Tucson Daily Citizen from Tucson, Arizona • Page 1

VOLUME 104, NO. 126 TUCSON, ARIZONA, MONDAY, MAY 27, 1974 40 PAGES 15 CENTS NIXON: PEACE LASTING HAND KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. (UPI) President Nixon, warning against isolationism, said today that for the first time in this century, "a real chance exists for lasting peace." In "a nationwide radio Memorial Day address delivered from the Florida White House, Nixon said that "in 1974 our hopes for a lasting peace are brighter than at any time in living memory because we now have a structure of peace arid we are carefully working to strengthen it. "A momentum has been created that makes it easier the leaders of the major powers to settle differences peacefully, in negotiation in- stead of armed confronta- tion." He paid tribute to Americans who have given their lives in wars dating back to Valley Forge. He said, "It should inspire us with a determination to keep America great and free by keeping America safe and strong in our own time, the time of unique destiny and opportunity." Nixon said that Americans were called away to war "under trying and sometimes bitter circumstances" four times in this century, the last time in Vietnam.

"Only today, for the first time in this century, do we live in a time when, thanks to past Sacrifices, a real chance exists for lasting peace -peace built not on vain hopes and good intentions, but on solidj realistic grounds." For the first time in 12 years, he said, there are no Americans fighting anywhere in the world. i i urged that peace not be. taken for granted and said This Week $525 Citizen Charlie's Crossword See page 16 ive die traiiie in state; 2 burned It'll dip to 100 I've seen hotter Holidays, but then I sure don't Remember when. --May Morrie Umm The weatherman says a cold front out of the east will cool the southern Arizona desert a little by tomorrow afternoon. It's supposed to go all the way down to 100.

But it'll be hot and very dry until then, after a low tonight of about 70. Yesterday's maximum was 103; and the overnight low was 68 recorded at 5:40 a.m. The forecast calls for a few thundershowers in the northern mountain regions, but not a drop anywhere else. Most of the southwestern desert regions hit a high of 110 yesterday, and Gila Bend recorded the nation's high of 115. Only 1.48 inches of rain has fallen in Tucson thus far this year, compared to the normal rate of 2.60 inches, Fall weather report page 7 Five perspns have died in Arizona traffic, and two others have been burned critically as the Memorial Day weekend draws to a close.

Although there were no fatal crashes in County, one man was injured seriously in Tucson. In addition to the five deaths in the state, a Phoenix man was killed and two companions were injured seriously when their motorcycles in a tunnel at Zion National Park in Utah An elderly Tuc son woman was killed by a train in West Virginia. The Arizona Highway Patrol reported the death of Paul D. Begay, 46, Tuba City. Begay was killed late Saturday night in a two-vehicle collision on State Route 254, about 20 miles east of Tuba City.

Verna Gerchman, 35, of Phoenix was burned to death Saturday wh'en the gas tank of the car she was riding in dragged on the pavement of U.S. 60 near Superior and caught fire, the highway patrol said. The driver, Lawrence R. Gerchman, 44, and a passenger, Lanford Gage 22, of Phoenix were in critical condition at Maricopa County Hospital. Esther Wescogame, 51, of Peach Springs, died after the car she was riding in overturned and ejected her, the highway patrol said.

The mishap occurred about three east of Truxton on U.S. 66. Mark Milner, 20, and Allen Davis, 22, both of Los Angeles, were killed yesterday when the car they were riding in hit a bridge abutment about 35 miles south of Parker on the Parker-Poston road, Yuma County Sheriff's deputies said. The dead motorcyclist in the Zion National Park accident was identified as Harvey Hoff, 29. The'injured were identified as Brad Martin, 21, and Roy Bieghler, 32, both of Pho'e nix Margaret Campbell, 74, of 2050 Amalia Ave apparent-' ly went'walking on, railroad "tracks near Montgomery', Va authorities said, and was struck by a train.

Her was asleep in. their car nearby, investigators The only serious Pima County reported by authorities occurred when a car driven by Stephen Dunn, 29, went out of control and smashed into Mrs. Georgia Morgen's house 3074 N. Alvernon Way. the Tucson Fire and Rescue Squad was called to the scene shortly after the accident at 3:40 p.m.

Dunn was pinned his overturned car i i It 45 minutes using cutting torches and electric saws to extract Dunn from the wreckage, a spokesman for i the Tucson Fire Department -isaid! that when this happens "its survival is in jeopardy." "Lasting peace can be achieved only through lasting awareness, lasting preparedness, and lasting strength, both physical and moral." He said that there are some people in America "who would like to turn inward and away from the world's problems," who believe America has enough problems of its own without intervening in others. But he said that America must continue to be a part of a larger world. may seek to ignore the world," he said, "but the world will not ignore us." Apparently referring to India's detonation of a nuclear device, the President said that in a day when atomic weapons are spreading, when famine stalks parts of the earth and when parts of the world are a tinderbox, "to turn our backs on our responsibilities for world leadership, would, in the long run, be disastrous, not for only us, but for all the people in the world who seek peace." "Today, America's isolation can only lead to the world's destruction," he Citizen Charlie 16 Classified 23-34 Comics. 11 Crossword Puzzle 11 Deaths 23 Editorial Page 20 Focus 13-18 Jumble 11 Ann Landers 21 Movie Schedule 15 Public Records 7 Don Schellie 13 Sports TV-Radio Schedules 17 Weather 7 Your Stars 17 Park sites dbloomin' 19 Plans for two state facilities, authorized by legislature, begin to take shape. Pit stops aplenty 3 5 They help make Indy SAO a safer place to drive, but Tucson's Roger McCluskcy needed two more.

