Florida Today from Cocoa, Florida • Page 8B

Florida Man guilty in police slaying 8 Saturday, April IM3 An Alabama man wa convicted Friday flral daflraa murder in tha hooting daattt of Panaacola pollcaman Stoprian Taylor and atlamptad murdar In Via wounding of a fallow offlear during a bank robbary Eacambla County Circuit lury dallbaratad about thraa hour bafora returning tha verdict agalnat Clarence Hill, 25. of Mobile, The, State Auto inspection drive falters Mother held in baby's death ODAT Wtr triCM PLANTATION A woman was Charged with second degree murder, Friday in the death of her IB month old daughter, whose heart stopped beating 11 days after she was taken to a hospital in a comatose state, police said An autopsy "concluded that the child died as the result of a blunt head trauma." said a statement released by the Plantation Police Department Judy Holden. 29, was being held at the Broward County Jail without bond, police said Plantation police were brought into the case after the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services was notified by physicians at Broward General Medical Center that they suspected the child. Dons, had been physically abused Hawkins arranging presidential visit? ORLANDO US Sen Paula Hawkins says she is negotiating with the White House to arrange a presidential visit to Miami May 20 Hawkins, Fla said Reagan will probably attend a liinrhpOiLSponsored by the Cuban Amen can Foundation She said the luncheon would be "a great chance for a follow up" of Reagan's speech on Central America Wednesday night, "It makes sense politically and geographically" because of Miami's proximity to the Caribbean and Central America, she said, adding that she had been discussing plans'for the visit with the White House Lawyers work to beat execution deadline Lawyer Death Row inmates Friday were working to beat the Tuesday deadline for the executions of Luis Carlos Arango and Charles Mallory Vaught Attorneys for both men have won assurances from federal and state courts that the executions would not be carried out before Tuesday Although Florida State Prison Superintendent Richard Dug ger scheduled he executions for Tuesday moming, the warrants signed April 6 by Gov Bob Graham took effect at noon Friday and won empire until noon Frida) May 6 Arango, 47, was ordered to die in Florida's electric chair for. the March 28, 1980 murder of fellow Colombian Jano Arango Posada Bill Sheppard.

representing Vaught, has asked for a new hearing In the case, claiming as one of the grounds that Vaught received poor legal help at his 1977 murder trial Dog's death a mistake, civil jury decides ST PETERSBURG John Roess. convicted in criminal court of chasing down and running over his neighbor's aging dog with a riding lawn mower, didn't mean to do it, a civil jury says It took six Pinellas County jurors 17 minutes to decide Thursday that Roess, 44 year old savings and loan executive, didn't have to pay any money to Wilfred Cundiff, for the loss of Sonny, an 11 year old barkless African basenji That verdict differed sharply from a criminal proceeding last year in which a three woman, three man panel said the act was deliberate and found Roess guilty of animal cruelty He was sentenced to five days in jail and a year probation in that case He is appealing Roess claimed he was only trying to shoo the dbg away when it wandered onto his lawn Nov 2, 1981 Two life insurance companies fined TALLAHASSEE Two life insurance companies were fined for alleged violations of the state's insurance code, Insurance Commissioner Bill Cunt er said Friday, Centennial Life Insurance Co was fined 15.000, and Travelers Insurance Co was fined 12,500 for not supplying the proper life insurance replacement forms to various clients or other firms State require agents who are selling replacement policies to tell consumers about the importance of comparing existing policies with replacements Agents must also notify the company providing coverage that a replacement policy is planned Device left unlocked before crane collapsed TAMPA A safety device that prevents a boom from being lowered was not locked when a crane hoisting four men to a worksite at Tampa Stadium collapsed, hurling the workers 130 feet to their deaths, according to an official of the firm operating the crane Matthew A Koener. of P. Ward Jn Largo, says he doesn know if the March 31 accident would have been avoided had the device, called a boom rachet, been in place Federal regulations do not require that the device be The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the accident. Bill Demery, OSHA area director, would not say whether failure to have the safety mechanism engaged contributed to the tragedy Runaway, pal held after gun fails to fire PENSACOLA A 14 year old runaway from Texas who was stopped for a traffic violation pointed 'a pistol at a policeman and pulled the trigger repeatedly, but it failed to fire, police said "All I was thinking about was trying to get out of the way of gun and trying to get my weapon at the same time," said veteran officer Richard Wallace Thursday The youth and another teen ager who was also in the car were charged with attempted murder and carrying concealed weapons TALLAHASSEE (AP) Following powerful lobbying by Gov.

