Thursday, Novembers, 1988
The Battalion
Page 9
leas State legislators show anger
over handling of insolvency
ICritics say insurance board acted slowly
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I AUSTIN (AP) — The recent insol-
ency of National County Mutual Fire
insurance Co. has raised the ire of some
legislators and critics of the State Board
jof Insurance, who say the agency did not
[act quickly enough.
There has also been criticism of Insur
ance Commissioner Doyce Lee and com-
'plaints that staff work is getting bottled
up at the top of the agency.
Insurance board members attribute
many of the problems to a major reorga-
[nization of the agency and rapid expan
sion of the staff — from about 850 em
ployees to 1,300 in the past 18 months.
National County Mutual, a Dallas-
based company with 125,000 auto insur
ance policyholders statewide, was de
clared insolvent last week and taken over
by the insurance board. National County
Mutual was $54 million in the red and
I became the largest insolvency of a prop-
lerty and casualty company in the state’s
I history.
But apparently it took heavy prodding
[by Kay Doughty, director of the new Of-
[fice of;Consumer Counsel, to move the
| board to action.
Doughty charged that the board should
[have moved earlier to protect the compa-
[ny’s policyholders. The board’s staff had
[known of the company’s problems since
[at least 1986.
“What we’re starting to hear is that on
[any number of occasions staff has tried
[to get upper management to take ac-
jtion,” Doughty told the Austin Ameri-
can-Statesman.
“It appears this is a pattern of staff re
porting properly, and then no action at
the level it would have to be taken for
anything concrete to happen.’’
State Rep. John Gavin, D-Wichita
Falls, chairman of the House Insurance
Committee, also has been hearing com
plaints from insurance board employees
and has already met with the board to
discuss his worries. Gavin said his com
mittee will meet Nov. 10 and probably
discuss looking into the insurance board
criticisms.
“I want to make sure there aren’t any
more National County Mutual problems
waiting to explode or waiting to come to
light,’’ Gavin said.
Gavin said he was conceded about a
lack of management, but denied a report
that he had asked Commissioner Lee to
resign.
Lee, 47, was appointed commissioner
in 1985, after serving five years as gen
eral counsel. A former state representa
tive from Linden in northeast Texas, he
was in private law practice before joining
the board’s staff in 1975.
Lee described the reorganization in the
agency as “traumatic.”
The growth spurt came after the 1987
Legislature boosted the agency’s budget
and staff to exercise greater supervision
over the insurance industry. The expan
sion has required the agency to move
many of its operations into new build
ings.
One of the changes in the agency in
volved James Odiorne, who became the
senior deputy commission through
jurors shown victims’
bloodstained clothing
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Bloody
clothing found on the bodies of four si
blings last spring was shown to jurors
Wednesday as prosecutors continued the
tedious task of setting up their case
against capital murder defendant Leo
Narvaiz Jr.
Narvaiz, 20, is accused of killing his
former girlfriend, Shannon Mann, 17;
Jennifer Mann, 19; Martha Mann, 15;
and Ernest Mann, 13, on April 15.
Narvaiz, who is in the Bexar County
Jail in lieu of $4 million bond, is the first
person in the county to be tried under a
law that allows a mass-murder suspect to
be tried on capital murder charges.
The four bodies were found in their
blood-spattered trailer home on San An
tonio’s southwest side. The female vic
tims were found with some of their cloth-
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Tier!
Bullock to send
extra auditors
to bingo games
AUSTIN (AP) — The state comp
troller said Wednesday that extra au
ditors will be dispatched to Houston
next week to check complaints of
rigged games, cash skimming and
other problems at some charity bingo
games.
Comptroller Bob Bullock said his
office would be auditing games and
bingo halls and would take action
against unscrupulous operators.
Sanctions could include revoking li
censes and closing down games, he
said.
“There’s been a lot of finger
pointing and allegations about bingo
games in Houston, and we’re going
to get to the bottom of it,” Bullock
said.
Bullock said he would work with
Attorney General Jim Mattox in in
vestigating illegal games. Mattox
called for such a probe after the
Houston Chronicle reported dozens
of apparent violations of the state’s
bingo laws.
The report cited rigged games,
cash skimming and operators who il
legally offer to pay charities a small
cut of the bingo proceeds in exchange
for running games in the charities’
names.
