The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • 93

Urn Anmlm lie Circulation: 1,103.656 Daily 1,368,105 Sunday Wednesday, August 27, 1986 SCCtt98 PagCS Copyright 1986TV Times Mirror Company Daily Trial Consultants View of Cameroon Disaster Gas Deaths Like 'a Neutron Bomb' Experts Seek to Identify Jurors' Bias By DAN FISHER, Times Staff Writer 4 I -r Cameroonian soldiers near Souboum with corpses and, below, cattle killed by poison-their faces masked against the stench of ous fumes in a field near the same town. 1 js F3 ent damage, he noted, to houses or machinery or the lush green hills and heavy forests only to human beings and animals much like the effect of the high-radiation, low-blast neutron bomb that kills with minimal damage to property. The toxic but still unidentified gas has apparently evaporated, so relief workers are no longer wearing gas masks. But troops wearing kerchiefs over their mouths and plugs in their noses to ward off the lingering smell of decaying bodies were still finding and burying victims Tuesday. "They are being buried near the houses because there is no question of transportation and the state of some of the corpses makes them difficult to touch," said Tataw.

"We are using military equipment and the grave is dug as near as possible to where the corpses are found so that I push them into the grave." No Formal Death Count Tataw said the casualty toll is imprecise because relatives buried some of the dead, even before the relief workers arrived, while the army has buried others, with no actual count being kept. The latest estimate of more than 1,500 dead was reached by subtracting known survivors from the number of people believed to have lived in the villages before the disaster. Moreover, the officer said, many homes away from the few dirt roads lacing the area have not been searched yet, even though he said it is virtually certain there are victims in many of them. "My estimation is that there are well over 2,000 dead," said Ngwang Gumne, provincial chief of service for the government's Community Development Department. Tataw admitted he is also worried about the danger of leaving rotting animal carcasses exposed.

However, he shrugged, "We can Please see CAMEROON, Page 8 SOUBOUM, Cameroon A sign scrawled in English over the doorway of a two-room hut in this remote mountain village read, "Come in with Peace." Inside were a few sticks of furniture, a couple of tattered suitcases, and, hanging from nails on one concrete wall, four little girls' dresses. But there were no little girl sounds coming from the hut on Tuesday. The only noise came from a scrawny chicken clucking and scratching in an irregular plot of freshly turned earth in the yard. "In this grave, I put eight yesterday," said Lt. Gen.

James Tataw, head of the Cameroon army's disaster relief operation, nodding toward the plot. "The dresses that are there belong to no person now." Only Chicken Survived "The goats, the pigs, the cows, the men they all died," Tataw said, almost as an afterthought. "Only that chicken survived. We don't know how." Tataw was guiding the first group of journalists to reach this area since poisonous gas erupted from the bottom of nearby Lake Nios last Thursday night, enveloping neighboring farm villages in a cloud of toxic fumes now said to have claimed at least 1,500 and possibly as many as 2,000 lives in northwestern Cameroon. The hillsides were still littered with the bloated carcasses of hundreds of long-horned cattle.

The three villages hardest hit by the freak eruption Nios, Cha and Souboum were almost empty except for disaster relief workers and a handful of survivors and relatives there to bury their dead or reclaim a few belongings. "It was as if a neutron bomb had exploded," Father Fred Horn, a Roman Catholic priest whose mission is in the town of Wum, 31 miles from the lake, said after visiting the stricken area. There was no appar rcr By SAM ENRIQUEZ, Times Staff Writer Donna B. Siers of Encino, in a case involving a Northridge woman who sued a police officer convicted of raping her while he was on duty, advised the woman's attorney to select jurors who drank socially, had liberal arts backgrounds and were trusting of those in authority. Bruce L.

Vaughan of Carollton, who holds a doctorate in behavioral psychology, advises lawyers to study jurors' bodies and the clothes that they wear. People with closely set eyes tend to lack tolerance, he said, and people who wear dark clothing are accustomed to wielding power. Vaughan and Siers are among several hundred psychologists, communications experts and academicians nationwide who use varying degrees of science and intuition to solve one of the oldest dilemmas in the legal system: picking a favorable jury. Big Money Industry Although their effectiveness is hard to measure, enough lawyers are convinced that they make a difference that a multimillion-dollar trial consulting industry has emerged over the last 10 years. Attorney William E.

Glennon Jr. of the California Trial Lawyers Assn. said the demand for trial consultants has grown among association members in cases where the stakes are high whether it is money, reputation or a person's life. "That tends to make you nervous, and you are looking for any edge you can get," Glennon said. "What they're really selling is a psychological crutch, but it can be a useful one." There are no statistics that show the effect of having a trial consultant assist in a case.

