutes.” “In view of a recent television show and other media reports, I believe some doubt has been raised in the minds of many peo- E le concerning the fairness of is trial as well as his guilt,” Wade said. Wade also announced he would move to, have the case dropped if the South Carolina native passed a lie-detector test Thursday. Sigel said his motion would show there is new evidence be cause Geter’s friend, Anthony Williams, who was acquitted of a similar robbery charge last month, would now be free to tes tify on behalf of Geter. “The easiest way to solve the problem is to have Mr. Geter take a polygraph test, with the operator he has requested,” said Jerry Banks, the county’s chief felony prosecutor. “He’s not going to pass that (the poly graph), in my opinion, but if he does, this office will drop the charges. If he does not, we’ll move for a new trial. “We are joining defense counsel in asking the appellate court to send the case back to trial court. There is new evi dence, in that his co-defendant Mr. Williams can now testify. At that point, if he passes the poly graph, we can drop the charges. If we hold a new trial, it’ll be with a new jury, new everything.” Geter was employed by the E- Systems Inc. in nearby Greenvil le prior to his conviction. The NAACP, which joined the case, brought allegations of racism against police and the prosecu tors. Geter’s employer, chiefly in volved in the manufacture of sophisticated electronic devices for the military, has been con ducting its own campaign against Geter’s prosecution and has set up a fund for his defense. The case gained greater na tional attention when Williams was charged in another robbery case. Williams, 25, also an en gineer, was acquitted last month in a $32 robbery of 7-Eleven store in Garland, Texas. Sigel said the prosecution’s change of attitude in the Geter case was due to heavy media attention on the case and fears the appellate court may cite the state for miscarriage of justice. He said the FBI was indepen dently looking into a possible violation of Geter’s civil rights. A number of Geter’s co workers at E-Systems testified that Geter was at work the day of the robbery for which he was charged. That went squarely against the testimony of five restaurant employees, who identified Geter as the robber. FILL TOUR STOCKINGS WITH CHRISTMAS CANDY! •CANDY CANES *CHOCOLATES •MINTS •LARGE SELECTION OF HOLIDAY FAVORITES 'A C ANK9 T $ <A CH •CANDY CANES •CHOCOLATES ^R SB •MINTS *LARGE SELECTION ^R OF HOLIDAY FAVORITES KROGER PREMIUM CINNAMON RAISIN KROGER FRENCH ONION DIP JEWELRY SALUTO Pizza KROGER WHIPPED Topping ?££ 79* KROGER CRINKLE CUT French Fries MRS. SMITH S Apple Pie *2 69 KROGER REGULAR Pie Shells 59* KROGER BUTTERCRUST Honey Bread . . . .’to** 79* KROGER BROWN A SERVE Club Rolls .... 2 ™°os *1 19 ROYAL VIKING PECAN TEA RING Coffee Cake .... . 14 p?o *1 5 ’ KROGER Snack Crackers . .Vbo x * 89* COUNTRY OVEN Croutons p?o 79* Whipping Cream KROGER Sour Cream 99 c Sundae Cups ... .WS: *1* 9 KROGER FROM FLORIDA CHILLED Orange Juice • • • • GAL. *2* KROGER SMOOTH OR CRUNCHY Peanut Butter . . j !?a z r ’I* 9 SEIKO WATCHES MEN'S 8223-71 BOGS Two tone, gold plotod. MEN'S 7223-6050GS With alarm, two tono, gold plated Instant day/dato setting, bllln- qual calendar, hardlex mar-resist crystal. 14O0-83330G Ladies' ultra-thin dress quartz, gold plated, stainless steel bach, mefh adjustable bracelet 2C20-S000GL ladles' leather strop. life approximately five U.S. CHOICE HEAVY GRAIN FED BEEF S. CHOICE BEEF (BONE-IN) HEAVY GRAIN-FED COMPARABLE VALUE OF ‘165 TO *175 COLLECTION or COSTUME JEWELRY GIFT BOXED FOR CHRISTMAS IOWAproc CHOICE BEEF 3r CHUCK n || ROASTS 5 ^ 1 CHUCK ROAST U.S. CHOICE BEEF STANDING SOLD AS ROASTS ONLY West Texas bills could increase United Press International EL PASO — Western utility customers should not be forced to pay to clean up dirty power plants east of the Mis sissippi River, a West Texas utilities expert said Tuesday. Evern Wall, president of the El Paso Electric Co., said a bill in Congress proposes that electric bills be increased nationwide to reduce acid rain, which is produced when sulfur dioxide mixes with wa ter vapor in the air. He said the bill by Rep. Gerry Sikorski, D-Minn., and Rep. Henry Waxman, D- Calif., targets 50 dirty power plants east of the Mississippi and calls for spending $40 bil lion