Casper Star-Tribune from Casper, Wyoming • 8

ft star Wyoming Bl Thursday, Mar. 5, 1987 Star-Tribune, Casper. Wyo. Ha -J Mistrial declared in DUI case Lincoln murder case goes to jury I 1 1 A I If Star-Tribune file photo Iloek Springs homeowners in subsidence-prone areas still face FIIA loan difficulties Sullivan: FHA solution to Rock Springs loan woes won't work Congressional delegation hails proposal Staff and wire reports CHEYENNE A proposed federal solution to home loan redlining in Rock Springs won't work but is a "positive step" toward resolving the problem, Gov. Mike Sullivan said Wednesday.

U.S. Sens. Malcolm Wallop and Alan Simpson, in a joint statement with U.S. Rep. Dick Cheney, hailed a proposal from the Federal Housing Administration to revise its policy limiting FHA insurance on homes in areas potentially affected by mine subsidence.

The delegation called the FHA proposal "a sound basis for reaching an agreement between the federal government, the state of Wyoming and Rock Springs homeowners." But Sullivan said that the state subsidence insurance program does By PAUL KRZA Southwestern Wyoming bureau KEMMERER A Lincoln County jury will return to court today to decide if Joseph Smizer is guilty or innocent in the death of Marie Volcic, his former girlfriend. Both sides rested their cases Wednesday after Smizer himself testified. At one point, questioning of Smizer by the prosecution prompted a defense motion for a mistrial. Presiding District Judge John Troughton said he would hear closing arguments Thursday morning and then submit the case to the jury for a verdict. Smizer spent more than an hour on the witness stand, denying on several occasions that he killed Volcic.

The couple lived together for about a year in the Kemmerer area until her disappearance July 10, 1985. Prosecutors allege that Smizer shot Volcic, fled first to Green River and then Denver and finally to Arizona where he was arrested about one year later. Her death was the culmination of years of abuse and violence at his hands, they charged. But when he testifed, Smizer told the jury that he loved Volcic, and left her only after he "ripped off" about $2,400 of cocaine and marijuana from two Diamondville residents. He said she was still alive when she left, and that he never tried to contact her again because he feared the two men might "find him." Lincoln County Attorney Richard Leonard asked Smizer a long series of "yes-no" questions during his cross-examination, seeking details on Smizer's disposal of the drugs in Denver.

Later, when Leonard raised questions about Smizer's part in allegedly looking for a gun in planning some armed robberies after he went to Arizona, Public Defender Wyatt Skaggs asked Troughton to declare a mistrial. Skaggs also accused Leonard of "misconduct," saying the mention of robberies violated an "agreement" between the defense and prosecution. Leonard denied there was any such agreement, but Troughton, while denying the mistrial motion, also issued instructions to the jury to ignore the references to Arizona. With his final questions, Leonard persisted in asking Smizer when he planned to again contact Volcic after leaving her. Smizer replied that he had "no specific time" in mind.

"She was taken care of," he said. JOHN TROUGHTON Will hear final arguments A mm, Campbell witnesses allegedly collaborated By LIZ BRIMMER Star-Tribune northeastern bureau GILLETTE A Campbell County court judge has asked for a special investigation by the county attorney into alleged collaboration between sequestered witnesses, possibly involving Gillette police officers. Campbell County Court Judge Jeremy Michaels declared a mistrial in the two-day prosecution of Herschel Newman for allegedly driving while intoxicated after defense witness Mary Strunk admitted under questioning that witnesses had discussed the case while waiting outside the courtroom. A sequestration order, given at the start of the jury trial, required that witnesses neither discuss the case nor permit it to be discussed in his or her presence before or after testimony. I After Strunk's testimony, Public Defender William Combs moved, for the mistrial, alleging that the state's witnesses, including city police officers, also participated in violating the order.

Michaels charged Strunk with contempt of court for willfully disobeying the order, and jailed her for one day. Strunk said she had only heard the other witnesses talk and had not participated in the discussion. But a contempt of court charge may be based on a person's failure to stop or report action against the court, such as a conversation between witnesses. Michaels said he originally thought about appointing Randy Arp as special prosecutor for the case, but Monday decided to ask the criminal division of the Campbell County Attorney's office to investigate the mistrial. "This trial cost the taxpayers several thousands of dollars and was mistried because the sequestration order, agreed to by the attorneys and ordered by the court, was violated," Michaels said, "and so the credibility of the witnesses is rightfully an issue as to what was discussed after my order was issued." "That's why it seems very important that we find out just how far that went.

