Casper Star-Tribune du lieu suivant : Casper, Wyoming • 13

star Wyoming Bl Wednesday, January 8, 1992 Star-Tribune, Casper, 4 Gerrymandering' concerns Applegate: Efforts to protect incumbents' seats lawmaker may doom plan committee, suggested Tuesday any plan failing to consider the wishes of legislators "doesn't stand a realistic chance of passing." "I don't think it's a fundamental consideration, but it has to be considered," Yordy said. "If your drawing a district and you nave three ways to draw a line and one favors a sitting incumbent well, I can count noses. I need a certain number of votes to pass a plan." Both Yordy and Applegate have submitted plans to the committee for consideration. Yordy said Applegate's single member districting plan "has problems when, for example, you find as many five house incumbents lumped together into one district." Yordy referred to a district in northern Cheyenne which is home to several current legislators. plcgate said.

"If the court perceives a plan is drawn for political purposes for considerations of party or incumbency that's a basis for declaring it void." The Corporations Committee is charged with drafting a new statewide legislative reapportionment plan for presentation to the full Legislature at the start of a special session Feb. 10. The Legislature is under court order to present a "constitutionally acceptable" reapportionment plan, after a three judge federal court panel rejected Wyoming's 1991 Reapportionment Act as unconstitutional. The court has threatened to draw its own plan if the Legislature fails to submit an acceptable one by Feb. 20.

Sen. Gary Yordy, R-Laramie, also a member of the corporations By CHARLES PELKEY Star-Tribune capital bureau CHEYENNE State Sen. Jim Applegate, D-Laramie, says overt efforts by legislators to preserve their incumbency through reap portionment may give a federal court ample reason to reject any plan ap- roved next month the Legislature. Applegate, a member of the Joint Corporations, Elections and Po APPLEGATE litical Subdivisions Committee said Tuesday drawing political districts to preserve the seats of current legislators is both unfair and potentially unconstitutional, "That's gerrymandering, Ap- Urbigldt: Harsher measures could By KURT J. REPANSHEK Associated Press writer CHEYENNE Wyoming's inmate population will skyrocket if the Legislature adopts all the criminal measures that have been profiled for consideration during the budget session.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Walter Urbigkit said Tuesday. And if that occurs, he told the Joint Appropriations Committee, the state definitely will need the medium security prison proposed to be built near Lovell. "There's an inflexible law of physics: If you want to put more people in confinement, you need the space to put them," the chief justice said. Urbigkit's advice came as Sen. Jim Geringer, R-Platte, diverged from fiscal matters to seek the Groups seek clemency for death-row inmate By KATHARINE COLLINS Southwestern Wyoming bureau LARAMIE Opponents of capital punishment Tuesday urged state residents to pressure Gov.

Mike Sullivan to commute the death sentence of convicted killer Mark Hopkinson. Laurie Seidenberg, president of the Wyoming chapter of the America Civil Liberties Union, said her group is "unequivocally and unalterably opposed to the death penalty in general and to the execution of Mark Hopkinson in particular." "There is no justification for Gov. (Mike) Sullivan to ignore the will of the Wyoming people, who in the last few years have written hundreds upon hundreds of letters to him pleading for clemency for Mark Hopkinson," Seidenberg said at a Laramie press conference. "Gov. Sullivan failed to commute the sentence in 1990," Seidenberg continued.

"Perhaps he will find it in his heart to do so now Perhaps (he) will take a stand, as many of his fellow governors have done that state that capital punishment is barbaric, and that we in Wyoming will not be barbarians." Rev. Ed Bigler, spokesman for the Wyoming Church Coalition said the churches he represents "stand firm in the belief that problems are never solved by the use of vengeance." Bigler noted the Hopkinson case is "an extraordinary case which has never been satisfactorily resolved" and disturbing in that "the actual killers have never been arrested." Hopkinson received the death sentence in September 1979 for ordering the torture-slaying in May of that year of Bridger Valley resident Jeff Green. At the same time he received three consecutive life sentences for ordering the bombing deaths of Evanston attorney Vincent Vehar and members of his family. An article in Tuesday's Star-Tribune incorrectly characterized the sentences Hopkinson faces in connection with the Vehar deaths. Green's body was discovered two days before he was scheduled to testify before a state grand jury investigating the Vehar bombings.

Bigler said that although he is aware that "the governor's official position is that he will not intervene we still hold out hope that he will reconsider his position." Bigler said a church service has been scheduled will begin at 8 p.m. on Jan. 21, the eve of the planned execution, at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Rawlins. Just before sunrise, the time ordered by the Wyoming Supreme Court for the execution to be completed, protestors will hold a "candlelight vigil" outside the gates of the Wyoming State Penitentiary, Bigler said.

