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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (May 8, 1986)
BOTHER’S BOOKSTORE PAYING TOP DOLLARS FOR BOOKS BOTHER’S BOOKSTORE S CASH FOR A USED BOOKS d BOTHER’S BOOKSTORE Page 4/The Battalion/Thursday, May 8, 1986 WE NEED YOUR BOOKS Convicted killer seeks power appeal for family’s sak A&M GRADUATES! Gallery has pre-approved* credit for the car you’ve always wanted! 6.7% 'APR ON ALL NISSAN TRUCKS 'Pre-approved credit with letter of employment B GALLERY, * Pre-approved credit with letter of employment. Gallery Nissan • 7274 Texas Avenue, Bryan TX • 775-1500 NISSAN -AMC-JEEP THE DEALER WITH TEXAS POWER I CONGRATULATIONS CLASS OF ’861 CELEBRATE YOUR SUCCESS SAFELY! Alcohol Awareness Program Department of Student Affairs 8A5-5826 ATTENTION ,, ON-CAMPUS HOUSING"AGGIES CASH FOR YOUR CONVERTER A- jjVO We’ll pay you $5.00 cash* when you return your converter box to our business office by May 21. H 4 3609 Texas Ave., Bryan Monday-Friday 8am - 6pm Sat. May 10 & 17 10am - 4pm 'With $5.00 back from McCaw you can set • 8K> Tacos from Archie • Several pitchers of beer • 1/2 Tank of sas - or maybe even a well used chemistry book.” Dr Will Mcyourday Professor of Converter Economics •Only the individual who orisinally sisned-up for cable is elisible. HUNTSVILLE (AP) — Con victed killer Robert Streetman, whose execution this week was halted by a federal appeals court, said Wednesday he would prefer to die but is pursuing appeals because of his family’s wishes. “Why stay here 10 years and still have the same thing happen in the end?” he said. “It’s going to happen anyway.” Streetman, convicted of shooting to death a Kountze woman during a burglary of her home in 1982, won a stay from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals late Tuesday, about 30 hours before he was scheduled for lethal injection. “My family wanted this chance,” he said in an interview. “That’s why I’m doing it now. I’m not disap pointed but I’m not happy either.” Streetman, 25, of Silsbee, had in dicated earlier he wanted no appeals made to save his life. “It’s just another thing,” he said of Tuesday’s legal victory. “I was ready for it. I know I’ll be here for another 30 days.” Streetman, who has been on death row since August 1983, said he has been ready to die “since the day I got here.” “I’ve been here a short time,” he said. “I could stay here or go quick. Most people spend 10 years here and don’t even know where their was to have been taken to the same unit for execution. A second death row inmate sched uled for execution this week, Johnny Penry, also received a stay from the state Court of Criminal Appeals. Penry, convicted of the rape-slay- Most pet . noiher mg of a Livingston woman, lovie s( . ar liave reteived lethal injeciioi pk, Robt Wednesday. ex | s A&I y .> i i r n can Penr\ told tellov inmatessHIji upset that he was unable toe \y e |i m; nal meal he requested -afeecl w’ork< burger. j sion mi outh, Boc case is. Streetman was convicted of killing Christine Baker, 44. Trial testimony indicated the woman was watching television and knitting in her rural home when she was shot once in the head with a .22- caliber rifle from outside the house. One dollar was taken in the bur glary. Nyle Henry Baker, the slain wom an’s husband, said, “I think one day Ld like to do him (Streetman) mean ness. I say that, but I don’t think I would. I don’t think it would help her (his wife) no matter what hap pens.” Ironically, Baker, 56, is beginning concurrent five-year terms in the Texas Department of Corrections for manufacture and possession of controlled substances. He was being transferred to the Walls Unit on Wednesday, the same day Streetman —■Baveek oi Death row inmates aro ewsletter ^ iroughoui about U.S. high court rulinftes Varner Bn HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — Texas death row inmates reacted angrily Wednesday to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that upheld laws excluding people who oppose the death penalty from serving on capital murder juries. Convicted killer Billy Hughes, who has a May 29 execution date, said, “I hate the Supreme Court. 1 have no faith in the Supreme Court. They follow the political polls. “I just wonder why (Justice William) Rehnquist doesn’t come down and carry out the execu tions himself if he loves them so much.” Rehnquist wrote the high court opinion released Monday. In the 6-3 decision in an Ar kansas case, the court said the Constitution does not prevent ex clusion of death-penalty oppo nents from juries even if the re sult may he a jury more inclined to convict a defendant. The issue has been a factor in nearly every capital punishment case in Texas since last fall, when the Supreme Court agreed to consider the matter. Death row inmate Lester Bo wen said, “I thought it would have been a closer vote.” Bowen and other inmates said two recent decisions from the high court tended to favor inmate causes, leading them to believe the court would have thrown out the jury exclusions. “The Supreme Court tends to ebb and flow,” he said. “When they get a trend, you ride f-enactors ars,” Reet The livi lade up o ation who -the Civil aid. “We 160 a day ; orm and ect. Reed wa he! A&M wave. But this wasn’t evencloi Jim Vanderbilt, anotheri dernned inmate, added, 1 was so sad was that it was a neric issue and one that applit great numbers of people.!.