And secondly that those people be held responsible for their conduct," he said. Michaels said an investigation is necessary to uphold the integrity of the court and through possible fines make "taxpayers whole for the amount of money that they lost occasioned by a willful breach of a legitimate sequester order, not by the defendent necessarily, but by witnesses maybe on both sides." Teton fireworks case thrown out of federal court CHEYENNE (AP) A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a retail and wholesale fireworks dealer against Teton County's commissioners and attorney, the Wyoming Supreme Court and the Wyoming Bar Association. U.S. District Court Judge Ew-ing Kerr, in a ruling filed Tuesday, ruled that Wayne Gueke had not proven his claims that his civil rights and his right to due process were violated by a resolution banning the use and sale of fireworks in Teton County. Gueke had filed action against commissioners after they adopted the resolution in September 1985, but the Supreme Court ruled that the commissioners had the authority to establish such a rule.

The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Cheyenne had claimed that Gueke's rights were violated by the order and he was denied the rights of due process in proceedings. But Kerr ruled that Gueke's complaint did not contain sufficient evidence to prove his claims and granted a request by defendants named in the lawsuit that they be dismissed. He also found that Gueke had sufficient opportunity to address the resolution both at the administrative level and in the courts. Kerr granted a request fronv defendants that a $500 sanction be levied against Gueke to deter him.

from filing "frivolous complaints" designed to harass the. defendants. Lawyers in Carbon jail lawsuit feel settlement can be reached Engelke pleads guilty to one count CHEYENNE (AP) A former Bureau of Land Management employee has pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to one count of a three-count indictment. Engelke, 45, pleaded guilty to making a false statement while testifying as a witness in a civil case involving the BLM in federal court in Cheyenne in February 1986, according to a news release issued by the U.S.

Attorney's Office. Engelke pleaded guilty to falsely testifying that he had a master of business administration degree from Humboldt State University in California, a master of forestry degree from Northern Arizona University and a Ph.D. from Colorado State University. Engelke could be punished by up to five years in prison or a fine of up to $10,000 or both. Herschler named to centennial panel CHEYENNE (AP) Citing Ed Herschler's wit and ability to "twist arms," Gov.

Mike Sullivan named the former governor as honorary chairman of the Wyoming Centennial Commission. Herschler will serve along with Wyoming's congressional delegation consisting of U.S. Sens. Al Simpson and Malcolm Wallop and U.S. Rep.

Dick Cheney. The commission was created within the office of the governor through authorization of the 1986 Legislature to encourage and coordinate activities in celebration Wyoming's centennial in 1990. Sullivan names 2 to Travel Commission CHEYENNE Gov. Mike Sullivan Wednesday announced two appointments to the Wyoming Travel Commission. George Horsecapture, curator of the Plains Indian Museum in Cody and a member of the Gros Ventre tribe who has lectured throughout the state on plains Indian history and culture, and Pat Sweeney, manager of the Holiday Inn in Casper and president of the Wyoming Motel Association, were appointed by the governor.

Sweeney, who is currently on the commission, was reappointed by Sullivan. A third appointment to the Travel Commission must still be made. Marriage license bill vetoed by Sullivan CHEYENNE Gov. Mike Sullivan has vetoed a bill which would have eliminated the marriage license requirement for rubella immunity and Rh-type tests for women. The bill, sponsored by Rep.

Matilda Hansen, D-Albany, would have repealed a 1985 law requiring those tests. Sullivan said the purpose of the 1985 law was as a "protective measure to warn women of the medical problems associated with rubella and the Rh factor during pregnancy." Sullivan acknowledged there have been invasion-of-privacy problems associated with the testing requirement due to county clerk treatment of the information, particularly when women exercise their right to avoid the tests because of incapacity to bear a child. $80,000 restored to UW budget CHEYENNE A Joint Conference Committee restored nearly $80,000 cut from the University of Wyoming budget. A Casper Star-Tribune story in Tuesday's edition erroneously said $350,000 was restored to the UW budget. That sum is the amount originally cut from the UW budget by an amendment from Sen.

Donald Cundall, R-Platte. The committee upheld only part of Cundall's cut. The Star-Tribune regrets the i "I-. not meet two of three key provisions the FHA said the state must include in its subsidence insurance program. The FHA asked that the state guarantee payment if the Wyoming subsidence insurance program's reinsurance fund rims out and the the state pay any damages for personal injury or death due to subsidence on homes on which loans have been insured by the federal agency.

"It wouldn't be consistent with the subsidence insurance we now have," Sullivan said of those two provisions. "I'm not sure the state or Legislature can indemnify" the federal government against such claims, he said. "It's an open-ended guarantee." "We believe FHA has made a good faith effort to address the unique problems facing the com When denying the summary judgment, the judge indicated not enough facts had been presented to know what new Carbon County Sheriff Don Sherrod is doing at the jail, he said. The trial is scheduled to be held May 4 in Johnson's court. The suit was filed last year against former Carbon County Sheriff C.W.

