t
FOR YOUR BOOKS AT
LOUPOT’S
Bookstores
Northgate • Southgate
Redmond Terrace
THE
BATTALION
Open
24
Hours
kinko's
the copy center
201 College Main
846-8721
Page 4
The Battalion
Monday, May 1,1989
‘Genetic fingerprinting’
Criminal courts accept DNA analysis as evidence
$3.99
Lunch Buffet
or
$4.49
Tuesday Night Buffet
(5:30-8:00)
$1.99 Pitchers
268-BEST
The best pizza In tcrwn.TjWtf-;/
Skaggs Shopping
Center
ALLYOU
CAN EAT
BOTHER’S BOOKSTORE
Why Wait,
The Price Is Right At Rothers
304 Jersey 901 Harvey
FORT WORTH (AP) — Once used as a
method for proving paternity, “genetic finger
printing” has become a criminal investigation
and courtroom litigation tool and two attorneys
familiar with it are being sought for their exper
tise.
The triple murder conviction last week of
Ronald Trimboli, an unemployed Fort Worth
[ >izza chef, was attained with the help of the revo-
utionary technique known as DNA analysis.
DNA contains genetic codes and its pattern is
unique in everyone.
In the past decade, researchers have gone
from comparing inherited genetic patterns to
settle paternity questions, to recognizing the pro
cedure’s virtually unerring accuracy in linking
suspects to blood, semen, saliva or even hair left
at a crime scene.
In two previous Trimboli murder trials, when
DNA analysis was not used, juries were unable to
reach a verdict. But this time, after a four-week
trial in Cleburne, he was convicted of the June
1985 slayings of two sisters and a boy who was
visiting them.
Experts who conducted the deoxyribonucleic
acid analysis testified that a semen sample found
under the body of a 14-year-old Arlington girl,
who had been raped, matched a sample of Trim-
boli’s blood.
DNA analysis, say those who conducted the
a
Phe test is scientifically
accurate, but you’ve got humans
that are performing these tests, and
humans that are testifying about
them in the courtroom. That’s
where your points of attack are.”
— Bill Lane,
Defense attorney
and defense lawyers are in mgn aemanu.
Prosecutors Bob Gill and Alan Levy, who
spent months studying molecular biology and
human genetics to prepare for the Trimboli trial,
and defense attorney Bill Lane, who defended
Trimboli, have been asked to share their tech
niques and participate in workshops and semi
nars to train other lawyers in trying DNA cases.
To date, the DNA technique has been used in
only a handful of criminal cases nationwide,
nearly all of which have ended in conviction.
Lane said he has been deluged with congratu
latory calls since the trial’s end, even though his
client was convicted and sentenced to three con
secutive life terms.
“They’re coming out of the woodwork,” Lane
said of the doctors, scientists and fellow lawyers
eager to discuss his defense of Trimboli. “We
were the first ones who really got in and attacked
this evidence.”
Jurors said Lane’s attack on the testing proce
dure planted doubt in their deliberations. The
jurors said they would not have reached a guilty
verdict on the genetic test result had it not been
bolstered by conventional circumstantial evi
dence.
Lane said he based his defense not on the test
itself, which he considers sound scientific prin
ciple, but on the fallibility of those involved in
handling specimens, conducting the tests and in
terpreting the results.
“The test is scientifically accurate, but you'vt
got humans that are performing these tests, and
humans that are testifying about them in the
courtroom,” he said. “That’s where your points
of attack are.”
Use of the technique has drawn criticism.
“The real drawback with genetic fingerprint
ing is we don’t know enough about it yet,” Simon
Ford, a molecular biologist at the University
California at Irvine, said. “That’s why I feelit'si
bit premature to use it trials.”
In the fingerprinting process, laboratory tech
nicians use enzymes to cut the samples of DNA
into precise fragments. The fragments art
placecf in a special gel, which separates into
netic fragments.
