4
c
2 State & Local
The Battalion
Wednesday, May 29,1991
Prosecution rests
Bryan man accused of Zip 'N robbery
By Timm Doolen
The Battalion
The state's case against a
Bryan man accused of robbing a
convenience store in March of
1990 was finished in one day
with only one witness called by
prosecuting attorneys Tuesday
in the 272nd District Court.
The trial began Tuesday morn
ing when the defendant, Law
rence Harris, 22, waived his
right to a trial by jury, allowing
the judge to decide the outcome
of the case.
In the afternoon, the prosecu
tors presented their sole witness.
Jack Sweet, 24, who was work
ing during the robbery.
Sweet testified that in the early
hours of Saturday, March 31, a
man who had a cut on his chin
entered the Zip 'N on the corner
of William J. Bryan Parkway and
Texas Avenue.
While Sweet was in the cooler,
the man came up behind him,
poked him in the side with an
unidenified object and asked for
the cash in his wallet, $6.
Sweet said the man asked for
change, left the store, came
back, asked for change again and
left again. He returned several
minutes later and asked Sweet to
get a six-pack of soft drinks from
a walk-in cooler behind the
counter of the store.
The robber then took about
$94 from the cash register and
fled the scene.
Months later Sweet identified
Harris as the robber, although
defense lawyers contend Harris
was not the man in the store.
After two hours of questioning
by prosecuting and defense at
torneys, Judge John Delaney
asked the witness if there was
any doubt in his mind if the de
fendant was the robber, and the
witness replied no.
Harris has four prior felony
convictions — three for burglary
and one for delivery of a con
trolled substance.
Harris faces two to 20 years in
prison if convicted. Harris' de
fense begins this morning.
Supreme Court denies death
penalty appeal of cop killer
Slide
SONDRA N. ROBBINS/The Battalion
Mike Hickey dives back into first base in the Southwest Conference Baseball Tournament
against Texas Christian University.
Wednes
Hi(
Mobi
Stateme
Discrimj
W as crit
particulc
[or remc
cificpeo]
Hickrr
charge
changes,
prised at
"I was
regents <
ested in
rectly cc
cy," he s,
\ The a
' ligned p
; ceived -
I York Tin
| Educatn
News,
Houston
Telegram
Statesma
image, H
Hickm,
I press hoj
lion's int
| policy mi
ans in the
"Bill P<
and the ]
one will t
based o
while the
I "That giv
tude to
Supr
of a
HUNTSVILLE (AP) — The U.S.
Court on Tuesday upheld the conviction of a Dal
las man sentenced to die later this week for the
1985 slaying of an Amarillo police officer.
Texas death row inmate Randall Wayne Haf-
dahl, 37, faces death by lethal injection before
dawn Thursday.
Hafdahl was convicted in April 1986 for the
shooting death of Sgt. James Delbert Mitchell Jr.,
42, in Amarillo.
The Supreme Court rejected Hafdahl's appeal
and affirmed the conviction, saying he received a
fair trial and a proper sentence.
Texas Assistant Attorney General Bill Zapalac
in Austin said Hafdahl still has an appeal with
the Amarillo trial court and the state Court of
Criminal Appeals.
Judges were expected to rule on those appeals
late Tuesday or Wednesday.
Mitchell was on his way home after his shift on
Nov. 11, 1985, when the officer saw a car cut in
front of him and lose control, crossing a median
and access road. The car then crashed into a
fence.
Testimony revealed Mitchell stopped to see if
anyone was hurt and saw Hafdahl attempting to
flee. When the officer ordered Hafdahl to stop,
witnesses said the former painter and mechanic
opened fire, killing the officer.
Futuristic "bullet' train franchise
G;
Hafdahl argued in his appeal that he did not
goes to French-American group Hya
r S ut
know MitcheD was an officer until after the shots
were fired.
Hafdahl testified during the trial that he be
lieved the officer was an angry driver who also
was involved in the accident.
"All I seen was a gun and hand," Hafdahl said
in trial testimony. "That's all I had seen. It scared
me. I just had the wreck. I was pretty messed up.
I had been drinking ... and we had taken some
mushrooms ... I just thought that I had run
someone off the road, and they was going to kill
me."
Zapalac said that Hafdahl's attorney, Thomas
G. Mattson of Minneapolis, has asked the court
for at least 150 days to review the case. Mattson
recently joined the case.
Gov. Richards supports bill
restricting waste dumps
AUSTIN (AP) — The Texas
High Speed Rail Authority voted
Tuesday to grant a "bullet" train
franchise to a French consor
tium, over the objections of a ri
val German group and South
west Airlines.
