Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada • Page 31

Friday MAY 2, 1986 RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL Section 3C OBITUARIES 4-21 CLASSIFIED Me Today's tip Truckee Meadows Community College will offer a special review class from 1 to 5 for persons planning to take the naturalization test to become U.S. citizens. Cost: $55. Details: 673-7182. laiboirne 1 5 days away from prison "The judge himself would like to go through the impeachment process in that it would give him an opportunity to present more of his case," she said.

Nevada's other representative, Democratic Rep. Harry Reid of Las Vegas, said in Washington that Claiborne faces certain impeachment if he refuses to step down from his post. "I feel bad Judge Claiborne was convicted, but a jury convicted him, the Supreme Court has ruled, and I believe we should follow the law," Reid said. "I don't have an opinion as to whether he should quit because I may be voting on his impeachment. I would be pre-judging him, and I don't want to do that.

By Ken MillerGazette-Journal U.S. District Judge Harry Claiborne of Las Vegas has 15 days to surrender to federal marshals or to an Alabama prison to begin serving his prison sentence on tax evasion convictions, it was learned Thursday. The time to Claiborne's surrender date began running when a mandate affirming Claiborne's 1985 tax evasion conviction arrived in Reno federal court from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. Meanwhile, Rep. Barbara Vucanovich, said Thursday she thinks Claiborne is looking forward to what are now inevitable impeachment hearings before Congress.

"If he doesn't resign, I think impeachment is inevitable." Claiborne has vowed to fight to clear his name, but it appears that battle will soon be waged from within the walls of the federal penitentiary at Maxwell Air Force Base at Montgomery, Ala. After Claiborne became the first sitting federal judge to be convicted of a crime committed while on the bench, presiding Judge Walter Hoffman of Virginia ordered that Claiborne would have to surrender within 15 days after the final mandate affirming the conviction was received from the appellate court in San Francisco. Vucanovich and Reid noted two congressmen in Washington are looking into A -l 1 1 1 is i 1 -1 April nuclear test damages equipment LAS VEGAS Up to $20 million worth of sensitive recording instruments may have been damaged in an underground nuclear test conducted last month at the Nevada Test Site, the Department of Energy acknowledged Thursday. Tom Clark, manager of operations at the site, said the instruments, tucked in alcoves in an underground tunnel, were accidentally exposed to some of the effects of the Mighty Oak test on April 11. "Some of our remote sensors we normally expect to recover saw environment we believe would lead io damage," said Clark.

But Clark said it would be several weeks before workers could re-enter the tunnel at Ranier Mesa to determine how much of the instrumentation was damaged. He said much of the equipment could have survived the blast. Gark's comments came in response to a televised report that two doors in the blast tunnel, which normally close almost instantly after a blast, failed to close and exposed the instruments to damage. Fire damages Reno duplex A suspicious fire Thursday night gutted an unoccupied rental duplex at South Virginia Street and Hillcrest Drive in Reno. The fire occurred at about 8 p.m.

at 200 Hillcrest. The building is owned by the nearby Mark Twain Motel, 2201 S. Virginia, motel manager Veronica Steininger said. "I told the police something like this was going to happen," she said, referring to a recent series of vandalisms. She said the last was committed Saturday when someone broke all the windows and lamps in the duplex and set a tree on fire.

Firefighters controlled the Thursday night blaze in a few minutes, but Reno Battalion Chief Otis Turner said there was extensive damage. Children at the scene told fire investigator Larry Fair they had overheard a teen-age boy say he was going to set the duplex on fire. Farr said the next step would be to determine how the fire was started. Truck kills crash survivor BAKER, Calif. A Nevada man survived the crash of his car when it overturned on Interstate 15, but was run over and killed when he left the wreckage and apparently fell on the freeway, California Highway Patrol officers said.

David Steele, 33, of Las Vegas, was crushed by a tractor-trailer truck early Wednesday on Interstate 15 near Baker, about 150 miles northwest of Los Angeles, said CHP Officer Richard Hostetler. CHP investigators said Steele climbed from his overturned car and was attempting to flag down a vehicle for help when he fell in the truck's path. The driver of the truck, Thomas Crossley, 33, also from Las Vegas, was'uninjured, Hostetler said. Steele's unidentified passenger, unhurt when the southbound car went off the freeway on the Baker grade, was found inside the wrecked car and was unaware of the accident or Steele's death. impeachment proceedings against the judge in the wake of the U.S.

Supreme Court's refusal last week to review his CaVucanovich said Congress is approaching the politically sensitive issue with care. "I at this point feel the smartest thing for us to do is wait and see what this (congressional) subcommittee will determine about the impeachment process," she said. Reid said Rep. Robert Kastenmeier, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, is waiting for a recommendation from the judicial council of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals before initiating impeachment proceedings.