Woman driving to clinic
hits abortion protester
Icut here I
Defensive Driving Course
April 28, 29 May 1,2
May 10,11, May 23, 24
College Station Hilton
For more information or to pre-register phone
693-8178 24 hours a day.
I cut here
TAMU SCUBA CLUB
Presents
Steve Giddings will speak on the northern
most coral reef in the Gulf of Mexico
Come and find out about the most exciting
reef diving available off of the Texas coast!!
Monday, May 1 at 7:00
room 502 Rudder Tower
Flower Garden Trips with M&M SCUBA
693-01 04
June
3-4
July
15-16
August 24-25
Sept.
23-24
Oct.
28-29
for
call
mor©
!M1 &
information
I Scuba
& Snow Ski
817 S. TX Av.
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A
woman driving up to an abortion
clinic struck a Baptist preacher who
was leading a group of anti-abortion
protesters in prayer Saturday morn
ing, police said.
Police ticketed the 18-year-old
woman for reckless driving and Joe
West, a pastor at Town East Baptist
Church, was taken to Southeast Hos
pital, where he was in stable condi
tion.
“The driver was attempting to
drive into the parking lot of the Re
productive Services when she struck
Joe West,” Sandy Perez, spokesman
for the San Antonio police depart
ment, said.
Police arrested 18 people partici
pating in the “Operation Rescue’
the
protest outside the Reproduction
Services clinic near downtown.
In Dallas, 70 anti-abortion protes
ters were arrested.
About 100 protesters at the San
Antonio clinic were finishing recit
ing a prayer when the accident oc
curred at about 9:15 a.m., said pro
tester Eli Leifeste.
Witness Ronnie Dirks said police
had just asked the crowd to make
room for a paddy wagon carrying
the arrested protesters when the
woman began maneuvering her car
through a driveway behind the
clinic.
“Most of us were on our knees at
the time,” Dirks said.
Police
(Continued from page I)
3 per
Coi
tion.”
The investigation showed UPD
E atrol officers were receivinj
our, as opposed to $8.45 tor
lege Station officers and $9.62 for
those in the Bryan Police Depart
ment.
“We would have trained and ac
credited officers in our department
wooed away by other agencies in the
area or state,” Wiatt said. In Decem
ber alone, four patrol officers left
the UPD for higher-paying positions
elsewhere, he said. As a result, sala
ries have been raised to $10.65 per
hour.
The investigation also showed
that officers had no career devel
opment plan, Smith said. A plan
containing over 80 recommenda
tions for changes in the duties, hir
ing and advancement requirements
of the department was designed.
The first change came with form
ing a new department, Parking,
Transit and Traffic, last summer. Is
suing parking permits, administer
ing parking areas, and now ticketing
cars will be part of that department.
“We’re trying to keep all the re
lated functions together,” Smith
said. “It’s important from a percep
tion point of view that the police of
ficers don’t give out parking tickets
in order to pay themselves.”
Wiatt said the reorganization al
lows UPD to concentrate on issues
other than parking.
“This is a real relief to me,” Wiatt
said. “I spend half of my time bat
tling the parking malaise. Now we’ll
have more time for professional law
enforcement and the department
will have more time to deal with the
safety concerns of the community.”
In another effort to improve the
perception of the UPD, officers will
be required to “park, walk and talk,”
in the future, Smith said.
“Central campus, like the area be
tween the Coke and Systems build
ings, is less accessible to cars,” Smith
said. “We want them to park their
cars, get out and walk around, and
to have higher visibility.”
Within the department, several
new positions have been established.
These include a full-time crime pre
vention officer, available for advis
ing groups in the campus commu
nity on safety and security; an
administrative assistant; and a field
training officer to work on updating
training techniques. These positions
will be filled by current UPD em
ployees.
S
s
>
N
N
s
*
N
S
S
s
I
N
8
S
ATTENTION HORSEMEN:
SADDLE AND TACK AUCTION
N
>
(FREE DRAWING FOR SILVER SADDLE!)