® depress. .I t.u .. lew limns.h The groi ,i s| i. M k I., in. I he\ giu- Ij: < od V <ii< .mons i,, us I hr\ li.id . *r owns si .i \ s I ic I (.1 < ■ (in 111 is i in I he in.: tld equipn vimu ms ^R'hev S. unc 11 im.ii cs said the (In ■ " (>iil< ilns week lias been a major;.;i®ching |> of conversation on the Ti death row, which houses 230i oners. Others said the subject dropped af ter five minutes. Ravmond Kinnamon, a i victed killer said, “It’s a» thing. “It does leave sou discoura.ci The only thing I could figure el is thev’re going by publicopirel “I don’t see how in thewei ilies ruled against us. Youdoei up with a death-prone jut)." j Reaction, however, was mid among inmates on whether i j believed the decision wouldod the floodgates to executions, j Rudy Hernandez, 36, ofy \ntonio said, “A lot were wait; on that deal. Most of thenuti expecting it to he thrown oJ Now all their hopes are gel clown the drain. It’s the kind thing that would have beenwl derful. But now that we’vekj vou go on to other issues. “Unless they pass a rule Ik mg our appeal process, theit not a great number of peopH jeopardy.” Tw< mis Mattox: Cases wrongly closed due to Lucas 1 false confessions HAW questioi Wednes ■8-year- the seat her com during authorit lines Upshur resident Turner, along wi 1 T he ( convicte charged temptec Wood White s AUSTIN (AP) — Because law officers accepted doz ens of bogus confessions from convicted killer Henry Lee Lucas, cases wrongly have been closed and mur derers remain free, Attorney General Jim Mattox said Wednesday. “There are murderers walking the streets today where evidence is getting much colder as a result of the unprofessional handling of the Lucas matter,” he said. Releasing the report of a year-long investigation by his office, Mattox said that except for three cases, “there is a notable lack of physical evidence” to back up Lucas’ confessions. However, he said, “We have found no evidence to prove that any members of law enforcement in Texas deliberately tried to bring about this scheme of decep tion.” Responding, the head of the Texas Department of Public Safety and the prosecutor who sent Lucas to death row said the report contained little new informa tion about the one-eyed drifter who once confessed to more than 360 killings nationwide. DPS Col. Jim Adams said authorities were aware that Lucas lied when making some confessions and said proper precautions were taken. He noted that Lucas has been convicted in several cases and said Lucas re mains a legitimate prime suspect in more than two dozen killings. Ed Walsh, who is seeking the Republican nomination to run against Mattox, challenged the Democratic attor ney general's assessment. As Williamson County district attorney, Walsh ob tained a death sentence for Lucas in the 1979 slaying of an unidentified f emale hitchhiker nearGeorgeii Calling Mattox’s news conference “a dreus. said that if Mattox truly was concerned abouuJ cases, he should have dealt with prosecutors andli' ficers, not summoned the news media. Late in 1984, Lucas recanted all but three fessions. He now says he confessed repeatedly lop the law enforcement system is inept. Mattox said it is impossible to know how man' tiers Lucas committed. But he said his reportsho" many cases should he reopened. Except. Voy the kiUmgs of his mother u\ Michi? 1961 and of Freida Powell and Kate Rich in Te 1982, Mattox said, “There is a notable lack ofpk evidence linking Lucas to the crimes to which fessed. Lucas did not lead authorities to any bod' victims.” Lucas initially confessed to 77 homicides. P custody in Williamson County, the tally began! crease. “Unfortunately, when Lucas was confessing^ dreds of murders, those with custody of Luca! nothing to bring an end to this hoax,” Mattox said “The sheer number of the confessions raised tions about whether it was physically possible fork to have been at the place and time of each murder report added. Law enforcement officers say they believed l confessions because he knew details about ® crimes that only the killer would know. But the report said Lucas sometimes used info lion supplied by police officers to provide suchdfl Auto Servic With Purchase of Any Sandwich GENERAL REPAIRS ON CARS AND LIGHT TKl INCLUDING Buy a big 32 oz. Dr. Pepper and the cup is yours. Plastic cup can be used again and again. Offer good while supplies last. - 32 oz. for 32$ The Cup Is Free! 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