Bob Graham, a majority of the members of the House Transportation Committee say they will vote Monday to kill legislation that would reinstate mandatory auto inspections in Florida. Eleven lawmakers on the 21 member panel said they will oppose the bill, sponsored by Rep Betty Easley, Largo, the Tallahassee Democrat reported Friday. And four others said they were leaning toward opposition Such a move would put them at odds with the Senate, where two panels have already endorsed reviving the safety checks Graham has indicated he would Veto renewed inspections And lobbyists from his office have spent all week, updating the traffic statistics they used in 1981 to convince the Legislature to abolish the 13 year old program Linda McMullen, one of Graham's lobbyists, said Thursday that the updated statistics showed that auto inspections were not worth what they cost and that mechanical defects caused fewer than 2 percent of all accidents "I can't twist arms like the Easley said "The only thing I can hope is that I can refute his statistics Graham Is not Easley's only powerful opponent. House Speaker Lee Moffitt, Tampa, has said he opposes mandatory auto Inspections After he made that announcement, several panel members, including Speaker designate James Harold Thompson, Gretna, came out against the bill Rep Patricia Bailey, Pine llas Park, was one. "I have more or less gotten more information," said Bailey, who chairs the Transportation subcommittee that passed the bill last week.

Those who said they would oppose the bill were: Reps Bailey; Thompson; Cornne Brown, Jacksonville; John Cosgrove, Coral Gables; James Hargrett Jr. Tampa; Bolley Johnson, Gulf Breeze; John Lewis, Jacksonvllle; Sidney Martin, Hawthome; Vernon Peeples, Punta Gorda; James Ward, Fort Walton Beach; and Dan Webster, Orlando. Its supporter are. Reps Ed? ward Healey, West Pain Beach; Helen Gordon Davts, Tampa; Peter Wallace. St Petersburg; Fred Dudley, Fort Myers; James Watt, Lake Park; and Frank Williams, Crystal Lake vThe undecided votes came from: Committee Chairman Tom Gustafson, Fort Lauderdale; Reps Larry Hawkins, Per rtne; Ron Silver, North Miami Beach and Tom Gallagher.

Coconut Grove All four said they were lean ing toward opposing the, bill assist asaBBBBaw assssssssssssssaV fUKEB KtlB. a ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssw' SbIIIIII a3 TODAY Af DEXTER ORANGE SHOWN AT BRAIL COMPUTER TERMINAL already has job as programmer (or Public Service Commission Blind FSU student top computer science grad Officials face new charges of extortion TAMPA (AP) Suspended Hillsborough County Commissioners Joe Kotvas and Fred Anderson were Indicted Friday on more extortion TALLAHASSEE (AP) Dexter Orange, the only Florida State University student who will graduate today with all A's in computer science, suffers from a mysterious disease that blinded him a decade ago But Orange, 21, says his handicap won't keep him from pursuing his career goals in computer science And Orange, who will receive his undergraduate degree today with about 1,700 other FSU students, already has a job lined up He begins work Monday as a computer programmer for the Florida Public Service Commission He has been working at the PSC part time and already has a Braille computer installed in his office a Orange has been totally blind for the past 10 years His brother, Dan, 20, also suffers from a congenital form of retinal degeneration similar to Lebers deteriorating disease Nobody knows what causes it and there is no history of it in the boys family Orange has been visually impaired all his life By 1970, his vision worsened to the extent that he could no longer attend public schools and he entered the School for the Deaf and Blind in St Augustine His determination surfaced early, though, and he made up his mind he was going to get back into the public school system "I knew I wanted to go to college and that I had to be competitive," he said As a high school Junior, he participated in a pilot program attend ing some classes at a public high school in St. Augustine By the time he was a senior, he had abandoned his plan to become a lawyer and decided to pursue a career in computer science. He entered public school as a full time student and graduated as a National Merit Scholar from John I Leonard High School in Lake Worth, a suburb of West Palm Beach. At Florida State, Orange has help in getting to classes and to work His wife.