With wire service reports Santini 's son jailed after cocaine bust By Michael PhillisGazette-Journal The 25-year-old son of Republican senatorial candidate Jim Santini is in Washoe County jail after being arrested last week on felony charges of possessing cocaine and being under the influence of cocaine. David Santini was arraigned Tuesday in Reno Justice court before Judge Donald Pope and ordered to appear for a preliminary hearing May 13. He is in jail pending $6,000 bail. He had no attorney in court, but told the judge he would retain private counsel. David Santini also faces charges for allegedly failing to appear in Municipal Court after he had already pleaded guilty, to a January 1985 drunken driving charge.

According to arrest reports, a security guard saw David Santini enter a stall in the restroom of Fitzgerald's hotel-casino Saturday night. He was reportedly carrying a short straw, commonly used to snort cocaine up the nose. The guard became suspicious and detained Santini. In a search, Reno police found a small amount of a white powdery substance believed to be cocaine. David Santini is the son of the former congressman and his ex-wife, Susan Peterson Santini.

He lived with his mother after the parents divorced in 1966. Faith Greaves, Jim Santini's press secretary, said "Mr. Santini said it is a personal family matter and he didn't care to discuss it in terms of his candidacy." The municipal court charge stemmed from a December 1984 arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol. Without an attorney, he pleaded guilty Jan. 8, 1985, to DUI before Municipal Court Judge Michael Roth.

Roth fined him $700 but suspended a 10-day jail sentence on condition that Santini complete an alcohol treatment program. Part of the condition of the sentence was that every month the younger Santini appear before him in court to check on his progress. David Santini failed to appear for a Feb. 28, 1985 court date. Roth signed a bench warrant March 8 for failure to appear, which was served in jail Saturday night.

A trial date on that misdemeanor, which carries an additional $1,250 bail, has been scheduled for May 30. Tom SpitzGazette-Journal Church Thursday night. About 250 for the annual event. 4, A '4 Libya was a member of the country's diplomatic service from 1957 to 1959. He represents international and multinational corporations in his law practice, with offices in Houston and Cairo.

Because the U.S. attack wasn't done in self-defense, it was "unwarranted oppression," Gamal-Eldin charged. Instead, the U.S. should have set up a naval blockade, like the one President Kennedy ordered around Cuba during the Cuban missile crisis, he said. "Nobody goes in, nobody goes out.

No food goes in, no oil goes out. The country goes bankrupt in three months." In the meantime, a United Nations team could have been called to investigate the United States' claims against Libya. See LAW, ptge 2C Therese (Little Flower) people were on hand RED MASS: The Rev. Norman McFarland, Bishop of Reno-Las Vegas, raises a chalice during Law Day Red Mass at St. Lawyer uses La to criticize U.S.

By Llla FujlmotoGazette-Journal The United States' bombing of Libya last month was unwarranted and did nothing to hold back the tide of international terrorism, an international lawyer and former member of the Egyptian Diplomatic Service said in Reno Thursday. "The attack on Libya was fruitless," Atef Gamal-Eldin said. "We killed civilians. We have been accusing Khadafy of killing civilians. So what's the difference? This was the wrong way to settle it." Gamal-Eldin, a part-time Reno resident who holds dual citizenship in Egypt and the United States, lectured at Old College Thursday as part of Law Day U.S.A.

festivities at the school. Gamal-Eldin was a friend of the late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Explosive's By Ken MlllerGazette-Joumal The federal government Thursday rested its case against the man accused of trying to blow up part of the Reno airport with a pipe bomb. Former Vietnam helicopter pilot Roger Dale Stockham is expected to take the stand today to defend himself. Stockham was expected to testify Thursday, but was delayed because of extensive examination of witnesses who testified on the potential destruction of the alleged bomb. Both sides called experts to give opposing views of the damage that could have been caused if Stockham's pipe bomb had potency debated in airport bomb case the government rested.

The defense immediately began presenting its case. A Los Angeles attorney who represented Stockham in a previous bombing case told jurors the defendant had escaped from a hospital for people who are mentally unfit to stand trial. Attorney Venna Margolese said Stockham suffered from Agent Orange infection while flying combat helicopters in Vietnam, and the defoliant left him depressed and suicidal. Stockham's attorneys claim he never intended to damage the airport, but was simply seeking attention to express his views on the Vietnam War. They also told jurors that Stockham will testify that he speaks to aliens.

Red Mass tradition carried on in Reno Honoring a 7-century-old tradition, Law Day Red Mass was celebrated Thursday night at the St. Therese The Little Flower Church. Officiated by the Rev. Norman F. McFarland, Bishop of the diocese of Reno-Las Vegas, the mass is held annually on May 1 National Law Day to ask for divine guidance in administering justice.