Cody Rev. Warren Murphy, WCC chairman, said after the press conference that he and two protestant bishops asked Sullivan Monday to consider clemency. "He basically listened and said he didn't particularly like being in (the position he's in) and that he would reflect on (our request)." Murphy said. "But he gave no indication he would commute the sentence." Rick Hays, an Amnesty International representative who is coordinating statewide efforts to block the execution, said in a later interview that the "arbitrariness of the death penalty" in this case is because Jackson lawyer Gerry Spence was special prosecutor. Hays also said he thinks it's "nuts" that the state of Wyoming is "willing to cut the standard of need" for welfare recipients by 20 percent, and eliminate the Wyoming School for the Deaf, while "spending millions to kill one man." Ultimately, Hays said, "kids who end up acting out in some way because there were no programs available" might later on commit murders.

Wyomingites should realize that life in prison without parole "will protect society very effectively," he said. In a letter last week to the Star-Tribune, Hopkinson said Amnesty International and the WCC are arranging for him to take a polygraph examination. Hays confirmed that Hopkinson is "real interested in a polygraph test he says he's innocent." The WCC is trying to arrange a polygraph test for Hopkinson, he said. Wyoming Supreme Court rejects Hopkinson motions ROCK SPRINGS The Wyoming Supreme Court Tuesday denied two motions filed by attorneys for Mark Hopkinson on Dec. 20.

The defense team for the death row inmate had challenged the jurisdiction of the state high court in setting the execution date for the convicted killer for Jan 22. The defense attorneys had also asked for a hearing on their motion. In orders signed by Justice Richard Thomas, the panel denied both motions. Leonard Munker, state public defender and lead counsel for Hopkinson, said Tuesday "there's a statute in place that should be followed." The statute, he said, requires that sentencing including the setting of an execution date is to be carried out in the "sentencing court." In Hopkinson's case that would be the 9th Judicial District Court in Jackson. "If (a statute) favors our side, certainly they don't follow it," Munker said.

"It would favor our side in that it would give us some time to deal with the case." Munker said when Hopkinson was first given an execution date, in 1985, it was given by Judge Robert Ranck, then district judge in Jackson. But following an order from Ranck, Munker said, the court session was held in Rawlins. "After that the Supreme Court decided to save the argument, and save me making some request," Munker said. "It effectively blocks me as his attorney from making a statement in regards to the setting. There's no way I can respond It speeds up the process, it streamlines it." But Munker also said that his motion should not be considered "frivolous" since it took the Wyoming Supreme Court over two weeks to rule on the matter.

Group monitors shootings of Yellowstone bison chief justice's prediction on future inmate levels in the prison system. The chief justice added that judges throughout the state are well aware of overcrowding at the Wyoming State Penitentiary in Rawlins and so have tried to refrain from imposing maximum sentences. District judges easily could double the prison's population within a year if they handed down maximum sentences called for under current laws, Urbigkit said. And if the Legislature adopts more mandatory sentences, he added, "you have to provide the rooms at the inn (the penitentiary)." Earlier, discussion of the Supreme Court's $13 million budget request for the 1993-94 bien-nium centered on possible reductions, but Urbigkit indicated that there's nothing left to cut. wildlife herds.

For example, thou- sands of elk some of which also carry the brucellosis organism are migrating from the park. And yet the agencies have not enacted 'jf v-S i i Wandering .5 "Frankly, his lines were drawn with other political considerations in mind." Yordy suggested the inclusion of portions of south Cheyenne in several different districts would "tend to favor Democratic candidates, because of shear numbers. It so heavily Democratic and those Democrats tend to vote more party line, than the Republicans up North." According to committee Chairwoman Rep. Patti MacMillan, R-Albany, the committee is scheduled to meet again at 9:30 a.m this morning to debate and select a final group of four or five plans. MacMillan said the committee will then meet again later this month to draft a final version for presentation to the full Legislature.

fill prisons "What we did was retain the people and cut everything else," the chief justice said. However, Urbigkit did acknowledge under questioning that Carbon County, which now has two judges, could survive with just one and that once one of the current judges finishes his term the seat probably could be eliminated. Urbigkit also voiced his opposition to a suggestion that the court's library be stored electronically. "I'm a dinosaur, but a dinosaur with some wisdom," Urbigkit said. "In the long term, you're going to have to use books." The chief justice said it would be too expensive to continually try to update an electronic library and too painful to "stare at a green screen for eight hours a day." mission of brucellosis from buffalo to cattle, "there is absolutely no discussion of whether the migrat- ing bison pose an actual threat of brucellosis," Souvigney said.

ii-ViJ Dewey Vandernoif National Park over Sylvan Pass to Shoshone River, west of Cody. Hooper said the dog, a registered German shepherd, was not near the sheep, as claimed by Jennings. Hooper said testimony will show that the dog actually was "100 to 300 yards from the sheep" when it was shot. Fasse said Jennings has had trouble with dogs and his sheep before. Jennings said dogs had killed 25 sheep and bitten 75.