Of more than 20 trial consultants interviewed, none would reveal his track record. Most said only that, of the cases they worked on, more were won than lost. 'Don't Win or Lose' "We don't win or lose cases; attorneys do," said David Island, a Sacramento-based consultant and president of the American Society of Trial Consultants. Consultants have worked behind the scenes for such well-known clients as Ginny Foat, the former California chapter president of the National Organization for Women who was acquitted of murder charges in 1983; Louisiana Gov. Edwin W.

Edwards, who was found not guilty of fraud and racketeering charges in May, and auto maker John Z. DeLorean, who was acquitted of cocaine conspiracy charges last year. "Jury work is here to stay," said Cathy E. Bennett, a Texas trial consultant whose work in the DeLorean trial is credited by his attorney, Howard L. Weitzman, with contributing to the jury's subsequent acquittal.

"Lawyers need someone who is attuned to people." Most successful trial attorneys have developed their own instincts about prospective jurors, with fac-Flease see JURORS, Page 18 lousiest on God's Earth Legislature Passes Bill to Revise Unitary Tax Measure Providing $83 Million in Relief for Multinational Corporations Sent to Governor By DOUGLAS SHUIT, Times Staff Writer Associated Press pn Mexico Charges 11 in Handling of DEA Agent By DAN WILLIAMS, Times Staff Writer MEXICO CITY-The federal attorney general's office Tuesday charged 11 Jalisco state policemen with abuse of authority in the detention and alleged beating of a U.S. narcotics agent in Guadalajara two weeks ago. U.S. officials say that Jalisco state police in Guadalajara interrogated, beat and applied electric shocks to Victor Cortez a Drug Enforcement Administration agent, on Aug 13. The attorney general's action came in the wake of a formal U.S.

note of protest to Mexican officials over the incident. A statement released by the attorney general here made no mention of torture. According to the announcement, the office ordered prosecutors in Guadalajara, the state capital, to open "penal action for the presumed commission of unlawful injury and of abuse of authority." Abuse and Torture "You can abuse someone but that doesn't necessarily mean it's torture," said Felipe Flores, a spokesman for the office. The 11 accused policemen are under arrest, he said. In Washington, Justice Department spokesman Pat Korten said: "This indicates to some of those in this country who may have been doubters that Atty.

Gen. (Sergio Garcia) Ramirez is serious about dealing with these problems. It certainly indicates his willingness to take action." No charges were made in connection with the detention of Antonio Garate Bustamante, a Mexican informant working for the DEA who was picked up along with Cortez. Both men went to the United States after their release to DEA agents. The government news agency Notimex said Cortez and Garate Bustamante were detained by Please see AGENT, Page 6 Europeans Appear Willing to Join U.S.

on Libya Curbs 4 i 7 conflict between foreign and domestic corporations. Deukmejian has not taken an official position on the bill. But the Republican governor has made revision of the unitary tax system a top priority, arguing that the state's present system of taxing global corporations is so costly to the multinational firms that it discour- Please see UNITARY, Page 19 Chevron Plant Charged With Polluting Bay By WILLIAM OVEREND, Times Staff Writer The U.S. Justice Department charged Tuesday that the Chevron oil refinery in El Segundo has violated the federal Clean Water Act by illegally dumping thousands of pounds of pollutants into Santa Monica Bay over the last five years despite warnings to clean up its operations. In a major civil environmental lawsuit filed in Los Angeles, the government accused the oil company of 880 violations of federal pollutant discharge limits since 1981 and asked for fines that could total as much as $8.8 million.

U.S. Atty. Robert C. Bonner, whose office filed the action on behalf of the Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency, said the pollutants dumped into Santa Monica Bay by Chevron U.S.A. included oil and grease, chromium, ammonia and solid waste materials.

Calling the bay "one of Southern Please see REFINERY, Page 20 WEATHER U.S. Weather Service forecast: Today some high clouds but mostly sunny. Tonight variable high clouds. Thursday partly cloudy with a 40 chance of showers. Highs Lows Tuesday 92 67 Today's forecast upper 90s 70 Thursday's forecast low 90s -70s Aug.

26 last year 94 70 Record high Aug. 26, 1981 98 Record low Aug. 26, 1885 53 Complete details, Part II, Page 2. By DON SHANNON, Times Staff Ambassador to the United Nations Vernon A. Walters will undertake a mission to Western European capitals this weekend, Administration officials said Tuesday, amid signs that his attempt to strengthen allied cooperation against Libyan terrorism may be well received.

One high-ranking French diplomat here said "there is bound to be what Americans would call an improvement in attitude," at least by his country, toward the economic sanctions that the Reagan Administration has sought since the beginning of the year. Against a background of reports that Libya again may be preparing terrorist actions against U.S. citizens, State Department spokesman Charles Redman announced that Walters will be touring Western Europe "at the direction of the President." SACRAMENTO-Shedding themselves of a longstanding and at times seemingly insurmountable political problem, the Senate and Assembly on Tuesday voted final legislative passage to a bill revising California's 50-year-old method of taxing multinational corporations. The legislation was sent to Gov. George Deukmejian, who is expected to sign it.

