Albuquerque Journal from Albuquerque, New Mexico • Page 15

ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL Friday, March 1, 1985 B3 More new mexico. ODD Police Find Recent Will in Principal's Car By Patrice Locke JOURNAL CORRESPONDENT contents. In addition to the will, police found a black holster for a small revolver, three bullets, 38 spent shells and a wallet containing $221 in Fero's car. Magistrate Court documents show. Letters to Fero's daughter, Tiffany, and his brother, Don, were also found in the car, though police would not comment on the contents of the letters.

Hanson was shot in the upper part of his body last Friday morning during a routine job evaluation with Fero in Hanson's office. Magistrate Court documents show that Hanson had told Fero during the meeting that his contract would not be renewed. Court records also show that Fero had left a note for his assistant before the shooting saying, in part, that he "just did not want to put up with the lousy behavior of those that act from their greed or lust of power." Fero had been principal of Tohatchi High School since the fall of 1983. Hanson was named superintendent of the school district last fall. The Gallup-McKinley County school board met Thursday night and unanimously voted to appoint Roland Carey acting superintendent until July 1.

Carey is an assistant to the superintendent. The board also formally accepted Fero's resignation as principal of Tohatchi High School and named the assistant principal at Tohatchi High School, Carl Montoya, school principal. The board also agreed to provide group and individual counseling services at the district's central office and at Tohatchi High School for those suffering from the trauma and grief of the shooting. Police said Thursday they had completed their investigation of the shooting and that detectives had interviewed about 10 persons in the case. Fero was arraigned Monday in Magis trate Court on a charge of first-degree murder.

The court entered an innocent plea for Fero after his attorneys declined to enter a plea. A cash bond of $250,000 was set by Magistrate Paris Derizotis. Fero is being held in the maximum -security section of the Gallup City JaU with nine other prisoners. "He seems to be doing all right," Police Chief Frank Gonzales said after talking to Fero on Thursday afternoon. A preliminary hearing is set for March 6.

After the hearing, Fero could be bound over to District Court for arraignment and trial. Conviction on the first-degree murder charge could carry a life sentence. The district attorney has said he will not seek the death penalty in the case. A memorial service for Hanson will be held at 3 p.m. today at Red Rock State Park in Gallup.

Funeral services were held Tuesday in Ada, Okla. GALLUP Police said Thursday they found a will dated a week before the fatal shooting of the Gallup-McKinley County school superintendent in the car of the man charged with first-degree murder in the death. The will, dated Feb. 15, 1985, was found when Gallup police searched Osmand Charle Fero's car after the fatal shooting last Friday of Superintendent Paul Hanson. Neither police nor the district attorney would say whether the will was Fero's.

Fero, 43, was principal of Tohatchi High School at the time of the shooting. Asked whether the will was Fero's, District Attorney Robert Aragon replied, "I never comment on evidentiary matters." Gallup police Chief of Detectives Eddie Coriz said the will was being held as evidence but would not comment on its Shootout Boosts Security Sheriffs Office May Move to Judicial Complex By Gail Olson And Linda Drucker JOURNAL STAFF WRITERS -Jo -Tj --Vi Jr. -4r fJVJ r. Convictions Reversed SANTA FE The State Court of Appeals on Thursday reversed Frank V. Sanchez's two rape convictions because a district judge improperly restricted questioning of a key prosecution witness during his trial.

The court, however, left standing his convictions for kidnapping and escaping from a police officer. Sanchez, 32, of Bosque Farms, was convicted of abducting a 20-year-old University of New Mexico student and twice raping her at knifepoint in April 1983. Bernalillo County District Judge Patricia Madrid sentenced him to 20 years in prison on four charges stemming from the incident kidnapping, escaping from a police officer and two counts of rape. During the trial, the woman claimed Sanchez assaulted her with a knife as she was walking to her dormitory, ordered her into her car and drove her to a secluded area near the Rio Grande, where he raped her twice. Sanchez, however, claimed that the woman had picked him up on East Central Avenue and made sexual advances toward him.

In the ruling overturning Sanchez's two rape convictions, the Appeals Court said Judge Madrid had denied Sanchez the constitutional right to confront his accusers by limiting the defense's questioning of an emergency room physician who had examined the victim and concluded she was raped. The doctor, Charles Bova of the Lovelace Medical Center, had testified that while there was no physical evidence of forced sexual intercourse, this was consistent with her account that she had been raped at knifepoint and had offered no resistance. College Plans M.B.A. SANTA FE The College of Santa Fe will offer its first graduate degree program next fall, a master of business administration. Brother Donald Mouton, president of the small Christian Brothers college, called it "an historic occasion" Thursday as he announced that the M.B.A.

program had received full accreditation from the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. The college joins the University of New Mexico Graduate Center and St. John's College as the only major Santa Fe educational institutions that offer graduate degrees. College of Santa Fe has offered a bachelor of business administration since the college was founded in 1947. Marvin Berry, chairman of the Business Administration Department, said the master's program was developed because area residents and students had expressed a desire for graduate-level studies.