The sheep the Currier dog allegedly was chasing were pregnant ewes. Hooper said a member of Wyoming's Humane Society was on hand for the trial. A spokesman in Judge Kail's office said she hopes to reschedule the trial and selection of a new jury for Jan. 20. "It wasn't without some pain when we decided to cut our budget by a certain percentage," he told the legislators.

Additional cuts could lead to a reduction in operating hours at the county court level as well as a three-year delay in the delivery of Supreme Court opinions, Urbigkit said. The chief justice told Rep. Shirley Humphrey, D-Laramie, that he did not cut 12 percent from his budget as Gov. Mike Sullivan urged all agency heads to do in November in an effort to eliminate a $151.8 million state deficit projected for the upcoming biennium. Instead the reduction was "a flat 5 percent," he said.

The only way to achieve a greater cut would be to reduce personnel, Urbigkit said, adding that he doesn't want to do that. an eradication program that pro- poses to reduce those herds to min- imum core numbers." Although the park's plan dis- cusses potential impacts of trans- -VIVA A bison that left Yellowstone winter looks for forage near the spoken to other members of the jury about his difficulty remaining impartial. Judge Kail declared the mistrial on that basis. The trial began Monday. Jennings, a former Fremont County state representative, and his wife have a farm about one-half mile from the Currier home.

Tom Fasse, attorney for Jennings, said Jennings and his hired man on Feb. 4 saw a large dog scattering sheep in a pasture leased by Jennings. The dog was unattended and was not wearing a collar, Fasse said. Clay Jones, the hired man, allegedly shot the dog, and Jennings allegedly killed the dog with a second shot. H.t I BOZEMAN, Mont.

(AP) An official from a national animal rights organization has arrived here with a video camera to film the shooting of Yellowstone National Park bison that enter Montana. "I'm going to witness the execution of these animals that I have an interest in because they came from public lands," said D.J. Schubert of the Fund for Animals based in Washington, D.C. "It's time to put an end to 'solving your problems by killing your problems' mentality. We need to increase our tolerance for wildlife." Schubert said he intends to observe state officials who are killing bison on private, state and federal land near Yellowstone's northern entrance.

Most of the 149 bison shot since November have been on property near Corwin Springs, that's owned by the Church Universal and Triumphant. Under an interim management plan, state game wardens may shoot buffalo in Montana if they are near cattle or if they damage fences or pose a threat to safety. Stockmen fear they can spread brucellosis to cows, causing them to abort. The Fund for Animals favors the purchase of land just outside Yellowstone so the buffalo can forage there without getting shot. Schubert said the federal government has spent millions of dollars in the past three years to buy land outside the park for elk habitat.

"There is no eradication program for elk because elk mean money" to the state because hunters must buy licenses to shoot them, he said. One way to solve the problem of bison roaming on private property would be to have the state pay ranchers to move their cattle away from the bison, Schubert said. He also said that to protect their cattle, ranchers can immunize them against brucellosis. The coalition has charged that Yellowstone's short-term plan for managing buffalo is "nothing more than an effort to reduce the population of the northern herd." In a draft interim management plan, Yellowstone officials have proposed to allow state and federal officials to kill all buffalo that enter Montana, regardless of whether they present a disease threat to cattle or if they are a threat to fences or people. Coalition spokeswoman Jeanne-Marie Souvigney, speaking about the park's interim plan, said, "This seems to be a drastic departure from policies for managing other Judge declares mistrial in Fremont case Juror for dog-killing lawsuit unable to remain impartial of Cody meeting By MIKE SAMPSON Star-Tribune correspondent LANDER District Court Judge Elizabeth Kail Tuesday declared a mistrial in a case involving the killing of a dog near Riverton.

Kathryn Currier, who lives north of Riverton, claimed that Gary Jennings, also of Riverton, shot and killed her dog on Feb. 4, 1991. Dave Hooper, attorney representing Currier, said Judge Kail declared the mistrial after a juror who already had been seated "claimed he would have difficulty remaining impartial" during the hearing. Hooper also said the juror had Proposed mine topic CODY The Northwest Wyoming Resource Council will conduct a public meeting Jan. 15 in Cody to discuss the proposed New World gold and silver mine at Cooke City, Mont.

The New World Mine has been proposed by the Noranda and Crown Butte mining companies. Appearing at the meeting will be representatives of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, the Beartooth Alliance and the Northern Plains Resource Council, according to a spokesman. Speakers will include Louisa Willcox and Jeanne-Marie the the be but at gney of the GYC and Wade King of alliance, plus Richard Parks of Northern Plains organization. Northwest Wyoming Resource Council members say that Park County will not benefit from any mineral or property taxes stemming from the mine, which would entirely located in Montana, would be impacted by workers and their families living in Wyoming. Speakers will present a slide show and discuss a range of concerns about the mine.

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. the Cody Convention Center. I.