In bipartisan votes climaxing the long, well-financed lobbying war waged by foreign and domestic corporations over how the tax-relief pie would be divided, the Senate passed the unitary tax bill 27 to 7, followed soon after by the Assembly, on an even stronger 65-11 vote. The legislation developed from a compromise Worked out by a two-house conference committee last week. It would give international corporations an estimated $83 million in tax relief. Critics contend that the price tag is too high, but supporters say it is substantially less than the $600 million-plus called for in earlier versions of the bill. "It balances the discontent of all the interested parties," said Sen.

Alfred E. Alquist (D-San Jose), the bill's author, explaining how the conference committee offset the Writer lem-plagued government phone company is the object of more criticism, more complaints and more ridicule than virtually anything else in India. So there was considerable sympathy the ether day for Prakash Chand Sethi, a member of Parliament, who stormed a New Delhi telephone exchange armed with a gun and accompanied by an armed escort. Sethi was furious because he had put in a call to Bombay and several hours later it had not gone through. "This system," the Indian manager of a Japanese firm here remarked, "can work only at the point of a gun.

I appreciate what (Sethi) did. I am going to write a letter telling him I agree with him." Please see PHONES, Page 12 Writer When Walters made a similar trip last March, the allies were reluctant to support sanctions. A few weeks later, the Reagan Administration launched a bombing raid on the Libyan cities of Tripoli and Benghazi. This time, European leaders have indicated that they are taking U.S. intentions more seriously.

The new rounds of talks "are the highest level of a series of consultations on Libya since the Whitehead mission in January," Redman said. He was referring to the largely unsuccessful attempt by Deputy Secretary of State John C. Whitehead to enlist backing for tough sanctions against the regime of Moammar Kadafi. At that time, Europeans bristled at the suggestion that they sever all economic ties with Tripoli when U.S. oil companies continued to Please see LIBYA, Page 10 p.m.

clash, the bureau said. Four more blacks were killed and one was wounded three hours later when police fired on about 80 blacks who had set up a roadblock and were stopping traffic, the bureau said. Officials at Baragwanath Hospital, which serves Soweto, said that two more men died there and that more than 80 persons were treated overnight for gunshot wounds. Police and hospital sources estimated that the final death toll could be more than 20. The information bureau said it could not yet confirm reports that two policemen were killed in the clashes.

The clashes continued Wednesday morning according to local clergymen, who said they had seen the bodies of four more youths who had been killed in the fighting. Residents expected further trouble Please see S. AFRICA, Page 6 13 Killed in Worst S. Africa Violence Since Emergency By MICHAEL PARKS, Times Staff Writer For India's Callers, Phone System Is Wrong Number JOHANNESBURG, South AfricaAt least 13 blacks were shot and killed by police late Tuesday in Soweto, the sprawling black satellite city outside Johannesburg, in a night of fierce rioting set off when authorities tried to evict rent strik-ers'from their homes. The rioting was the worst since President Pieter W.

Botha declared a national state of emergency on June 12, giving the police and army virtual martial law powers to quell South Africa's continuing political violence. According to the government's information bureau, seven of those killed in Soweto on Tuesday night died when police opened fire with rifles and shotguns on a crowd of more than 300 after four policemen were seriously wounded by a hand grenade as they attempted to dismantle a roadblock. Sixty-one other blacks were wounded in the 10 By RONE TEMPEST, Times Staff NEW DELHI-Every day for the last several years, cartoonist Enver Ahmed has received at least 20 telephone calls intended for the Punjab National Bank, which has a number that is not even remotely similar to his. People in New Delhi are accustomed to this sort of thing, but the experience has made Ahmed one of the Indian telephone system's bitterest critics. "We never get a day's rest," he complained the other day in a telephone interview, and as he talked his voice was obscured by static and overlapping conversations.

"This is the lousiest phone system on God's Earth." The phone company is the main target of Ahmed's comic strip in the Hindustan Times. In fact, the prob INDEX Astrology Part VIEW Page 3 Books VIEW 10 Bridge VIEW 6 Classified VII CLASSIFIED 1-18 Comks VIEW II Crossword VII CLASSIFIED 18 DearAbby VIEW 12 Deaths II METRO 2 Doonesbury VIEW 10 Editorials II METRO 4,5 Markets IV BUSINESS 1-12 Movies VI CALENDAR 1-7 Music VI CALENDAR 2,5,7 Stage VI CALENDAR 1,4 TV-Radio VI CALENDAR Valley News II METRO 6,7,9 Valley Sports III SPORTS 12,13 Weather II METRO 2.