stateSnation
Tuesday. February 8, 2(KX) THE BATTALION Page 9
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Jury selection begins
in Sheppard civil trial
CLEVELAND (AP) — Jury selec
tion started today for the civil trial aimed
at deciding whether Dr. Sam Sheppard
killed his wife in the sensationalized case
that helped inspire the movie and TV se
ries “The Fugitive.”
The first group of 50 jurors entered
Cuyahoga County Judge Ronald Suster’s
courtroom late in the morning.
Each prospective juror faced a fonn re
quiring answers to about 80 questions.
Eight people will ultimately be seated on
the panel, along with four alternate jurors.
All of this week has been set aside for
jury selection and the trial could take an
additional two months to complete.
The lawsuit was filed by the doctor’s
son, Sam Reese Sheppard, in an effort to
clear his father’s name through a decla
ration of innocence.
That could allow the son to collect
damages from the state.
In a highly publicized trial, the elder
Sheppard was convicted in 1954 of mur
dering his wife, Marilyn.
That verdict was thrown out by the
U.S. Supreme Court in a landmark rul
ing on the unfair effect of pretrial pub
licity, and Sheppard was acquitted at a
retrial in 1966. He died in 1970.
Arguments on motions took up all of
last week.
On Friday, Suster ruled against one ma
jor plaintiffs’ motion, deciding that testimo
ny from the 1954 trial was not tainted and
may be read into the record for this trial.
Prosecutors defending the state said
they have no choice but to read tran
scripts to the jury because the case is 46-
years-old and many original witnesses
have died.
Sheppard's lawyers argued that the
testimony was tainted because it had been
publicized before witnesses appeared in
court.
Attorneys for the Sheppard estate also
failed in an attempt to bar testimony by
Dr. Elizabeth Balraj, the Cuyahoga
County coroner, arguing that she rubber-
stamped the findings of other experts in
stead of preparing her own report.
The judge said Balraj would be given
a chance to file a supplemental report.
Her office has worked with outside
experts to gather and evaluate evidence,
especially since October, when Mrs.
Sheppard’s body was exhumed.
The elder Sheppard always insisted
that a “bushy-haired intruder” killed his
wife in her upstairs bedroom while he
slept downstairs.
He said he heard his wife’s cries and
ran to help her but was knocked uncon
scious by the killer, who fled from the
family’s home on Lake Erie.
The Sheppard legal team has said the
mostly likely killer of Mrs. Sheppard
was Richard Eberling, the family’s win
dow washer at the time.
He died in prison in 1998 after being
'convicted of killing a woman for whom
he worked as a caretaker.
Students will not appeal federal TAAS dedsion
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AUSTIN (AP) - A group of minority students who
lost a federal lawsuit seeking to overturn the state’s high
school exit test won't appeal a judge’s ruling that up
held the exam, their lawyer said Monday.
“This has been an extremely difficult decision for
us,” said Al Kauffman of the Mexican American Legal
Defense and Educational Fund,
“We feel there are serious errors in the facts and law
of the decision, but we have to weigh the chances of
success against the chances of creating a bad standard
in this area of the law,” he said.
Last month. U.S. District Judge Ed Prado in San An
tonio ruled that the high school Texas Assessment of
Academic Skills test is constitutional.
He rejected legal claims that the exam discriminat
ed against blacks and Hispanics.
Prado said exam opponents failed to prove that the
adverse impact of the 10-year-old standardized test on
minorities is greater than the positive impact or that oth
er approaches would work as well.
Texas students must pass the exit-level reading, writ
ing and math test before receiving a diploma.
The exam is given in 10th grade and students get at
“We have increased the
understanding of these
tests by building an ex
cellent base of research
and evidence on them.”
— Al Kauffman
Mexican American Legal Defense and
Educational Fund member
least seven chances to pass before graduation.
MALDEF’s decision was good news to Education
Commissioner Jim Nelson.
“It means that the litigation surrounding the test is now
over, and those of us al the Texas Education Agency can con
centrate on continuing to prepare our schools for the changes
mid challenges that lie ahead,” Nelson said Monday.
Kauffman echoed the plaintiffs’ vow to continue
lighting the test in the Legislature, before the State
Board of Education and in public forums.
“We had to balance the opportunity to get a diplo
ma for tens of thousands of Texas students who fin
ished all their high school requirements except the
TAAS, against the chances we have to address the ter
rible effects of these tests in other cases and in other
ways,”he said.
Kauffman said despite the court loss, the plaintiffs
think the lawsuit has done some good.
“We have increased the understanding of these tests
by building an excellent base of research and evidence
on them,” he said. “Unfortunately, we did not suffi
ciently convince the court on all of our points.”
The state says the performance gap between mi
norities and white students is closing and that the
TAAS test is an important component in Texas’ school
accountability system.
Last spring, 60 percent of blacks, 64 percent of His
panics and 86 percent of white sophomores taking the
test passed, according to TEA.
Align
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Off Campus Aggies
The Valentines Edition
A
What: General Meeting \
Where: College Station
Conference Center
When: Tonight @7:30
Theme: Singled Out
Office: KoWus 137 Phone# 845-0688 http://oca.tamu.eclu
It is never too late to join.
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SPACES ARE
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APPLICATIONS
DUE NOW!
HIST 489-World War II at Home and Abroad
Dr. Jim Bradford
POLS 306-Contemporary Issues in Post WW1I Europe
Dr. John Robertson
Far More Information
and Applications Contact:
Study Abroad Program Office
161 Bixzell Hall West, 845-0544
OPEN FORUM
TO EXPLAIN
Texas A&M University
Residence Hall
RENT INCREASE
FOR 2000-2001
<■
V—IJI
WHEN: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2000
8:30 P.M.
WHERE:
229 MSC
ALL STUDENTS IN RESIDENCE HALLS
ARE INVITED TO ATTEND.
FOR INFORMATION, CALL
THE DEPARTMENT OF RESIDENCE LIFE
862-3158
OR SEND AN E-MAIL MESSAGE TO
<HOUSING@TAMU.EDU>
Additional information about the Department of Residence Life is available on the
World Wide Web at the following address: reslife.tamu.edu
Class of ’00
INTERESTED IN BEING A CLASS AGENT?
To Qualify as a Potential Candidate:
You must run in a TEAM of THREE people that are enthusiastic,
motivated leaders wanting to serve the Class of ’00 until 2005.
Requirements for Intent to Run:
• One member from each team MUST CONTACT Shannon
Crockett ’93 at 845-7514 before noon on February 14
• At least two of the three candidates from each team
MUST ATTEND an instructional meeting on February 15
at 5:30 p.m. at the Clayton W. Williams, Jr. Alumni Center
Class Agent Responsibility:
Class Agents will act as liasons between the Class of ’00,
The Association of Former Students and Texas A&M University.
Class Agents will be elected
March 29 & 30 in the 2000 Spring
Student Body Elections
OF FORMER STUDENTS