The program will consist of 36 credit hours or one year of full-time study and will be conducted through the college's School of Open Studies. Classes will be at night and on weekends cost of new security measures for his office will be born by the county. However, County Manager Gil Tercero said who will pay for the changes "is still up in the air." Security has been a major issue at the county-owned court complex since Feb. 15, when convicted murderer Andy Lopez was killed by sheriffs deputies during an early-morning shootout. Lopez took nine court employees hostage and threatened to kill the judge who had sentenced him.

District Judge Bruce Kaufman and Court Administrator Martha Frank both said an armed guard and a walk-through metal detector stationed at the building's only unlocked entrance days after the shootout still isn't enough security. Some pocket knives have been temporarily confiscated from court visitors. Kaufman said the equipment also detected a gun in a woman's purse. "She wasn't going to get anyone," the judge explained. "She thought she needed protection." Although no charges were filed, the judge said, it can be a crime to carry a concealed weapon into the building.

All courthhouse employees may eventually be issued special photo-identification cards, according to Walter. Walter said new procedures will provide "more control" over who enters and leaves the office, but denied they would make his office less accessible to innocent citizens. SANTA FE Part of the Santa Fe County Sheriffs office may be moved to the Judicial Complex to provide around-the-clock guards for increasingly security-conscious judges, court employees and prosecutors. All three Santa Fe County commissioners said Thursday they liked the plan, under which a radio dispatcher and some deputies would be moved from the old county building on Grant Avenue. Meanwhile, a glass window has been installed at the entrance to the district attorney's second-floor office in the complex.

"From now on, you will tell the receptionist who you are and what your business is, and she will buzz you in," explained District Attorney Chet Walter, who said bullet-proof glass for the new window was on order. Visitors will have to wait on couches on a suspended walkway outside the office, rather than inside. And communication with the receptionist will be through a metal grille in the glass. No cost estimates on the security plans were available Thursday. Walter claimed the "relatively minor" 5t, t-x rV; 1 i ft' JOURNAL PHOTO BARBARAELLEN KOCH t)A Chet Walter watches county worker Al Baca install security window.

Apparent Oversight Helps Stall Resolution of Sign-Ordinance Challenge By Susanne Burks JOURNAL STAFF WRITER duced by Councilor Ken Schultz on June 4 before proceeding with the suit. He confirmed Thursday that the next step would be trial on the claims of the seven plaintiffs that remain out of the 51 businesses and one church that were involved in the suit. But council spokesmen said the council had never received the necessary paperwork from the Environmental Planning Commission, which heard the bills Oct. 4 and recommended that the council not adopt them. James Leaman, the city planner who is in charge of the EPC, said late Thursday he was "certainly under the impression those (bills) had gone downstairs to the council for scheduling." He said he would check into the matter this morning.

Councilor Nadyne Bicknell, chairman of the council's Land Use, Planning and Zoning Committee, said the bills had never been transmitted but that she expected them to be scheduled for a hearing in the next two months. One of the amendments would allow non-conforming signs to remain in place indefinitely as long as they are not altered. The other would permit height variances for signs in commercial zones and for those at motels, hotels and service stations near freeways. The case is pending before state District Judge W.C. Woody Smith.

The suit was filed Dec. 31, 1980 the day before provisions of the 1976 ordinance became fully effective by 32 businesses and the Temple Baptist Church. More businesses joined, bringing the total number of plaintiffs to 52. All plaintiffs have dropped out or settled except American Furniture, Clarion Four Seasons Hotel, Chevron, Sleep World and three portable sign companies. Disposition of remaining claims in a 1980 legal challenge to Albuquerque's sign ordinance has been stalled by an apparent oversight, combined with the Legal Department's decision to await City Council action on two proposed amendments.

Assistant City Attorney James Fitzgerald said the department was waiting for the council to act on amendments intro Belen's New Police Chief Thinks Family Roots in Area Will Help on Job Navajos and Hopis Disagree On How To Divide Land By Axley Sanchez JOURNAL STAFF WRITER THE ASSOCIATED PRESS i sv and insurance fraud. The AG's office later said no criminal intent had been found, and no charges were filed. Gabaldon also came under fire from 10 of the department's 13 officers for his administrative practices; they accused him of favoritism, unfair promotions and unequal discipline. Sanchez said he knew very little about the department's problems but planned to assess the situation on the job: "If something is broken, I want to fix it. If not, I'm going to leave it alone." Sanchez retired in January 1984 after 27 years in the Albuquerque Police Department.

