Wednesday, February 6, 1985/The Battalion/Page 15
^Justices
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Associated Press
‘nan will
>g all a |
i* ie ®USTIN — Texas Supreme
^id J usl i ce Raul Gonzalez said
t B ln!« sc * a y ^ ie ^ oes not promote either
U ™ l B a ppointed or elected system of
UttfCS.
llxo na(lii®,onzalez, the first Mexican-
i a ndll\ me n ca n to serve on the Supreme
ananasl^mut, told a Senate committee that
iecutiie asking him to choose between the
‘'pecial wo systems was “excess baggage” he
miiId rather not carry when he runs
d bv ,V or election in 1986.
on, and M
career of He said he had benefited from
conrnrajith systems as he ran successfully
amn wahr state district judge in Brownsville
ipercwas appointed to the 13th Court
levisionij^ppeals, Corpus Christi, and the
or. kip reme Court.
Bov. Mark White named Gonza-
a to the Supreme Court in Octo
ber
■he Senate Nominations Com
mittee questioned Gonzalez briefly
Tuesday and forwarded his name to
lie Senate for confirmation on a 6-0
rote.
id
'gjuiiM fie expressed concern that an ap
t-old : loijited system would shift power
peoplei:torii the people to a select few.
out vidtBf Texas went strictly to an ap-
ated HiShted system “the judiciary ...
this Tost Id not be accessible to minori-
millii; ies," Gonzalez said.
to AraBlowever, he said, with an election
ed Mttlmiing up and knowing that no His-
downiHic had been successful in a
icd niHewide race in Texas, “I’d rather
rred asH get that excess baggage on this
ondavaBticular issue to have to defend
erandilajewide.”
roalisioM’tmzulez said he agreed with Su-
led Court Chief Justice John Hill
xistsiaitp 11 good judges sometimes are
etoditfT pt out of office simply because
-ndiiijiljhe popularity of the man leading
icacc ho ‘ icket.
forests,
1 somdBnil said the Legislature needs to
i, butdoB 1 at a different svstem than the
fitiono:PF has now.
whomBrohibiting the straight-lever elec-
halt -* 0 P of judges is a good start, he said.
a plaifi
Slouch
By Jim Earle
“When you said some guys were coming over to study, I
didn’t know you were going to study karate. ”
Former Cowboys owner
suffers financial woes
Associated Press
O,
DALLAS — His father was a leg
endary wildcat oilman who laid the
foundation for one of Texas’ great
fortunes. And Clint Murchison Jr.
carried on the tradition, until he fell
on hard financial times and ill
health.
Now hardly able to speak or sign
his name, which appears on lawsuits
running into the millions, Murchi
son has taken the first step toward
bankruptcy.
The ailing tycoon’s woes nearly
landed on his front doorstep Tues
day as foreclosure proceedings were
about to begin oh the 25 wooded
acres that surround his Dallas man
sion. Murchison-owned Klimanorm
Corp., owner of the land, filed for
protection from creditors in bank
ruptcy court Monday.
Murchison, 61, who suffers from
a degenerative physical condition,
sold the Dallas Cowboys’ football
franchise a year ago because of his
financial bind.
Murchison’s Attorney Philip I.
Palmer said, “Maybe the sale or the
Cowboys was the beginning of the
end; when he sold the team, there
were a lot of stories about his de
clining health. And a number of
banks panicked — there was an ef
fective run on his estate.”
Murchison had planned to work
out a debt repayment plan without
taking refuge in bankruptcy court,
Palmer said. But an El Paso bank
didn’t want to wait and planned to
auction off the 25 acres thit sur
round Murchison’s mansion.
“That was the triggering event,”
Palmer said Tuesday. “And bank
ruptcy law halts that foreclosure.”
Few in Dallas business circles
would have expected the Murchison
name to be on a bankruptcy pr otec
tion petition. The dealings of his fa
ther, Clint Murchison Sr., were leg
endary, and the wealth of Clint Jr.
and his family was well-known — he
had even been on the cover of l ime
magazine.