Following a day-long hearing,
the authority voted unanimously
to award the $6 billion high
speed train franchise to Texas
TGV, a French-American group
that includes former Lt. Gov.
Ben Barnes.
Supporters said the transpor
tation system would rocket the
state into the 21st century.
Southwest Airlines opposes the
whole idea, saying the train sys
tem would eventually become a
burden to taxpayers.
The proposed 200 mph rail
system would link Dallas, Hous
ton, Austin and San Antonio.
The rail authority stipulated
Tuesday that Texas TGV will be
required to serve Waco, Bryan-
College Station and Fort Worth
when it's economically feasible.
If the railroad were to be con
structed, Texas would be the
first state in the nation to have
such a line.
the franchise be awarded iVft
Texas TGV.
A German-American group,
Texas FasTrac Inc., also wanted
the franchise. It has proposed
adding Waco and Bryan-College
ua
station to the triangular route.
The rail board's decision was
an endorsement of the May 10
recommendation of hearing ex
aminer Larry Montgomery that
FasTrac faulted the hearing ex
aminer's conclusions, question
ing TGV's financing plan.
"FasTrac was penalized for be
ing conservative, when it should
have been , praised. This is not
logical, it'jj^ot fair and it will
lead Texas ultimately to great
disappointment," said Sey Zim
merman, an attorney represent
ing the German group.
DALL/
Sueni in\
of Chicag
Tuesday i
gas servic
The im
Energy H
dence in
prices, wl
tor five ye
"God ki
Richards praises legislative session
AUSTIN (AP) — New restric
tions would be placed on build
ing hazardous waste dumps un
der a bill welcomed by Gov. Ann
Richards, but the measure got a
cool reception Tuesday from two
environmental groups.
Richards called the bill "pro
gressive" after it was approved
in the final hour of the legislative
session, which ended Monday at
midnight.
Rick Abraham, executive di
rector of Texans United, said he
hadn't fully analyzed the mea
sure.
But he said, "From what we
know, and what we see, we're
very disappointed ... We ended
up with much less than we nee
ded."
Texans United has 70,000
members and works in commu
nities that have toxic pollution
problems, Abraham said.
"It may work. It may not,"
said Jim Marston, director ot the
Texas office of the Environmen
tal Defense Fund.
Representatives from other
groups that backed environmen
tal legislation did not immedi
ately return calls from the Asso
ciated Press.
The Texas Chemical Council,
which represents about 90 chem
ical manufacturers, did not have
an immediate comment on the
bill, said Monte Janssen, a vice
president of the group.
AUSTIN (AP) — Gov. Ann
Richards and legislative leaders
Tuesday hailed the accomplish
ments of their 1991 lawmaking
session.
Richards, a former school tea
cher, gave lawmakers "an A-
plus" — and high marks for
herself, too.
"All in all for me, it has been a
fantastic session," the governor
said. "And I think it's been a
good one for the people of Tex
as."
Both Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock
and House Speaker Gib Lewis
praised the insurance, anti
crime, education and environ
mental bills that won passage
before time ran out on the ses
sion Monday.
The three leaders, all Demo
crats, also touted the ethics re
form bill, although details re
mained a bit fuzzy Tuesday
about the measure that won
passage only five minutes be
fore the
le session ended at mid
night.
"I take a lot of heart in having
passed what is really progres
sive ethics legislation, that we
have passed a real beginning on
quality education," Richards
said. "I feel fabulous that we
have passed the most progres
sive environmental bill that has
ever been passed in this state ...
that we have passed insurance
reform."
State Republican Party offi
cials weren't as enthusiastic,
saying the governor and Legis
lature deserved a report card
full of incompletes and failures.
"Gov. Ann Richards sup
ported a statewide property tax,
refused to rule out a Texas in
come tax, lost her push for a lot
tery, was totally a absent on the
issue of school finance and had
to resort to last-minute threats
to win approval of a watered-
down ethics bill," GOP Chair
man Fred Meyer said.
nronmen
it's hard t<
vestor wl
! Tom and J
1 "We be
| re," said ]
; eeneral p,
[billion tal
; bonal Inc.
1 "These
j of the en
; president
, oased Hai
! the Clean
| energy st
Pol:
aga
Meyer said the governor did
deserve an "A" grade in two
areas — "for enthusiasm and
crafty public relations."
Chuck McDonald, a spokes
man for the governor, said of the
criticism, "It's unfortunate that
some people feel that way about
the bill. ... It is very strong legis
lation. It completely changes the
way Texas makes decisions
about hazardous waste dispo
sal."
