'~"V
nation
ATTAIN
ou
!ast
4*
t Attorney general: Insanity
standard needs to be reformed
he Percent
3tailer$ ! sales
>nth last yeas
osefromstaes
•porting peflo®
etatetshaveh
:et expected
percent.
1 with a II
n same-flo*
analysts N
cent increase
percent,
reported a i;
n same-sto
elow the 41
)tal sales rose
in 01
II decided on
tood.
ement later
missal, and
iho was sen-
tind bars for
*d.
is of raping
NATION
IHE BATTALION
9A
Friday, May 7, 2004
AUSTIN (AP) — Texas Attorney General
Greg Abbott told a Senate committee Thursday
liat the state’s insanity standard needs to be
donned, citing the case of a Beaumont man
:harged with murder for placing a 6-year-old in
in oven.
“Our current laws in how we deal with the
mminally insane have failed,” Abbott said. “A life
Has needlessly lost because of the way our system
»orks or perhaps didn’t work.”
Kenneth Pierott was found not guilty by reason
27o^i If insanity in 1998 for using a dumbbell to fatally
' jeat his 25-year-old sister, who suf-
from cerebral palsy. He was
(leased after four months in a state
iospital.
"Last month, Mr. Pierott put his
jrlfriend’s 6-year-old son in the oven,
limed the heat up to 6(X) degrees and
eft the boy to die,” Abbott said.
The pilot light wasn’t on in the
jvenso it didn’t heat, but the child
edof asphyxiation.
Abbott also pointed to the case of
iast Texas mother De*anna Laney,
dtowas found not guilty by reason
jfinsanity in the stoning deaths of
of her sons. A judge has com-
nitted her to a state hospital at least
(trough July
A life was
needlessly lost
because of the
way our system
works or perhaps
didn't work.
— Greg Abbott
Texas attorney general
“The public is justifiably suspect about a system
fiat allows an insane killer to go free,” Abbott said.
Changes must be made to existing laws ... What
re need is a system that allows the state to contin-
iitosupervise dangerous, mentally ill criminals.”
Dr. Mary Alice Conroy, speaking on behalf
of the Texas Psychological Association, said
cases such as Pierott’s aren’t the norm. She said
about two-thirds of defendants found innocent
by reason of insanity have not committed a vio
lent crime.
James Smith, chief executive officer of the
North Texas State Hospital, which cares for those
acquitted based on insanity, said the Legislature
needs to address what happens to the acquitted
once they leave the hospital.
“My experience has been that it is possible to lose
track of them fairly quickly,” he said.
Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San
Antonio, said Smith’s observation is
less than comforting. Wentworth’s
Jurisprudence Committee is review
ing the state’s insanity statute and
the issues surrounding it.
Smith would like to see the state
mdve toward allowing a person
acquitted based on insanity to be
recommitted if they fail to follow
certain conditions of their release,
such as taking their medication.
“With that type of setup, some
of the situations that break all of
our hearts would not have
occurred,” he said.
As of Tuesday, Smith said 67
people being cared for at state hospitals had been
acquitted by reason of insanity.
While some at the public hearing called for the
verdict to be changed to “guilty but insane” or
"guilty except mentally ill,” Smith said there is a
system in place in the state’s prisons to deal with
mentally ill inmates.
NEWS IN BRIEF
Tombstone of
Jasper man
found desecrated
JASPER, Texas (AP) — The
javesite of a black man who was
dragged to death in 1998 by
three white men was found dese
crated Thursday, police said.
A racial epithet was carved
into the broken tombstone of
James Byrd Jr.
Jasper Police Chief Stanley
Christopher told Beaumont televi
sion station KFDM that that the
as
case is being investigated
criminal mischief.
So far no arrests, Christopher
said.
Three white men were convict
ed for Byrd’s gruesome death.
Two were sent to Texas death
row, while the third received a life
prison term.
The victim’s mother, Stella Byrd,
said the family was upset that the
gravesite had been disturbed.
"I don’t know what to think
about it,” Mrs. Byrd said.
“They’ve done enough to him
already. I don’t think it’s kids who
did this. It’s upsetting. We hoped
he could rest in peace.”
Two people who were at the
Jasper City Cemetery on
Thursday afternoon, tending to a
relative’s gravesite, noticed the
damage, police said.
The desecration apparently
happened in the past couple of
days, according to Christopher.
The granite headstone, putting
Byrd's date of birth as May 2,
1949, was broken from its base,
according to KFDM.
Jasper is about 110 miles
northeast of Houston.
NEW SHIPMENT OF
LOOSE DIAMONDS!
ROUND DIAMONDS
PRINCESS CUT DIAMONDS
1.44
K
VVSi
3950 00
2.23
H
VS,
I4500 00 EGL Cert.
I.357
D
SI,
7250 00 EGL Cert.
1.56
1
VS,
6900 00
1.27
G
Sl 2
4900 00 EGL Cert.