He joined it in 1956 and was a patrolman, detective, motorcycle officer, criminal investigations supervisor, jailer and juvenile division officer. He became a lieutenant in 1982 and retired as captain, the Valley-area commander. Asked why be was leaving retirement, he said, "I felt I still had a lot of good years left in me and when the Belen job came up, I saw it as a challenge." Sanchez beat 40 applicants for the job. The Belen City Council said it wanted a man with at least 10 years' police work and administrative experience. It also issued a long list of qualifications on ability to relate to officers, the public and other city and police officials.

"I think that what they (city officials) were tsking for is a professional, and I think I am a professional," Sanchez said. Asked what kind of administrator he would try to be, Sanchez replied, "The only way you motivate people is if you're a fair individual. Each officer has to feel he has a chance for promotion, and they all have to feel there is equal treatment." Sanchez lives in Westgate Heights but said he planned to move eventually to the Belen area. He and his wife, Virginia, have five sons, ages 16 to 28. He graduated from Albuquerque High School and was in the U.S.

Air Force from 1952 to 1956. BELEN Segilferedo Sanchez, or "Sig" as he's called, is coming home in a sense when he becomes chief of the Belen Police Department. Though he's an Albuquerque native, his grandparents were Jose Leonardo Sanchez and Inez Olguin Sanchez, pioneers in Jarales, a little farming community east of Belen. He still has relatives there. "Having my roots in Belen I think will help me become accepted in the community," Sanchez said.

"I think it helps me to understand the problems of the area and its culture." Pending a background check by the State Police, Sanchez, 52, will start on the job Tuesday. He succeeds Danny Gabaldon, who resigned in November to become chief of security for a Laughlin, casino. Gabaldon's 13 months in the position saw an Attorney Gener- "I agree that as neighbors that they, too, need to come to the table with open hands, open minds," the Hopi leader said. "Let this matter remain with the two tribes." Under the federal law, after the land is divided, all members of each tribe would have to move out of the other tribe's district. The Senate resolution, similar to one passed in 1983, calls for repeal of the law, establishment of a national blue-ribbon committee to study the situation and the continued right of both tribes to use the disputed land as long as good-faith negotiations continue.

The resolution was introduced by Sen. James Henderson D-Window Rock, a member of the Navajo tribe. Henderson said if the land division is enacted, more than 10,000 Navajos would have to leave their homes. The federal cost of relocating them, including buying them new homes, could go over $500 million, he said. PHOENIX, Ariz.

Navajo and Hopi Indians disagreed Thursday on how to solve a 102-year-old land dispute that one tribal leader called "a matter of survival." Peter MacDonald, former Navajo tribal chairman, said members of his tribe "are being sentenced to spiritual death" by a 1980 federal law ordering the tribes to divide about 1.8 million acres they have held jointly since 1882. MacDonald urged the state Senate Government Committee to pass a resolution asking Congress to repeal the law. However, Ivan Sidney, Hopi tribal chairman, told the committee he thought an honest effort was being made to divide the land fairly. He noted President Reagan had designated outgoing Interior Secretary William Clark to mediate in the matter. Sidney said the matter involved hardships on both sides.

"Sig" Sanchez al's investigation into accusations of misuse of city funds, tampering with pay vouchers Farmington Hospital Swallows Loss on Severely 111 Medicaid Patients it will pay in health care for the needy, aged, blind and disabled THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FARMINGTON The San Juan Regional Medical Center's chief financial officer says limits on federal Medicaid coverage meant the hospital had to swallow $192,869 of a $235,869 bill run up by a traffic accident victim. Such "catastrophic" hospital losses arise because of Medicaid's policy setting a maximum on what losses on 17 other Medicaid patients in the same month, with their bills exceeding the $2,401 Medicaid ceiling by as much as $69,558. Nelson told the medical center board Wednesday that the problem of losses on severely ill Medicaid patients was not expected to cure itself and the hospital must make provision for future losses. As a primary-care community hospital, San Juan Regional essentially is required to treat patients regardless of their ability to pay. The hospital board voted unanimously to seek federal permission to convert an unused second-floor wing into a skilled nursing care unit which would provide for patients who are too sick to care for themselves at home but not sick enough as judged by insurance companies and Medicaid to remain in a hospital.

The skilled nursing unit would allow the hospital to benefit financially by getting more insurance money for each patient than it now receives. "There's no other place to send them now other than Santa Fe or Albuquerque," said Dr. George Pfaltzgraff, vice chief of staff. San Juan Regional's executive director, James Devney, also said insurance companies were introducing policies for hospitals that would cover such "catastrophic" cases and suggested the medical center might consider such coverage when it became available. But board President Robert Bayless said premiums for such policies probably would be costly and "just average out our expenses." Devney said Medicaid patients account for about a third of all patients admitted to the hospital.

and low-income children. In the case of the unnamed patient, Medicaid paid $2,401 and automobile insurance paid another $41,441, said the hospital's assistant executive director for finance, Frank Nelson. "It's just a shining example of how hospitals can get stuck," Nelson said. He said the hospital chalked up.