“Clinton Murchison Sr. was the
Clmt Murchison Sr., were
legendary, and the wealth
of Clint Jr. and his family
even been on the cover of
Time magazine.
epitome of Texas oilman wheeler-
dealer,” Palmer said. “He would
have fit right into the television story
‘Dallas.’”
Monday’s maneuvering in bank
ruptcy court came on the heels of
last Friday’s gathering of more than
30 of Murchison’s biggest creditors,
Palmer said.
“We made several proposals to
them and invited them to investigate
his assets,” Palmer said. “Now I pre
sume I’ll hear from them one way or
another — either in court or some
other way.”
Palmer said Murchison’s net
worth is about $250 million, and at
one time he had controlling interest
in more than one hundred corpora
tions ranging from real estate to sil
ver mines in Mexico to an Oklahoma
company that recycled cattle ma
nure.
Forbes magazine rated him as one
of the nation’s richest men in 1984.
But now, more than 50 creditors
are trying to wrest about $200 mil
lion from his estate on scores of busi
ness deals that went awry, Palmer
said.
Last year alone, Murchison was
sued for more than $100 million by
creditors who claimed he defaulted
on loans in connection with real es
tate and business ventures around
the country.
Murchison’s mind and his sense of
humor are as sharp as they ever
were, Palmer said. Physically,
though, it is tough for Murchison to
get out of his wheelchair or dial a
telephone, Palmer said.
“It’s poignant,” Palmer said.
But Murchison’s declining health
is just one explanation offered for
the fall of his financial empire. Some
attribute it to bad business invest
ments, others to a hyperextension of
his bank accounts.
Still others say it’s because of fam
ily squabbling that ensued after Mur-
cnison’s brother, John, died in 1979
and Murchison’s sister-in-law filed
suit. The resulting court battle
forced him to liquidate many of his
holdings.
Judge soys verdict to be announced Thursday
Testimony ends in trial over priest’s murder
Associated Press
TORUN, Poland — The chief
prosecutor said Luesday a slain pro-
Solidarity priest invited death by his
“extremism,” and claimed the Ro
man Catholic Church turns a blind
eye to militant clergymen.
In the last day of testimony, four
secret policemen charged with kill
ing the Rev. Jerzy Popieluszko made
their final statements. Two wept
- openly, and said they were misled oy
blind faith in their superiors.
Capt. Grzegorz Piotrowski, the al
leged ringleader who faces a death
sentence, told the court “I did com
mit an act of mddness.” But he said
“even in the shadow of the gallows”
he could not accept the charges of
premeditated murder or beg foi
mercy.
The chief judge said a verdict
would be announced Thursday, ex
actly six weeks after the unprece
dented trial began.
The secret police officers are
charged with the October abduction
and killing of Popieluszko, a popular
and outspoken defender of the out
lawed Solidarity free trade union.
The killing set off protests through
out Poland and led authorities to or
der the trial, the first public trial of
secret police agents for actions
against a dissident.
“One extremism leads to another
extremism,” chief prosecutor Leszek
Pietrasinski said. “It has been
claimed that Popieluszko’s activity
could have no link with the crime,
but the truth is otherwise. ... There is
good and bad in the history of the
church.”
Catholic lawyers representing the
dead priest’s family retorted that the
prosecutor was “slandering the vic
tim in the courtroom.”
Piotrowski, his manner confident
and reserved, said in his finil
statement: “Why did I agree to the
illegal abduction? My motives were
complex but never low. Death was
not planned. That was not my aim.”
Piotrowski, 33; Lt. Waldemar
Chrnielewski, 29, and Lt. Leszek Pe-
kala, 32, are charged with kidnap
ping and murdering Popieluszko,
who was beaten before his body was
flung into a reservoir.
“strong I
: “Even!
/edandf
lot one j
of lib
iolence i
uLrdLwixltc
tub
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