1.00
G
vs.
5460°° EGL Cert.
1.06
F
S, 3
2900 00 EGL Cert.
.9,
E
Sl 2
3400 00
1.04
M
ws 2
2475 00 EGL Cert.
.90
G
vs 2
Sl 2
3450°° EGL Cert.
1.03
H
vs 2
. 4575 00
.90
1
2500°° EGL Cert.
1.002
J
vs 2
2900°° EGL Cert
.87
F
si.
3 1 00 00 EGL Cert.
1.00
H
s u
43 50°° EGL Cert.
.82
F
vs 2
3075°°
.95
1
vs,
Sl 2
vs.
3450 00 EGL Cert.
.73
E
vs 2
2920 00 EGL Cert.
.92
.92
G
H
43 27°° IDEAL CUT EGL Cert.
3875 00 EGL Cert.
.71
.70
H
H
vs 2
vs 2
2270 00 EGL Cert
2 1 00 00 EGL Cert.
.90
.88
.86
.83
.80
1
G
1
H
F
512
Sii
Sl|
51 3
SI,
2500 00 EGL Cert.
# 2700 00 EGL Cert.
2250 00 EGL Cert.
I800 00 EGL Cert.
2700 00 EGL Cert.
.66
.60
.591
.56
E
H
G
E
L
Sl|
vs,
vs,
vvs.
1 625 00 EGL Cert.
1 400 00 EGL Cert.
1 500 00 EGL Cert.
1 600 00 GIA Cert.
.73
F
VS 2
2450 00 PCS Cert.
.54
D
Slj
1 250 00 EGL Cert.
.73
H
SI ■
2 ISO 00 EGL Cert
.51
D
vs 2
I350 00 GIA Cert.
.70
H
S »2
V^ 2
,785 00 PCS Cert
.51
D
SI,
I275 00 EGL Cert.
.62
H
1 350 00 EGL Cert.
.50
E
vvs 2
1 500 00 GIA Cert.
.60
K
Si,
775 00 EGL Cert.
.57
G
vs 2
I455 00 EGL Cert.
PEAR CUT
.55
E
SI,
I525 00 EGL Cert.
.92
.54
D
SI J
I575 00 EGL Cert
H
SI,
2945°o
.51
F
vs 2
I685 00
.64
1
SI,
I250 00 EGL Cert
.45
1
vs.
560 00
ASHER DIAMONDS
OLD EUROPEAN CUT
(SQUARE EMERALD CUT)
1.18
Sl 3
3300 00
1.07
H
vs 2
4 1 00 00 GIA Cert
1.03
l
S'3
24 00 00
1.0,
F
VS 2
493 0 00 GIA Cert.
.91
l
1,
I850 00
.60
1
VS,
II70 00 EGL Cert.
ANTIQUE
CUT DIAMONDS
.46
H
Sl|
675 00
1.98
1
S',
7500 00 Cushion Cut
OVAL DIAMONDS
1.88
J
si 2
4950 00
1.72
1,
395 0 oo
.84
E
vs 2
3 1 50 00 EGL Cert.
1.7,
J
1
SI3
4500 00 Cushion Cut
.83
D
vs.
3375°° EGL Cert.
1.12
si,
2600 00
.81
E
vs 2
3040 00 EGL Cert.
1.03
1
si 2
2950 00 Cushion Cut
.72
1
S'2
I595 00 EGL Cert.
.74
J
S'2
95Q00
.54
H
S'2
950 00
.32
H
si.
5 50 00
RADIANT CUT
MARQUISE
DIAMONDS
1.06
D
SI,
4600 00 GIA
.5,
E
VS 1
1 525 00 EGL Cert.
6.76
G
1 1
27500 00
1.37
1
Sl3
3150 00
EMERALD CUT DIAMONDS
1.21
K
Sb
3450 00
1.14
1
vs 2
3675°° EGL Cert.
1.52
l
vvs
, 6490 00 EGL Cert
.89
D
vs 2
3 4 70 00
1.12
E
SI3
29500°
.48
H
S',
875 00
.58
1
SI,
11 SO 00
.31
K
vs,
395°o
John D. Huntley, Inc.
J Class of '79 ^
"Very Personal Investments"
Rare Coins, Loose Diamonds, Precious Metal, Fine Jewelry, Watches, Tennis Bracelets,
Cocktail Rings & Colored Gemstones
313B South College Ave. (Next to Harry's) • 846-8916
Succeed
Affordable, flexible, accreditedT^
transferable college courses online.
www.talecollege.dcccd.ed
-V; A
if
c.s.
a
for
;tions
ore
'#
. .
F
” ' y . '
’ , A '
j
f-
mammm
t y' ■
iv,
'
11 p.
rv
A
A _
EvevyHuv^ yotA fVWflA^lly.
k DALLAS COMMUNITY COLLEGES An equal opportunity institution.
■Dallas