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Vol. 87 No. 153 USPS 045360 6 Pages Colleae Station. Texas Wednesday, June 1,1988
| No parking
fctaff parking spaces on University Drive are being sacrificed to widen
«>ihe road to six lanes. State Department of Highway officials say the
widenining was necessary to handle the volume of traffic for safety
reasons. Construction is expected to be completed in October.
Court overturns
death penalty
WASHINGTON (AP) — The
U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday
overturned the capital murder con-
vition of a Texas death row inmate
bemuse he was not allowed to visit
with a lawyer before taking a psychi
atric test.
KThe court ruled 5-3 that states
may sometimes execute convicted
murderers even if their constitu
tional right to a lawyer is violated be
cause such errors may be deemed
“harmless.”
■But the justices decided unani
mously that the error in John Sat-
tei white’s prosecution was not harm
less and overturned his death
sentence.
■The high court ruled in 1981 that
a defendant facing a possible death
sentence has the right to consult with
a lawyer before submitting to a psy
chiatric examination designed to de
termine his future danger to society.
Justice Sandra Day O’Connor,
writing for the court Tuesday, said
violations of that right do not nec
essarily mean that an ensuing death
sentence, in part based on a finding
of future danger, must be thrown
out.
The court refused to adopt an au
tomatic rule that would call for re
versing the death sentence in any
case in which such a violation occurs.
Satterwhite, 41, was convicted of
the March 12, 1979, murder of Mary
Frances Davis, a convenience store
clerk in San Antonio. Records show
Davis was killed after she gave Sat
terwhite and a female accomplice
money from the store vault at gun
point.
The accomplice, Sharon Bell of
San Antonio, was convicted of ag
gravated robbery with a deadly
weapon, sentenced to 20 years in
prison and released under manda
tory supervision in August 1986.
Satterwhite’s scheduled Feb. 17,
1987, execution date was postponed
by Justice Byron R. White.
Ed Shaughnessy, chief of appeals
section for the Bexar County District
Attorney’s office, said Tuesday he
had not read the court’s opinion but
thought the ruling pertained to Sat
terwhite’s punishment.
“If if dealt only with the punish
ment, then we have two options,” he
said. “The state can ask that the sen
tence be commuted to life. If that is
not done, then we can retry him.”
Shaughnessy said retrial would be
difficult because of a shortage of
manpower within the district attor
ney’s office, which has 15 capital
murder cases pending in seven
courts.
“We tried that case in 1979, be
fore their ruling came out (in 1981),
and then the case sat in the (Texas)
Court of Criminal Appeals for about
five years,” he said.
O’Connor was joined in her opin
ion by Chief Justice William H.
Rehnquist, White, John Paul Stevens
and Antonin Scalia.
Justices Thurgood Marshall, Wil
liam J. Brennan and Harry A. Black-
mun favored imposing an automatic
rule to strike down any death sen
tence in a case in which such a consti
tutional violation occurred.
patients given Dilantin without consent
I CHICAGO (AP) — A drug linked by some
studies to birth defects was given to scores of pre
gnant patients without their formal consent, but
a hospital official said Tuesday it did not increase
their babies’ risks.
■ A medical ethics expert questioned the deci
sion by doctors at Cook County Hospital to ad
minister the drug Dilantin to more than 200 pa
tients without their knowledge or consent.
p The drug, commonly used to treat epilepsy,
has been linked to birth defects when adminis
tered in early pregnancy, said Dr. Robert Miller,
chairman of Cook County Hospital’s scientific
committee.
n The doctors who administered the drug re
mained in contact with their patients pending a
possible disciplinary decision by the Cook County
Hoard, which oversees the hospital, hospital
spokesman Terrence Hansen said Tuesday.
■ About 245 women were given a single,
smaller-than-normal dose of the drug by two
hospital anesthesiologists, Hansen said.
Five of the women had consented to partici-
ate in a hospital-approved study from Septem-
er 1987 through January that sought to deter
mine whether Dilantin could reduce fetal stress
in Caesarean births, Miller said.
Miller said the pregnant subjects were given
the drug in the 15 minutes before delivery. None
of the infants suffered birth defects, although
two babies died due to unrelated complications,
he said.
Hansen and spokesman Wanda Robertson
said Tuesday all tne women affected were preg
nant and were part of the study.
But Miller said only some of the approxi
mately 240 women who did not consent were
pregnant. He said those women were not part of
the study and were given the drug without their
consent and without approval fi om the hospital’s
review board.
Miller said he did not agree with the doctors’
actions but did not consider them unethical.
But a medical ethics expert at the University of
Virginia disagreed.
“It seems to me that it simply goes against the
principles of biomedical ethics . . . (which) really
require that any person enrolled in a research
project be informed of that and be given a
chance to consent or refuse,” Professor James
Childress said.
“What it amounts to (is) . . . basically using hu
man beings as means to other ends . . . not treat
ing them as ends in themselves,” he said.
