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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 23, 1992)
Gotti emerges as 'goofy godfather' NEW YORK (AP) - Once hailed as a criminal mastermind, John Gotti has emerged at his racketeering trial as a goofy godfa ther who violated the under world's basic rules: No drug deal ers, no loose talk, no blatant tax dodging. And no losing money on your own games. Witnesses and surveillance tapes have shown Gotti surround ing himself with heroin traffickers, talking constantly about his activi ties, repeatedly failing to file tax ■ , returns and losing large sums at 3mas Oft the gambling operations that were his alleged source of income. Gotti may be intelligent — he has been reported to have an I.Q. of around 140 — and even his crit ics give him credit for a certain low cunning. What else would ex plain his rise from lowly mob as sociate in 1977 to boss of the lighty Gambino crime family in 1985? And his acquittal in three rials in five years? But FBI tapes, prosecution tes- Testimony, FBI tapes cause 'Dapper Don' to seem dumb Wf Ze< =4= I'm ttitfocWl (-rtMonu OJose Mm l ( timony and Gotti's own words at his trial have made the Dapper Don look like a dummy. The counts in this unofficial indict ment: 1. The Gambler Before the Super Bowl, Gotti advised courthouse reporters to take Buffalo and the points. Wash ington won and covered the point spread easily. The real question is why any one would listen to Gotti, govern ment bugs show he is not the luck iest gambler. Gotti and three partners put up $120,000 a decade ago to start an illegal casino. But Gotti began to bet against the house, and after a few nights he was in debt for $55,000. He fared no better betting on sports. At one point in the 1981 football season, Gotti was down $200,000. 2. The Loose Talker Gotti was slow to appreciate the quantum leap in the govern ment's electronic eavesdropping skills. Many of his most damaging admissions were recorded in an apartment above the Ravenite So cial Club, his hangout in Manhat tan's Little Italy neighborhood. He spent much of January 1990 expounding on the virtue of si lence — as the FBI listened in. On Jan. 24, he warned his colleagues about the danger of being record ed: "From now on, Tm telling you, if a guy just so much as mentions 'La,' . . . I'm gonna strangle the guy. . . . He don't have to say, 'Cosa Nostra.' Just 'La' and they go- 3. The Wrong Friends Like most things in the Mafia, the ban on drug dealing is both traditional and practical. In recent years, it has become more the lat ter: narcotics convictions mean long prison terms, which sorely tempt soldiers to cut deals and tes tify against their bosses. While Gotti can be heard on tapes bemoaning drug use, virtu ally every member of his old crew dealt heroin. His brother Gene is serving a 50-year prison sentence, and his brother Vincent is also in prison for narcotics trafficking. Some of the people who allegedly con spired with Gotti to kill former Gambino boss Paul Castellano were drug dealers, and several are now serving long sentences. Castellano, a boss from the old school, had to be dissuaded from killing "Little Pete" Tambone for drug dealing, and wound up ban ishing him. Supporters GO^tyvork to get =— Perot's name on ballot OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Dklahoma supporters of Dallas billionaire H. Ross Perot say hey'll make a *luly 15 petition ^Beadline for ;etting his tame on the residential allot. "We don't :hink we're too late to be start ing a cam- aign," said at Clancy, a H. Ross Perot ulsa sales- anwho is leading the Perot peti tion drive in eastern Oklahoma. "Perot is a courageous busi- liessman who has made a plan," Clancy said. "All we've heard is ■nudslinging from the declared candidates." Drives are under way in every , state to have'Perot's name placed ' on November ballots-as.an inde pendent candidate, said Sharon Holman, a Perot spokeswoman. The self-made businessman has said he will run only if his name makes all 50 states' ballot. Perot, 61, heads a computer n v Pr«];-'ti serv ‘ ces company in Dallas and is s 35 jtinSi biown for plans to help U.S. pris- Questions arise about autopsy; court plans exhumation hearing LUBBOCK (AP) — Eighteen people, including 11 Lubbock and Odessa police officers, have been subpoenaed for an exhumation hearing amid questions over an autopsy performed by a Lub bock pathologist. A hearing is scheduled April 2 in Canyon to determine whether the body of murder victim Hilton Raymond Merriman Sr. may be exhumed. Five teen-agers were charged with murder for allegedly beating Merriman to death during a rob bery in May 1990. One of them, Johnny Lee Ray, 18, of Amarillo, was convicted earlier this year and sentenced to death. Attorney V.G. Kolius of Amarillo, who repre sents defendant Douglas Nathan Palmer, contends Lubbock forensic pathologist Ralph Erdmann made mistakes in his autopsy of Merriman. Erdmann concluded Merriman died from a swelling of the brain. Kolius said another review may show Merriman had a bad heart that would have contributed to the death. The attorney believes the police officers will buttress his motion to exhume by casting doubt on Erdmann's competency, the Lubbock Avalancbe- Joumal reported Sunday. A Hockley County grand jury indicted Erd mann last month for felony charges in connection with discrepancies in an autopsy issued last De cember, Erdmann, on advice from attorney John Mont- ford, has declined comment. In addition, six Odessa officers had written Po lice Chief James Jenkins to complain about Erd mann. They allege