We have been asked by A
inventory by $50,000.00. We will be selling 50 western sad-
6 cnila's, and 4 English. There are Circle Y, Tex-Tan,
no
dies, 6 child's, and 4 English. There are
Billy Cook, Santa Fe, Longhorn, Smith, and American Sad
dlery saddles - 14", 15", & 16", including several full silver
show saddles. All adult saddles have a 5 year written guar
antee.
Partial Tack Listing:
Electric clippers, spurs, bits, pads, blankets, tubs, buckets,
ropes, roping gloves, C.Y. reins & headstalls, halters, leads,
horsewormer, fly spray, all kinds of grooming equipment.
Also, Circle Y silver show halters and bridles. Hundreds of
items too numerous to list.
Tack to be sold individually and in group lots.
Williams
MasterCard & Visa - 5% charge added
prope
- 5% c
INSPECTION: 6 p.m. Auction Day
AUCTION: 7 p.m., Thurs., May 4th
VF W
2818 W. Bypass Bryan, TX
Don't miss this sale - Dealers welcome. Sale con
ducted by F. T. Hutton Auction Co., licensed & bonded
-TX #054-1338
s
s
N
S
S
N
S
(Continued from page 3)
Is
school. He said his son went through
extensive rehabilitation to deal with
the problem.
“That’s my number one priority
— to fight drugs,” Williams said in
the April 20 interview.
A&M officials have long recog
nized Williams as an expert on busi
ness, shown through his partici
pation as a part-time instructor for a
class in the College of Business Man
agement.
Williams told The Battalion he be
lieves in higher education and
praised the efforts of University
President William Mobley in lobby
ing for monetary support for A&M,
but cautioned that administrators
should not “go to the well too often.”
“I know every university must
lobby to the best of its ability for the
■f- AM/PM Clinics
CLINICS
Our New College Station location m \
offers
Birth Control Counseling
Women’s Services
Female doctors on duty
Student 10% discount with ID 693-0202
Boyfriend harassed
for unsolved murder
HOUSTON (AP) — Joseph
Leal was already calling friends in
search of his missing girlfriend
on April 8, 1988, when detective
Marcel Dionne got an early
morning call that a woman’s body
had been found in northwest
Harris County.
What Dionne found would
shock veteran investigators and
intertwine the lives of the sheriff s
officer and 23-year-old Leal for
months to come.
The mutilated body of a
woman sprawled face-down be
hind a store was Jacqueline Mich
elle Graham — Leal’s on-again,
off-again girlfriend.
Still unresolved after more
than a year, Dionne admits he is
obsessed with a “gut feeling” that
Leal committed the gruesome
crime, and he has endured sleep
less nights in pursuit of a key to
the case.
But at least one other investiga
tor is not so sure, and Leal says he
has been hounded by authorities
who refer to him as “the slasher,”
who ask to be seated at his table at
the restaurant where he is a
waiter and who once handcuffed
him at work before taking him in
for questioning.
Leal is candid about being
tagged as the prime suspect, but
continues to say he didn’t do it.
Asked about Dionne, he told The
Houson Post: “I hate him.”
Sgt. John Gessner of the sher
iffs department said he questions
whether Leal was involved be
cause he has stuck to the same al
ibi during numerous interroga
tions.
“You can’t be that consistent . .
. You can’t play with fire for that
long and not get burned,”
Gessner said, adding that he be
lieves the 19-year-old woman may
have been attacked at random by
most funds it can get. fhat’s the
game. And as an Aggie, I want A&M
to get all the money there is. But as a
gubernatorial candidate, I’m issuing
a word of caution. From all this
money that comes out of hard-work
ing people’s pockets, you had better
have some results.”
When reminded of the continuing
savings and loan problems statewide
at the Saturday convention, Williams
drew a laugh by retorting: “I’m try
ing to present an upbeat speech he
re.”
On current state issues, Williams
said he would support pay raises for
teachers and bringing Sul Ross and
West Texas State universities into
the University of Texas or Texas
A&M University systems.