Legislature overwhelmingly adopts ethics bill
I McGUFFEVS
CULPEPPER PLAZA
1703 S. Texas
(next to Radio Shack) 600-1152
|
(3
o
Entire Store
Buy One Fashion Item
Get the 2nd at
V2 PRICE
i*
FROM:
Oh
J. Crew
GAP
L.L. Bean
Land's End
Calvin Klein
Saks Fifth Avc.
Shorts
Overalls
Pique Knits
Dresses
Skirts
T-Shirts
Ties
Rugby Shirts
Chambray Shirts
Tank Tops
Suits
Cotton Sweaters
Trousers
Polo Shirts
*of equal or lesser value
Men's & Women's Catalogue Outlet
AUSTIN (AP) — Now that lawmakers
have approved an ethics bill, the measure
has to be written, officials said Tuesday.
The Legislature voted overwhelmingly to
adopt the more than 100-page proposal,
sight unseen, after marathon closed-door
sessions produced a series of agreements
between the House and Senate.
On Tuesday, legislative staff members
were sculpting those deals into a final bill.
When the House-Senate conference com
mittee on ethics met publicly Monday with
less than one hour remaining in the regular
session they did not discuss several major
sticking points that lawmakers had earlier
been unable to smooth over.
"I think everyone on both of these confer
ence committees are pretty well acquainted
with the issues," Rep. Pete Laney, D-Hale
Center, the chief House negotiator, said.
"Hopefully staff has written documenta
tion."
But a public watchdog group criticized
the frantic, secret maneuvering in the clos
ing minutes.
"It's a particularly sad commentary on the
Texas Legislature that they're asking the
legislators to vote on something that they
have not read that determines the condi
tions by which they will serve here and
what they have to report," said Tom Smith,
executive director of Public Citizen of Texas.
Gov. Ann Richards said if there the bill
lacks "things that may be need addressing,
we can do that when we come back this
summer."
Richards has told lawmakers she will call
a special session July 8 on the state budget
deficit.
Under the ethics measure, voters will be
asked Nov. 5 whether to amend the state
constitution to create a state ethics commis
sion, which would have the power to en
force the proposed standards tor politicians
and lobbyists. It would also recommend to
voters whether
lawmakers should get a pay
raise.
Ceremony officially breaks ground
for $70 million NASA visitors center
Gal\
few
HOUSTON (AP) — Top
elected state officials and direc
tors of the nation's space pro
gram broke ground Tuesday for
Space Center Houston, a new
$70 million visitors center at the
Johnson Space Center.
The hour-long ceremonies,
complete with a mock count
down, fireworks and a half-
dozen flag-carrying parachutists
who literally dropped in, were
marked by repeated calls to save
the proposed space station,
which lost its federal money two
weeks ago in a congressional
subcommittee vote.
"As Space Center Houston
takes shape, even more exciting
are the space missions that are
building up in the 1990s," NASA
Administrator and former astro
naut Richard Truly said. "None
is more important than Space
Station Freedom. This important
program of the future is under a
fiscal attack, but I can assure you
in the end it will be built. Space
Station Freedom is where re
search and technology will be
performed daily around the
Earth for the benefit of those of
us on the surface."
U.S. Rep. Mike Andrews, D-
Texas, whose district includes
the Johnson Space Center area,
said loss of the space station
would mean a loss of 10,000 jobs
and millions of dollars to the
Houston economy.
"For our nation, killing the
space station means stopping
the space program dead in its
tracks," he said.
The Battalion
(USPS 045 360)
Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
The Battalion Editorial Board
Timm Doolen,
Editor
Todd Stone, Managing Editor
Krista Umscheid,
Opinion Page Editor
Sean Frerking, City Editor
Jennifer Jeffus,
Callie Wiicher,
News Editors
Jayme Biaschke, Sports Editor
Richard James, Art Director
Rob Newberry,
Lifestyles Editor
Editorial Policy
The Battalion is a non-profit, self-sup
porting newspaper operated as a commu
nity service to Texas A&M and Bryan-Col
lege Station.
Opinions expressed in The Battalion are
those of the editorial board or the author,
and do not necessarily represent the opin
ions of Texas A&M administrators, faculty
or the Board of Regents.
The Battalion is published daily, except
Saturday, Sunday, holidays, exam periods
and when school is not in session during
fall and spring semesters; publication is
Tuesday through Friday during the sum
mer session. Newsroom: 845-3313.
Mail subscriptions are $20 per semester,
$40 per school year and $50 per full year:
845-2611. Advertising rates furnished on
request: 845-2696.
Our address: The Battalion, 230 Reed
McDonald, Texas A&M University, Col
lege Station,TX 77843-1 111.
Second class postage paid at College Sta-
uon, TX 77843.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes
to The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald,
Texas A&M University, College StaUon TX
77843-4111.