The first celebration of the mass dates back to 1245 in Paris. The tradition began in England in 1310, where judges and attorneys followed the ritual of the church by wearing red robes during the services, thus giving it the name Red Mass. electricitv. calline a witness who debunked the theory as impossible. FBI Agent Kevin Kelly, testifying for Assistant U.S.

Attorney Brian Sullivan, told of how Stockham went from a depressed state to "combat mode" around the time he left the device at the Reno airport. Kelly said Stockham left another primitive explosive in the men's room at a San Diego newspaper after applying for a job there. "He decided to be radical," Kelly said, telling jurors, "he was ready to go for it, do or die, and it was his intention to plant a device." Judge Edward Reed denied a defense motion to dismiss the two charges after Mark CrosseGazette-Journai Murder suspect Kelly Koerner. led into Reno Justice Court over By Laura The Nevada and first told a House "At every frustrate and their rights Waste Policy) Nevada energy D.C. involvement, keep states Officials and Utah lending only Yucca and Hanford, Public defender quits LAS VEGAS An investigator for the Clark County Public Defender's office has resigned after being arrested in a sweep of two heroin distribution rings, authorities said.

Robert J. Ellis, 42, was arrested Tuesday night after he allegedly bought four balloons of heroin from two undercover police officers, said Metro Sgt. Ed Pitchford. Ellis, who had worked for eight years in the Public Defender's office, submitted his resignation after his arrest, said Public Defender Morgan Harris. Police rounded up 18 alleged members of two heroin rings after initial arrests were made earlier in the week.

A total of 20 balloons of heroin, each containing about a gram, were recovered in all the arrests. Dunes retrofit promised LAS VEGAS Dunes Hotel officials said Thursday they will meet mandatory fire retrofit requirements by a May 12 deadline. Resort officials, who faced the possible closure of areas not brought into compliance, plan to close off some areas of the resort while bringing others into compliance. The hotel's buffet and Seahorse Terrace area will be moved to a convention area already retrofitted and the main casino, kitchen and showroom will be brought into compliance by the deadline, said hotel spokesman Al Guzman. A Clark County Building Department official said the Dunes has made substantial improvement on its retrofitting in the last month.

The hotel and county officials have waged a battle over the retrofitting efforts, with the county threatening on several occasions to close areas of the hotel not brought into compliance. Wire service and staff reports gone off in a trash can at the Reno Cannon International Airport in June An airport employee found a package containing the device while emptying trash minutes after Stockham called the FBI and the Reno Gazette-Journal with warnings he had planted a bomb. While the federal government claims the pipe bomb could have showered part of the airport with glass and debris if it had exploded, Stockham's attorneys claim the device was harmless, consisting of match heads crammed into a piece of pipe. Defense attorney David Robertson tried to defuse government claims that the bomb could have been set off by static SUSPECT IN COURT: in orange jumpsuit, is Thursday. ju i i Nevadans blast feds nuke dump site: selection process MyersGame-Joumai Department of Energy has refused to work with other states in the nationwide search for the high-level nuclear waste dump, a Nevada official subcommittee Thursday.

opportunity, DOE has attempted to limitj otherwise thwart states' efforts to exercise and responsibilities under the (1982 Nuclear Act, said Robert Loux, director of the Waste Project Office, in testimony before the conservation and power subcommittee in Washington, "While giving Up service to cooperation and the department has consistently acted to at arms length." from Nevada, Mississippi, Texas, Washington testified that the DOE is ignoring them and a general overview of its selection methodology. Mountain, Deaf Smith County, Texas; are the leading candidates for the See NUCLEAR, page 2C Man accused of killing wife held without bail By Michael PhillisGazetteJoumal Accused murderer Kelly Koerner was arraigned Thursday in Reno Justice Court and ordered to face a preliminary hearing May 16 on charges he shot his ex-wife, preschool owner Christy Koerner. Justice of the Peace Fidel Salcedo also ordered that Koerner be held without bail pending the hearing, which will be held to determine if there is enough evidence to hold him for trial in Washoe District Court. Koerner won't enter a plea until his case reaches the District Court level. The body of Mrs.

Koerner, 36, operator of Country Kids preschool in Reno, was found early Tuesday morning in her parked car near a psychologist's office where she had a Monday afternoon appointment. She had been shot in the head five times with a pistol. Koerner, 36-year-old former owner of the defunct Summit Construction Co. of Reno, was arrested at the Fort Bragg, airport Tuesday afternoon. According to police reports, he chartered a plane from Reno Flying Service and was flown to Dunsmuir, Calif.

His car was later found at the Reno airport. At Dunsmuir, Koerner allegedly ordered pilot George R. Browning out of the plane at gunpoint. He then flew off on his own. The empty plane was discovered at the See KOERNER, page 2C rS-rt jj k.

1.