"Chuck" Ogburn and the Carbon County commissioners for conditions at the jail. It sought $400,000 in punitive damages and unspecified compensatory damages for 33 separate allegations about the jail. The trial is scheduled to be held May 4 in Johnson's court. Since January, Sherrod has been named in the suit, but Johnson ruled to exclude the Carbon County comissioners from the suit. Wednesday Pevar said Sherrod has made many changes in the jail since taking office in January.

tested, not the oil, and no specific list was made of what contaminants were present, and in what amounts. Once the problems were found, the site moved "near the bottom" of the Superfund's list, he said. Haggard said he knew of no action to clean up the site. The Sinclair property came back to the EPA's attention in December 1985, when Haggard said he discovered violations of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The violations involved the placement of wells designed to monitor seepage of hazardous wastes, he said.

The company's monitoring wells were placed too far from the hazardous waste site, he said. Company wells picked up some form of undisclosed contamination last summer, a press release from the EPA savs. munity of Rock Springs," a news release from the Congressional delegation said. "This policy will assure that, where state subsidence insurance is available, FHA insurance for home loans will be available in all cases for existing houses, and in most areas for new housing. This represents a significant improvement over the previous FHA policy." "We feel the FHA proposal offers a sound basis for reaching an agreement between the federal government, Wyoming and Rock Springs homeowners," the news release said.

It added a public meeting has been scheduled for Friday between representatives of the FHA, the Department of Environmental Quality and the governor's office, as well as Rock Springs homeowners. "I'm very pleased with the changes," Pevar said. Sherrod has relaxed the rules concerning the number of letters inmates can write, is allowing inmates to have Bibles and other religious materials, will establish a libary of paperback books for inmate use, has extended visitation opportunities and will provide exercise equipment, Pevar said. "I just feel that it's going to be a more humanely-run facility," Pevar said. Sherrod said a construction project is underway at the jail which will be completed in about two weeks.

He would not say what improvements are being made. However, Pevar said visitation booths are being built by the county to allow better visiting opportunities for the inmates. Sherrod and Waldrip said a new jail policy is being developed. The policy won't be final until the suit is resolved, Waldrip said. The EPA entered into negotiations with the refinery, aimed at rectifying the violations.

An agreement was reached by the two sides in late February, whereby Sinclair would install five new monitoring wells, and would pay a $2,000 civil fine. The company must also take detailed samples of the groundwater around the refinery, and have it analyzed for roughly 100 chemicals that could be found near a refinery hazardous waste disposal site, Haggard said. Sinclair must also give the EPA any information about the organic and inorganic makeup of contaminants found in the.jcompany's wells last summer. Haggard said the EPA will take samples of the groundwater in April, "and we will go from there. Things will be coming to a head soon." By CANDY MOULTON Star-Tribune correspondent RAWLINS Attorneys for the Carbon County Sheriff's Department and American Civil Liberties Union are optimistic a suit filed over conditions at the county jail can be settled out-of-court.

Carbon County Deputy Attorney Wade Waldrip said the county and ACLU have been meeting to discuss settlements. "We've gone a long way towards settlement We are very optimistic we can settle without going to court." "We have had quite a few settlement discussions and settlement is still possible," ACLU Attorney Steven Pevar said. The ACLU's request for summary judgment on inmate mail, access to religious literature, visitation and recreation was recently denied by U.S. District Judge Alan Johnson, Pevar said. comment Wednesday.

Haggard said "kind of orange-looking" oil has been removed from monitoring wells on the refinery property. The EPA is currently investigating the contamination. He said it is too early to tell whether any drinking water supplies have been affected by the oil seepage. According to Haggard, the EPA first became involved with the Sinclair site in 1984, when several monitoring wells paid for by the federal Superfund program showed oily contamination. 'There also had been talk of putting a sewage treatment pond near the Sinclair site, he said, but that was put off by the discovery of the contaminants.

"The Superfund wells found hazardous constituents in the groundwater," Haggard said. He said the water itself was Contaminated water found near Sinclair Refinery By BRIAN CHAPMAN Star-Tribune staff writer SINCLAIR Groundwater near the Sinclair Refinery in Sinclair has been contaminated by seepage from a hazardous waste landfill on refinery property, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday. The contamination which was first discovered in 1984 is being investigated to determine whether any drinking water wells are being affected, an EPA hydrogeologist from Denver said. "We feel there is a groundwater contamination problem," John Haggard said.

"We are concerned because we have gotten a report from the state that (the contamination) has seeped into a stream or an irrigation ditch." Representatives of the state Department of Environmental Quality were unavailable for.