to clean them up. States west of the Mississip pi would not benefit from the plan, said Wall, who is presi dent of the Western Energy Supply and Transmission Associates, a group of 21 elec tric companies in the West that undertakes joint projects and exchanges power. Wall said electric custom ers are being asked to each pay an average of $10.25 a year, while easterners would pay $7.56 a year. The bill calls for a tax of one mill, or one-tenth of a cent, on each kilowatt hour used in the United States. Westerners, who would not profit from the bill, would be paying more for the cleanup than easterners because the tax levy is based on the num ber of people living in an area, he said. The El Paso Electric Co., executive and technical advi sors from WEST are meeting today with representatives of news media in Washington, D.C. Wall said he expects pres idential hopeful Sen. John Glenn, D-Ohio, to push for the cleanup plan. Sen. Glenn represents Ohio, one of the states that would benefit from the legislation. Many eastern plants were built before the Environmen tal Protection Agency man dated pollution controls, Wall said. Those plant officials have saved money over the years by not having to install the devices, he said. Thirty-one percent of the coal-fired plants in the West use a scrubbing process to clean sulfur dioxide emis sions, compared with 7 per cent in East, Wall said. The scrubbing equipment at the Four Corners plant in New Mexico cost three to four times as much as the total cost of the plant, he said. El Paso, Texas relies on Four Corners for about 20 percent of its power needs. “The question of who will pay for the cleanup of acid rain is going to be a major poli tical issue in the next pres idential election,” Wall said. Gov. White wants teachers to have a good pay raise United Press International AUSTIN — Gov. Mark White urged a group of road contrac tors Tuesday to support higher pay for Texas teachers and pledged he would include the issue of highway funding on the agenda of a special legislative session. Despite a prediction from Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby that the issue of teacher pay would not be addressed until the next regular session in 1985, White told the Associated General Contractors of Texas he hoped to call law makers back to Austin in 1984. White urged the contractors to support his promise of a 24 percent pay raise for teachers, saying the second item on the agenda for any special session would be greater funding for highway repairs, construction and maintenance. “I intend to have a special session for education.” White said. “I would at the same time like to make certain that we also improve the mobility of those well-educated Texans I hope to see in this state. “And that will mean we will also go forward with seeing that our highways are funded prop erly so we can maintain the mo bility necessary for a vibrant eco nomy,” he added. White said he planned to talk with teachers’ groups Tuesday to pursuade them to support greater funding for highway construction. “I think we would make a very effective package,” he said. Although H. Ross Perot has said his special committee on education will issue a prelimin ary report on the Texas school system in March, White said he would meet with Perot Wednes day and urge him to expedite the committee’s deliberations. “I will be urging them to move quickly to get the report back,” he said. “And then as soon as we can get that report back, I need your help in getting in touch with our legislative leaders and asking them to make the com mittment to see that we pass that proposistion and move on to the next order of business, which is the proper funding of our high ways.” White also said he hoped to in clude the issue of a state water plan — another expensive prop osition — on the special session agenda. “We need to attack these prob lems now and we need to do so with the full realization that they we are going to have to have the money to do the job,” he said. However, White did not give any indication what taxes he would raise to fund the higher pay, water plan and highway construction. l PJtootri ^ i Serving Luncheon Buffet Sandwich and Soup Bar Mezzanine Floor Sunday through Friday 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Delicious Food Beautiful View 46- Open to the Public ^ “Quality First”