The Houston Post reported Tues
day that a Seabrook woman and three
Houston men, including one who
runs games in Houston, had been
charged in Louisiana with violating
that state’s bingo law.
There are 98 organizations operat
ing bingo games at 52 locations in
Harris County. Bullock said his of
fice had received and investigated 44
complaints in the county this year.
There also have been 51 audits in
Harris County during 1988 and 20 li
censes proposed for revocation.
The comptroller’s office is limited
in action it can take against operators,
Bullock said, but he vowed to “take
our evidence where we need for the
fullest prosecution. ”
Violations uncovered by his audi
tors will be given to the Harris
County district attorney and the state
attorney general, he said.
Bingo games in Texas have gener
ated nearly $1.4 billion since the Leg
islature legalized them in 1981. They
have produced nearly $7 million in
state taxes and $25 million in taxes
for cities and counties.
ing either pulled over their breasts or
below their waists.
Knives believed used in the slayings
were entered into evidence Monday. On
Wednesday with more than 80 spectators
watching, more blood-spattered clothing
found on the victims was shown to the
jury, along with photographs of the un
dressed victims.
Police Detective Ramiro Alvear said
he gathered evidence at the crime scene
and identified most of the photographs of
the victims and clothing, which included
T-shirts, blouses, shorts, bras, panties
and socks. He said he found five knives
and three blades at the scene.
Narvaiz, who was writing on a legal
pad, showed no emotion when shown
photos of his former girlfriend and her si
blings, but his attorney, Jeffrey Scott,
objected to the numerous photographs
being admitted into evidence.
“They are highly prejudicial to my
client. They are extremely inflammatory
and outweigh any public value,” Scott
said.
But State District Judge Michael Ma
chado rejected Scott’s motions and let
the jurors see the items, which also in
cluded a blood-spattered telephone from
which one of the victims called police,
frantically telling them her sisters and
brother were being attacked. Police said
the victims were stabbed so hard with
steak knives that some of the blades
broke off in the bodies.
Narvaiz was arrested later that morn
ing and taken to a hospital for treatment
of stab wounds to his arm and leg. He
was found competent to stand trial in Au
gust.
Jury selection took about three weeks.
Bexar County District Attorney Fred Ro
driguez is prosecuting the case, which is
•expected to take a month.
whom recommendations flowed on
whether to put companies under supervi
sion or into receivership. At the same
time, he continued to do his old job as
liquidator.
Lee said the change involving Odiorne
“has produced some grumblings that all
of a sudden things are getting bottled up
there.”
Among those eager to probe the
agency are State Rep. Eddie Cavazos, D-
Corpus Christi, vice chairman of the
House Insurance Committee. He said he
would like to “scrutinize (the board’s)
budget with a fine, fine, fine-tooth
comb. I know they’re asking for a (bud
get) increase, and I doubt if they’re
going to get an increase based on their
past performance. ’ ’
Lawmaker touts
device to keep
tabs on crooks
AUSTIN (AP) — A state representa
tive ended three days under “house ar
rest” Wednesday and said electronic
monitoring of certain criminal offenders
can help the state save money and im
prove public safety.
“It has been somewhat uncomfort
able,” said state Rep. Glenn Repp, as
the wallet-sized transmitter device was
snipped from around his ankle.
“I’ll be happy to get it off,” the Dun
canville Republican added.
The device, which monitors the
movement of the wearer and transmits
signals to a computer base in Denver,
Colo., left a small bruise on Repp’s leg.
But the chairman of the House Correc
tions Subcommittee on Electronic Mon
itoring said he tried several times to foil
the accuracy of the device and was un
able to do so.
He refused to say how he tested the
apparatus.
Rider Scott, general counsel for Gov.
Bill Clements, said electronic monitor
ing of state prison parolees costs about
$9 per day, compared with $30 per day
of incarceration.
Scott said the program should be used
in conjunction with added prison capac
ity. But he said that with electronic mon
itoring, the state prison system can better
reserve jail space for violent criminals.
“Electronic monitoring can be less in
trusive, less expensive, and equally as
useful” for some kinds of offenders,
Scott said.