Several studies have reported higher inci
dences of birth defects among babies born to
women who use Dilantin and other anti-epileptic
drugs.
U.S. supports
Soviet reform
during summit
MOSCOW (AP) — Mikhail S.
Gorbachev won a fresh endorsement
Tuesday from President Reagan for
his Soviet reform program, but the
leaders only inched forward in arms
negotiations. Gorbachev suggested it
may be “time to bang our fists on the
table” to end the impasse.
A U.S. official said the leaders
were likely to sign a joint statement,
either today or just before Reagan’s
departure tomorrow, spelling out
progress on two of the main obsta
cles to a strategic missile reduction
treaty.
The movement came on a U.S.
proposal to verify limits on mobile
missiles and on counting nuclear-
tipped cruise missiles aboard war
planes, said the official, who spoke
on condition he not be further iden
tified.
There was no progress on the
thorniest obstacle, and Reagan said
his star wars program was not even
discussed. “We would like the Amer
ican delegation to originate fresh
ideas,” Soviet spokesman Gennady
Gerasimov said later.
Nor did Reagan and Gorbachev
attempt to tackle any of the thorny
regional issues that bear on their
relationship around the globe. They
sidetracked policy differences in Af
ghanistan, southern Africa and the
Middle East to focus on Gorbachev’s
perestroika campaign to restructure
the Soviet economy.
“We still have a day and a half to
go, so I will reserve final judgment,”
said a senior U.S. official, speaking
on condition of anonymity at a mid
night briefing after Reagan hosted
Gorbachev at dinner.
Following the day’s only summit
session, Gorbachev steered Reagan
through Red Square, a stroll which
delighted and surprised visitors, es
pecially when Gorbachev picked up
and cuddled a toddler. Reagan said
he found Red Square, site of this
communist state’s annual military re
views, “wonderful.”
During an encounter with report
ers, Reagan was asked if he still be
lieved the Soviet Union was an “evil
empire,” as he described it in March
1983.
Standing next to his host, Reagan
said, “I was talking about another
time, another era.”
Several reporters permitted access
to Reagan for a few minutes de
scribed him as looking tired and pos
sibly limping. Spokesman Marlin
Fitzwater said, “There is no problem
with the president’s health,” but that
“he did have a difficult night’s
sleep.”
“We are all a little tired, and that’s
reflected in all our delegation,” he
said. Mrs. Reagan, during her trip to
Leningrad, was asked about the
president and said, “He sleeps fine.”
The 77-year-old president arrived
here Sunday after a four-day rest
stop in Helsinki, Finland, en route
from Washington.
On their third day of talks, Rea
gan and Gorbachev met in the Soviet
leader’s Kremlin office, sitting be
neath a portrait of Karl Marx and
holding what presidential spokes
man Marlin Fitzwater called a
largely “philosophiocal” discussion
on perestroika — Gorbachev’s eco
nomic reform effort — that ran
more than an hour.
In giving his blessing to Gorba
chev’s economic reform efforts, Rea
gan said that in his talks with the So
viet leader, “I have spoken of how
important it is to institutionalize
change — to put guarantees on re
form.”
Soviet leader
shows vitality
during visit '
MOSCOW (AP) — Soviet leader
Mikhail S. Gorbachev has cast him
self in the summit’s lead role, pro
jecting a vital image as statesman,
negotiator and presidential tour
guide and giving impromptu inter
views to reporters.
On the eve of the first press con
ference by a Communist Party chief
on home turf, Gorbachev on Tues
day sped through an ambitious sum
mit itinerary, prolonging a one-on-
one session with President Reagan,
sporting him around Red Square’s
landmarks and overseeing the sign
ing of nuclear arms protocols — all
before noon.
Showing Reagan around Red
Square, Gorbachev introduced the
president to groups of Soviets clus
tered at one end of the cobblestone
expanse and pointed out famed
sights like Soviet founder Vladimir
I. Lenin’s red marble mausoleum
and St. Basil’s Cathedral.
Stealing the limelight from the
man known as the Great Commu
nicator, Gorbachev gingerly took a
little boy into his arms and motioned
to Reagan to get acquainted with the
young Soviet, while cameras whirred
and captured the Kremlin chief in a
congenial pose.
At the signing ceremony, Gorba
chev entered the Red Salon of the
Grand Kremlin Palace with a wave
and a greeting for journalists. After
the session he returned to an Asso
ciated Press reporter who had asked
a question during his entrance.
“What was it you wanted to ask?”
he said. The party chief then re
capped his morning meeting with
Reagan, saying it was spent tackling
economic problems and barriers to
broader cultural ties.
“I criticized the position of the
president and Congress for having
thrown up a great deal of logjams in
the way of healthy economic cooper
ation,” he said, adding that Reagan
had agreed with him that im
provements are in order.