Allison, is not blind and also works at the PSC, Orange never used a seeing eye dog but does carry a cane to help him get around the university near Florida's Capitol His wife also is a computer science student and graduated from Florida State last year as the top student in the program Allison Orange received all A's throughout her college career while Orange received three B's in liberal studies courses "I have to confess, I don't apply myslf to things like literature as much as I should," Orange said Orange encountered few problems while at the Tallahassee school. However, during his first two years. Florida State had no special computer terminals' and he had to take a reader with him to all his classes conspiracy cases involving holding company and a road paving outfit. Two Indictments were returned charging them with conspiracy to commit extortion and extortion In a rezomng matter pertaining to Gourmet Foods HoldlngCo, Inc. and a contract award for Columbia Paving Inc.

One of the indictments also charges Joseph Anderson, a partner and corporate officer in Columbia Paving, with conspiracy. Grand jurors said Kotvas and Fred Anderson solicited money from Gourmet Foods last summer Kotvas reportedly told company attorney Charles Rambo that a rezoning guarantee would cost money. in August, Rambo started making payoffs to Kotvas totaling $4,000, the Indictment charges The rezoning petition was approved Aug 26 with Kotvas, Anderson and suspended Commissioner Jerry Bowmer casting affirmative votes, according to the panel. Bowmer was arrested with Kotvas and Anderson Feb. I on extortion conspiracy charges involving a SOS acre development.

Anderson and Kotvas 'have pleaded innocent. But Bowmer has struck a deal with federal prosecutors. Terms of the plea agreement have not been made public. It is scheduled to be presented to a judge for approval next week. If accepted, Bowmer is expected to be the principal witness against his former fellow commissioners The other new indictment alleges Kotvas and Anderson attempted to extort money from Columbia Paving to get the commission to reassign part of a Hillsborough County road paving contract According to the indictment, Joseph Anderson met with Bowmer and offered to pay $20,000 to get the contract.

Bowmer reportedly told Kotvas and Fred Anderson they could earn $5,000 each for their cooperation Joseph Anderson told Bowmer he would take the payoff to him on Jan. 31. On Feb 1, Bowmer talked with his two colleagues about the bribe, the grand jury said It was on Feb I that FBI agents said they arrested the three commissioners and confiscated $5,000 in bribe money from the development, Galleria. Two others charged with conspiracy in that alleged plot are Tampa attorney Michael Sierrra and businessman John Decarlucci. All but Bowmer have pleaded innocent bssss asssssssssssssssssa Wk 4 LB asssssssssssssssssssssssaaal HhtjnvA assssssssssf B'sssssBbV atssssssssssl JOE KOTVAS extortion charged Meanwhile, Bowmer's co defendantsdefendants are questioning his rhen; tel stability.

"The credibility, or more appropriately the incredibility oj Jerry Bowmer, will be the major theory advanced by Mr, Anderi son in defense to this charge," Anderson's attorneys, Bennie and Richard Lazzara, said in a recent motion asking District Judge George Carr to require a "mental examination" of Bowmer, "Mr Anderson will demonstrate that Bowmer suffers from severe and longstanding mental problems, and as a result of these he is prone to lie, manipulate and distort facts and circumstances in order to benefit his own self interest," the motion states The attacks on Bowmer's credibility represent somewhat of a change from a few months ago whem Bowmer, Anderson, and Kotvas formed a usual three vote majority that often controlled county commission decisions. Stone: organized crime fight unorganized TALLAHASSEE (AP) The prosecutor who headed Gov, Bob Graham's panel on organized crime says Florida lacks the manpower and money to find out the truth about such activities in the state "The people of Florida think something is being done about organized crime, and it is not," said Robert Stone, the state attorney for St Lucie and Indian River counties "We have to wake up in this state or we are going to be at the mercy of organized crime." Stone, head of the Governor's Council on Organized Crime, said he thinks the state should add 100 special agents and 90 analysts to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement within three years to help fight organized crime Stone's panel also suggested an additional $750,000 to prosecute organized crime figures In addition. Stone's panel recommended: Suffer penalties for falsifying corporate records. More money for witness protection programs More money for people serving on statewide grand Junes Stone's panel concluded that the state didn't have enough information about organized enme, to do an effective Job of fighting it. "It Is a mess," said Sen.