Williams bemoaned the shrinking
of small towns in Texas and said that
it was one process he didn’t know
how to stop.
“I don’t know what can be done to
revitalize it,” he said.
a stranger.
Dionne, a 10-year veteran of
the sheriffs department, dis
agrees.
“The anger that was demon
strated against her indicated it
was someone who had cared
about her,” Dionne said. But de
spite exhaustive investigation, he
has not found the evidence to file
charges against Leal.
Leal stands firm. “Why would I
want to kill my girlfriend? 1 loved
her . . . We were a team.”
She was last seen alive during
an argument with Leal at a bar.
But he said the argument, caused
by jealousy, was unimportant. “So
what if we had fights. Everybody
does.”
Investigators who found Gra
ham’s body the next day said she
had been stabbed and slashed at
least 15 times, run over by a car,
and was so sexually mutilated that
it was impossible to tell whether
she was raped.
“In all tne times I had worked
homicides, IVjk never run into
anything of this nature,” Dionne
said.
Leal said that since the slaying,
he has felt that he was “being
watched all the time.” He was
stopped by police for walking on
a freeway, repeatedly questioned
and took several polygraph tests,
the results of which were de
scribed by investigators as “incon
clusive.”
Once, he said, investigators
showed him pictures of Graham’s
body and said “Look what you
did to your girlfriend.” Dionne
denied Leal was treated so
abruptly.
Leal said the slaying and the
continuing suspicion have
changed him, causing him to
drink too much and to attempt
suicide.
Authorities said Leal often calls
to see if new leads have devel
oped.
he
V
Mo
V
k
ASSl
Hun
ters ■
chan
don;
Po
Mass
and i
state;
Be
erati<
abort
to 7(
SI
w
seer:
are |
the t
in Pt
A
cons
icy i
facte
Nori
R<
Stat<
skid:
rieg;
jury
char
turo
tem]
tob<
E
v
chai
gov<
the
Vale
scale
fice
V
win
clea
don
offi.
effo
bad
G
xon
mis!
the
the
mot
kan
R
Coa
disp
What’s Up
rep
! to f
Monday
COOPERATIVE EDUCATION: will have a required meeting for co-op students
from 5:15-7 p.m. in 102 Zachry.
ALPHA ZETA: will assign committees at 7 p.m. in 113 Kleberg.
STUDENT GOVERNMENT: will have a table in the MSC to allow students to
sign the petition for the George Bush presidential library from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
MSC NOVA: will meet at 7 p.m. in 402 Rudder.
TAMU SCUBA CLUB: Steve Giddings will speak about the Texas Flower Gar
dens at 7 p.m. in 502 Rudder.
STUDENT ORGANIZATION GUIDE: Deadline to be included in the Student Or
ganization Guide is Friday in 208 Pavilion.
CORPUS CHRISTI HOMETOWN CLUB: will meet to distribute care packages
at 5 p.m. on the steps of the YMCA building.
Tuesday
HILLEL JEWISH STUDENT CENTER: will have a campus-wide Holocaust
service at 8 p.m. at All Faiths Chapel.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS: will meet at noon. Call the C.D.P.E at 845-0280
for more information.
Items for What’s Up should be submitted to The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald,
no later than three business days before the desired run date. We only publish
the name and phone number of the contact if you ask us to do so. What’s Up is
a Battalion service that lists non-profit events and activities. Submissions are run
on a first-come, first-served basis. There is no guarantee an entry will run. If you
have questions, call the newsroom at 845-3315.
DEFENSIVE DRIVING CLASS
TICKET DISMISSAL—INSURANCE DISCOUNT
April 28, 29 (6-10 p.m. & 8:30 a.m.)
May 3, 4 (6-10 p.m. & 6-10 p.m.)
845-1631
hea
mai
to (
but
sur
the:
1
ters
adt
agn
yea
ami
I
poi
ma
der
kne
pat
tod
hoj
nui
1