Pick stylists appealing 13 Blucgrass musicians create beautiful, natural sound by avoiding practices. company and home Two apparently unrelated fires within 15 hours have struck National Metals the site two weeks ago of a blaze in which the city pondered billing the firm for fire fighting costs. The Tucson Fire Department also battled a house fire yesterday in which the homeowner, Anthony Holub, 746 N. Palo Verde and a fireman were injured. Holub, 70, was taken to St.

Mary's Hospital with first and second degree burns over 18 per cent of his body. He was listed in satisfactory condition today. The fireman sustained minor leg burns. Firemen this morning responded to the second call to National Metals 1525 N. Miracle Mile.

The blaze in the scrap metal yard was reported at 4:16 a.m. and eight fire units responded. The fire was Continued page 2 Carport becomes inferno Citizen Photo by Lew Elliott Judges don't agree on plea bargaining By SAM NEGRI SUK Writer Martin is a young man with a history of felonies. One night he picked up a hitchhiker at Speedway and Tucson Blvd. It was a girl, and she was going to the Tucson Community Center to meet her boyfriend.

Instead of going to the Community Center, Martin took the girl to a patch of desert near I- 10. He threatened the girl, broke her eyeglasses he said it was an. accident-- and then he raped her. After Martin was.arrested, the defense attorney and the prosecutor from the county' attorney's office got together to discuss a plea was charged: police with kidnap for rape; and However, the lawyers and Martin agreed that he would forego a trial by pleading.guilty to the lesser charge of atterhptedrape. It was Process saves time in court clear from the facts that Martin did not merely attempt a rape: He committed a rape.

Yet the court and the lawyers accepted the lesser plea because it was expedient. The process saves time and gets the defendant out of the way. Judges in Pima County Superior Court say they not only look at the charge to which a man pleads guilty but also scrutinize the original charges and the facts in the case before they impose sentence. This means that if a man committed a rape and pleaded guilty to attempted rape, the judge, for all practical purposes, will sentence the man as though he had committed a rape. The difference is that, because the case has been plea bargained, the judge will be limited in the sentence he can impose.

Had Martin pleaded guilty to rape, for example, he could have been sent to prison for five years to life. Attempted rape carries a sentence of years to half a life (awkward as that sounds). Martin was sent to prison for a term of five to eight years. Prosecutors and defense attorneys seem to like the plea-bargaining process, primarily because it saves all the time spent in trying cases in court. Some judges agree.

For instance, Judge Robert 0. Roylston said, "I am a firm believer in plea bargaining. From a pretrial standpoint, we could not possibly try all these cases." When a defendant refuses to plea bargain, his case goes to trial, either by judge or by jury. Last year, about 85 per cent of the cases processed in Pima County Superior Court were plea bargains, according to Presiding Judge Ben C. Birdsall.

The number of cases terminated in this county's Superior Court last year was 3,095. Of this total, 1,435 were disposed of by the defendant pleading guilty; 1,078 were dismissed JUSTICE YOU BE THE JUDGE What happens to a criminal once he has been arrested and dropped into the criminal justice system? What role does the public play in the decisions that lawyers, probation officers and judges make concerning the fate of a convicted criminal? For the last nine days the Tucson Daily Citizen has presented actual case histories of convicted felons. Today's story on the plea bargaining process moves the 13-part series away from specific cases and Into the machinery of the court system. The series was written by Citizen reporters Sam Negri, John Winters and Curtis Gustafson after six weeks of extensive research into the disposition of major criminal cases In 1973 in Pima County Superior Court. Criminals may think it 9 a game Anthony Holub, 71, was working on the bus at left when a spark from a refrigerator touched off a fire at his home at 746 N.

Palo Verde Ave. Holub was in satisfactory condition today after being burned. Damage was estimated at $15,000. (usually because the defendent pleaded guilty charges in another case) and 582 cases went to trial. If Birdsall's 85 per cent figure is correct -he said it was an intelligent guess this means that 1,219 of the guilty pleas were entered after plea bargaining.

Birdsall is not a strong advocate of plea bargaining, although he believes there are cases where it is proper. He remarked, "I do not always think plea bargaining is a good idea, because look what happens: "We have a criminal, one who is guilty; his attorney starts to talk to him about a plea to something else, some lesser charge. Now, we are hopeful that in most cases we can rehabilitate this man; and I believe one of the greatest aids to rehabilitation is admitting what you have done. For this man to agree to plea bargaining is not right. It makes him think R's a big game, and I think it does not help rehabilitation." The National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Planning and Goals agrees with Birdsall.

That group, considered the au- by most judges, recommends that all plea bargaining be ended by 1978. Robert E. Keldgord, chief of the Pima Adult Probation Department, supports recommendation. Keldgord termed plea bargaining "a travesty of justice." Keldgord said the practice of plea bargaining is particularly serious in Arizona because the Arizona Revised Statutes allow lawyers here to go a step farther than is allowed in most states. In most states, the parties to a plea bargain are allowed only to agree on what charge the defendant will plead guilty to.

In Arizona, the lawyers are also permitted to agree on whether the defendant will be placed on probation, and under what This is not a common practice now, said Keldgord, but it was until as recently as three months ago. "I would have a guy come in here and tell me, 'My case has been plea bargained; I'm going to get five years' probation and go into a program in "My position is that since Adult Probation is not a party to the plea bargain, we are not bound by it," said Keldgord. Keldgord said the practice of negotiating the disposition of a case "was going on pretty Continued page 2.