Under a pilot program in Texas, 122
prison parolees have completed the elec
tronic monitoring program, with 84 suc
cessfully meeting terms of their parole,
28 being placed under new terms of pa
role and 10 being returned to prison, said
Mike Eisenberg of the Texas Board of
Pardons and Paroles.
In addition, electronic monitoring also
is used in some counties in Texas for
probationers. Scott said about 500 peo
ple statewide are being monitored under
the system.
Repp said he would recommend that
the Legislature expand the program next
year, but he said lawmakers should ap
proach the concept carefully.
“We dont want to run slipshod into
some program that we haven’t inspected
thoroughly,” Repp said.
“This is not going to take the place of
prison capacity. This is only another tool
in our arsenal in trying to deal with
crime,” he said.
Gray County to stop
use of pauper’s oath
limiting voting rights
AUSTIN (AP) — Gray County offi
cials will stop using a pauper’s oath that
included a provision surrendering the
right to vote, the attorney general’s of
fice said Wednesday.
“I don’t think it was a malicious at
tempt by anyone in the county to disenf
ranchise people,” said Elna Christopher,
spokeswoman for Attorney General Jim
Mattox.
“I just think they didn’t understand the
law. As soon as we explained it to them,
they were chagrined it had happened,”
she said.
“We just told them to stop using it,
and they immediately agreed when law
was explained to them. ’ ’
Christopher said officials told the at
torney general’s office that the oath was
being used in connection with indigent
burials. Perhaps 40 relatives were re
quired to sign the oath over several years
in order for the county to pay for burials,
she said.
The Texas Constitution contains a pro
vision that says paupers supported by the
county aren’t allowed to vote, Christo
pher said. However, the document also
contains other outdated provisions re
garding the right to vote that are not fol
lowed but have not been repealed, she
said.
“Everybody has just ignored it, ex
cept out in Gray County, to our knowl
edge ,” Christopher said.
She said officials instead follow Texas
Election Code provisions.
According to Christopher, Gray
County officials said there has only been
one person who has come forward to reg
ister to vote after signing the oath, and
that person was allowed to vote after the
county checked with the secretary of
state’s office.
“The problem I see is people who
signed this oath may have just assumed
they could not vote and never pressed the
point,” Christopher said.
“I don’t know how one goes about
getting the word to them, or if they’re
still there.”
The paragraph in the oath declaring
poverty said, “In making this declara
tion under oath, I acknowledge that I am
a resident of Gray County, Texas and
that I surrender my rights to vote as set
forth in the Constitution of the state of
Texas.”
The attorney general’s office con
tacted Gray County officials after receiv
ing a request for a legal opinion on the
oath from Rep. Juan Hinojosa, D-McAl-
len.
College Station
104 University
696-6427
FAVORED OVER OPPONENT BY HOUSTON BAR ASSOCIATION!
RE-ELECT
JUDGE GEORGE
VTTTS
14th COURT OF APPEALS
PLACE 5 /
★ EXPERIENCE ★ ABILITY ★ INTEGRITY
Endorsed by:
• Houston Lawyers Association • Pasadena Bar Association
• North Harris County Bar Association • Mexican American
Bar Association • Houston Northwest Bar Association
• Houston Police Patrolmen's Union • Houston Police Officers
Association • Houston Fire Fighters Union • Harris County
Women's Political Caucus- • AFL-C10 • Houston Community
Alliance • Teamsters • Harris County Council of Organizations
• The “C” Club • The Baptist Ministers Assoc. • Houston
Baptist Pastors and Ministers Fellowship
Experience:
Over 29 years legal experience, including the past
six years as Judge, 14th Court of Appeals. Judge Ellis has
authored over 500 legal opinions. Graduate U. of Texas Law
School.
Ellis, when re-elected, will continue to be tough on crime
and the use of illegal drugs.
Endorsed by the
Houston Chronicle and Houston Sun
FIGHT DRUGS AND CRIME
Pol. Adv. Paid for by Committee to Re-elect Judge George Ellis, George Ellis, Treasurer, 411 Fannin, Suite 302, Houston, Texas 77002
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COURT HARRIS COUNTY SINCE 1977
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EXPERIENCE
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ASSOCIATION POLL
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ATTORNEY
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FOR 1ST COURT OF APPEALS. PL. 5
A
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