improper collection procedures that resulted in ruined specimens; detectives being asked to perform autopsies on heads; failure to take notes during autopsies and misidentification of organs. Lubbock Police Chief Don Bridgets says he has not "heard any bizarre complaints from our detec tives like those coming out of Odessa detectives." But he called the indictment against Erdmann troublesome. , "We didn't worry about his autopsies until this thing (Erdmann's indictments) came up," Bridgets said. "We don't want a guilty person to have an out, so it's been worrisome." The sxtbpoena list also includes the morgue manager at Texas Tech University Health Sciences nm Five doctors sue comptroller State owes veterinarians payment, apology, says panel ners of war in Vietnam and for , , | ,i—nis successful scheme to rescue ^ ^ Jan' fwo employees from an Iranian ? nt ™ ' * jail in 1979. jl 8 r ^ In Oklahoma, Perot support- ..... ers have until July 15 to turn in a jssmg 1 petition w jth 35,132 valid signa- 1,1 ^ 0 ; lures, said Lance Ward, state elec- g n ?ighTh’f onboardsecretary Oklahoma volunteers have printed about 1,500 petitions, and jat least 55 volunteers already are circulating them, Perot supporters paid. "I'm really enthusiastic about it," said Jamie Hurst, who is coor- j dinating the Oklahoma City-area effort. "The government is not be- lingrun like a business." AUSTIN (AP) — Five Austin veterinarians have sued Comptroller John Sharp to force immediate payment of $207,500 an arbitration panel says the state owes them. Sharp had balked on paying the doctors because he said the state does not have the money ear marked. On March 13, he wrote one attorney for the doc tors: "Although I am sympathetic to your client(s), I cannot pay this demand because there is no current appropriation available" under the applicable statute. That statute. Chapter 105 of the Civil Practices and Remedies Code, lets citizens recover damages for lawsuits brought by the state that a court deems unreasonable or frivolous. The veterinarians filed suit against Sharp last week in the Texas Supreme Court. Last year, Texas Attorney General Dan Morales accused the veterinarians of conspiring to restrain trade. In January, the suit was ruled frivolous, and Morales' office sent vouchers to Sharp's office for payment of the judgment. Sharp suggested the veterinarians find a sympa thetic politician to present their claim in the next ses sion of the Legislature. "It makes you wonder whether the state's broke or simply asleep at the wheel," said lawyer John Meadows. "Now it's going to cost the taxpayers even more money," Meadows said. Meadows' client, Samuel Carter Spangler, was outraged. "We beat 'em fair and square," he said. "But they play by two sets of rules. If it was me, they'd lock my doors and haul off my goods to pay that judgment." Also in its decision, the judge-appointed panel said the state owed all the veterinarians an apology. ook at this* se to a serioj st in the Warehouse fire baffles authorities ( WEATHERFORD (AP) — Authorities say jthey are baffled by a fire that destroyed a 19tn century warehouse used to store tires, old ap- jpliances and memorabilia. The historic John L. Heartsill Store ware- Ihouse, northeast of downtown Weatherford, Iburned Saturday. "A lot of history went up in that smoke," Jsaid owner Mamie Ruth Heartsill. The stone structure — believed built in the 1880s — has housed two castor oil companies, a tanning plant, a Coca-Cola bottling plant and jan American Legion Hall. It also reportedly had been used as a Ku [Klux Klan meeting place, Heartsill said. About 200 Parker County firefighters were attending a fire certification school in Mineral Wells when the fire broke out about 2:45 p.m. Most of the firefighters returned to Weath erford, 29 miles west of Fort Worth, to battle the blaze, said volunteer Fire Chief Larry Dod son. Heartsill and her husband, John, have owned the warehouse since 1978. They said they do not know whether it was insured, and they had no immediate estimate of the loss. At about 12:30 p.m. Saturday, the Heartsills had closed their tire store near the warehouse. The fire was reported to the Weaterford-Parker County Fire Department about two hours later. It was brought under control by about 5 p.m., although the blaze continued to smolder. Black, oily smoke could be seen for miles. "Old tires will burn forever," said firefight er Lenyaul Bloodworth. "We're going to soak them in foam and let them burn themselves out." Dodson said the firefighters do not know what started the blaze. Heartsill said she believed the warehouse had been vandalized Friday night. She said family members found old business papers scattered on the floors early Saturday. Vandals have hit the building previously, forcing the owners to board up the windows. The Heartsills' tire store (a metal building) was undamaged. On Routine Cleaning, X-Rays and Exam (Regularly $71, With Coupon $39) Payment must be made at time of service BRYAN Jim Arents, DDS Karen Arents, DDS 1103 Villa Maria 268-1407 COLLEGE STATION Dan Lawson, DDS Paul Haines, DDS 1712 Southwest Pkwy 696-9578 CarePlus DENTAL CENTERS |EXP. 4-30-92 J It happens when you Advertise In The Battalion Call 845-0569 LSAT • GMAT • GRE • MCAT NOW YOU HAVE A CHOICE. 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Free Admission - Reception Following Presented by the MSC Wiley Lecture Series MSC Town Hall Presents /LYLE\ LOVETT Monday, March 30 Rudder Auditorium 8pm Tickets on Sale NOW Students $10 Non-students $14 Rudder Box Office 845-1234 or Foley's at Post Oak Mall All Seats Reserved