Reagan, who is 20 years Gorba
chev’s senior, appeared fatigued on
the third day of his meetings with
Gorbachev and declined to answer
questions about the results of his
talks. White House spokesman Mar
lin Fitzwater said the president had
slept fitfully and was tiring, like the
rest of his staff.
In the afternoon, Reagan met
with Soviet writers, addressed stu
dents and faculty members at Mos
cow State University and presided
over a state dinner in honor of the
Gorbachevs at Spaso House, the U.S.
ambassador’s residence.
But during the events that pit the
two leaders together, Gorbachev has
emerged as the more vibrant figure.
That image, combined with any spe
cific achievements that could come
out of the summit, could propel him
into a more secure position going
into an important party gathering
on June 28.
Soviet government spokesman
Gennady I. Gerasimov commented
last week that Gorbachev would have
to divide his time during the summit
between the affairs of state and the
pressures of an approaching party
conference.
Committee to query agencies on their role in drug war
■ WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. English, D-Okla. “It’s good for the tion and education; and Friday’s, the
Rep. Glenn English said Tuesday he Congress to find out what happened Pentagon.
will conduct three days of hearings to the 1986 drug bill.” “Congress is going to pass an om-
this week to query several federal English said he believes any “soft nibus drug bill in the next few
agencies — from the FBI to the U.S. spots” in the agencies’ efforts will months, and it is essential to develop
Forest Service — about their role in likely emerge during the hearings, a record of exactly what happened
the war on drugs. and could provide an impetus for to the 1986 act,” English said. “We
English, chairman of a House Jus- additional hearings. have to know where we are if we
tice Committee, said he wants to want to know where we’re going.”
know whether funding, equipment Problems with coordination and
and authority parceled out to the turf wars between the agencies, En- English was one of the principal
agencies in the 1986 omnibus drug glish said, have “hurt us terribly, authors of the $1.7 billion drug bill
bill have been properly used. You lose effectiveness without close of 1986, and this year has drafted a
|| Information gleaned from the coordination. Gaps and holes are bill that calls for spending $2.1 bil-
hearings will provide a foundation easy for the opponent to take advan- lion in the war on drugs — half on
for his $2.1 billion, 1988 drug bill, tage of.” law enforcement and interdiction ef-
he said. forts, the rest on reducing demand
B Witnesses are expected from English is chairman of the Gov- through education and rehabilita-
many of the federal departments in- ernment Information, Justice and tion.
volved in combating drugs — either Agriculture subcommittee of the He proposes moving the Coast
along the nation’s borders and coasts House Government Operations Guard from the Department of
or through efforts to decrease de- Committee chaired by Rep. Jack Transportation to the Treasury De
mand for drugs through education Brooks, D-Texas. partment so it would be under the
and rehabilitation. Customs Service, and creating Latin
||; “The hearings will provide a good The hearings will be conducted American “strike forces” that would
indication of how confident the today through Friday. Today’s focus combine U.S. resources with Latin
agencies are (in fighting drugs) and will be interdiction; Thursday’s, de- Americans to fight drugs in their
how well they spent the money,” said mand reduction through rehabilita- countries.
Officials say they could use military help
EL PASO (AP) — Federal drug enforcement officials If due process isn’t followed in criminal cases, crimi-
grudgingly said Tuesday they could use military help in nals can be freed on technicalities.
combating narcotics traffickers, but only if soldiers Committee chairman Bill Nichols, D-Alabama, as-
aren’t given arrest powers. sured the witnesses that Congress is unlikely to repeal
U.S. Customs, Border Patrol and Drug Enforcement the posse comitatus law, a Reconstruction-era statute
Administration leaders told a House subcommittee which forbids military personnel from making civilian
meeting in this border city that military hardware arrests.
would be more welcome than military personnel. Committee member Duncan Hunter, R-California,
The Border Patrol could use motion sensors, drug- whose district includes the border between Tijuana and
and person-sniffing dogs, weapons, night-vision devices San Diego, repeatedly pressed Mack and others on
and air transportation from the military. Border Patrol their reluctance to use military personnel,
sector chief Mike Williams told the House Defense Pol
icy Panel and Investigations Subcommittee. “Would it be acceptable for the military to use tracker
Williams and other law enforcement officials agreed planes and fly a Blackhawk helicopter to where a drug
with Michael Mack, U.S. Customs district director, that trafficker’s plane has landed and discharge Customs
military personnel aren’t trained to make arrests. agents?” he asked.
He said, for example, that it takes 21 months to train A1 Sousa of Customs air operations grudgingly con-
a Customs officer how to inspect a vehicle properly. ceded the agency could use such help.
“On the surface, it appears that all he has to do is tell Committee member Marvin Leath, D-Waco, said us-
the people to get out of the car,” Mack said. “But you ing the military is a good idea because the Soviet Union
have to follow due process in this country, and that re- is considered “a perceived threat, while here we’re fac-
quires training.” ing a real threat.”