Ken Jenne, Hollywood, a panel member "The field is practically non existent The bottom line is we have a serious problem when it comes to fighting organized crime," Said Broward County prosecutor Michael Satz; "It (organized enme) exists in Florida and we have to develop the Intel ligence, then have a force that is able to act pro actively, rather than reactively." Stone, the adviser to the current statewide grand Jury, said he will tell Graham to not Impanel any more statewide grand juries until Florida knows more about the underworld. "We would be better off taking the money for the grand jury and saying, 'Here, gather intelli Stone told the Fort Lauderdale News and Sun Senti net in an article published Friday. "The statewide grand jury will never be a success until the money is put into law enforcementenforcement agencies to make the cases," Stone said. "We need to do it with a sense of purpose and some organized plan," FDLE said it plans to respond to the council's recommen dation to look deeper info organized crime. Police claim indictments crack $12 million drug ring TAMPA (AP) Authorities said Friday they cracked a $12 million drug smuggling operation from South America with the indictment of 23 Flondians and one Colombian xm racketeering and trafficking charges The ringleader was identified as Tampan Angelo Bedami, who was still at large Friday, A statewide grand jury in West Pal 91 Beach returned sealed indictments against the 24 Thursday, but the documents weren't made public until Friday after law enforcement officers arrested II of the defendants, according to Hillsborough County Shenff Walter Heinrich.

State Attorney J. Salcmes said that dunng a three year probe, investigators learned of 14 smuggling ventures involving cocaine, marijuana and methaqua lone flown into Central and South Florida between 197S and 1982 During that time, an estimated 13,000 pounds of marijuana, 170 pounds of cocaine and 100,000 methaqualone tablets were brought In. Police said they made three seizures, confiscating a total of 1,800 pounds of marijuana and 90 pounds of cocaine. It was tha second net ones fT indictment by the statewide panel in three months. Last January, the grand Jury issued indictments against 14 members of the Ague do Borrego organization charging them with smuggling $250 million worth of marijuana Into Florida from South America.

Authorities gave the following information on successful smuggling operations covered in the latest indictment; In 1(75, 1.800 pounds of marijuana were smuggled by air into Okeechobee County In two trips; a In 1976, tha group brought in another 900 pounds; In 1979, Okeechobee again was the destination for an undetected 3,000 pounds; In 1981, there were five trips four in July bringing in 3,000 pounds of marijuana and 100.000 methaqualone tablets. In December that year, a plane flew into Tampa with 23 bales of marijuana; Charged were Bedami, 32; Jauqin Diaz, Colombia; John Hernandez, 32. Tampa; Dennis 23, Tampa; Danny Grillo, 38, Tampa; Robert Sweet, 38, Odessa; Jose Pi Albanez. 83, Ocala; Earl Burton Newaome, 33, Punta Gorda; Janes E. Bar ber, 33, Tampa; V.L.

Underbill. 47. Okeechobee; Leon J. Wood III, 33, Indian Rocks Beach; William J. Boynton, Odessa Duane Watson, 23, Moorehavenr Harold Watson, 33.

Venus; John Ray, 23, Plant City; Kay Pen rose, 23. Plant City; 1 James Lumberson, 47, Dover; Joseph Lorenzo, 59, Tampax John R. Luito, 37, Tampa; Alexander Sweet, Odessa; Kurt Canant, 21, Odessa; Paul Byrd? 35, LaBelle; Wllkie D. Wilktns, 37, Clewiston. and Barney McCleaC,.