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The Pantagraph from Bloomington, Illinois • Page 5

Publication:
The Pantagraphi
Location:
Bloomington, Illinois
Issue Date:
Page:
5
Extracted Article Text (OCR)

i 1 MSB. JW MM The Pantagraph Monday, March 15, 1999 jJ Normal police recognizing safe drivers Kokoraleis execution may have questionable impact on moratorium "I would think he was somewhat concerned that to bring up the case in the public eye very quickly would-hurt the moratorium because it would bring to mind a John Wayne Gacy," said Aviva Futorian, a lawyer for the Illinois Coalition Against the Death Penalty. Freedman agrees. At the time of Porter's re I If BS A SPRINGFIELD (AP) thony Porter was released from death row and went home to his mother and throngs of wishers. But the only people in condemned killer Andrew Koko- raleis' corner are court-appointed attorneys, a family "-with a restaurant near his and a mmmm priest he has 'known for just two weeks.

Porter's exoneration last month blazed like a comet through the dark that had jengulfed efforts to halt IJhe death penalty. It lit 'I would think lawyer) was that case in the quickly would moratorium would bring Wayne the Illinois Series of programs aiming to garner national attention By KEVIN SIMPSON Pantagraph staff Normal police dole out an average of 10,000 traffic tickets each year, but department administrators offer no apologies for the town's stringent enforcement tactics. In a change of pace, however, officers have begun using positive reinforcement in stressing the importance of wearing seat belts and the dangers of speeding and drunken driving. The yearlong effort, which recently began, will focus on acknowledging drivers who obey traffic laws. "Enforcement is not the only answer," said Assistant Police Chief Kent Crutcher.

"We also want to positively promote these things." Crutcher hopes the combination of enforcement and education will help the department regain a national ranking in the "Chiefs Challenge Award," an annual honor given by the International Association of Chiefs of Police. The IACP recognizes police departments with the best traffic-safety programs. The Normal Police Department ranked second as recently as 1996 among departments with 51 to 100 officers. Each department must submit its policies and guidelines for seat belt, DUI and speed reduction efforts. Training, public education efforts, enforcement activities and resulting statistics are also considered.

(Kokoraleis' somewhat concerned to bring up the public eye very hurt the because it to mind a John Avlva Futorlan, Coalition Against the Death Penalty. The PanlagiaphLLOYD YOUNG Normal police officers Tom Follick, left, and Darren Walters gave Normal resident Gary Miller a special T-shirt because he was wearing a seat belt when they gave him a warning on a routine traffic stop. The department is handing out the shirts donated by Country Companies Insurance Company that read "Get a T-shirt not a ticket" to promote the wearing of seat belts. as officers handed out T-shirts to While motorists are responsible for buckling up and following traffic laws, it is the responsibility of police to encourage, inform and enforce the laws, Crutcher said. "That's our goal in a nutshell," he said.

"Every month this year we plan to have a different initiative." Education efforts began recently zones. In May, the department will focus on teen-age drivers who ad-' here to the seat-belt law. Informal surveys show about 67. percent of Normal motorists wear their seat belts, which is on par with the state average. Normal police will run occasional safety checkpoints to reinforce that concept.

MO up the movement to place a moratorium on further executions in Illinois a movement strengthened by the Supreme Court's decision to free another condemned man Hwo weeks later. But that light hasn't shone through the walls of Pontiac Correctional Center, where Kokoraleis awaits execution for the ghastly murder of Lorraine Ann Borowski in 1982. "Death penalty opponents not embraced Kokoraleis. Moratorium supporters have said little about his execution, scheduled for Wednesday. HL'The newspapers aren't URinting it," said Alan of Chicago, Kokoraleis' at-4orney for the last nine years.

gives the impression jibout whether there's a groundswell (of support for Kokoraleis) is what you put in newspaper." Clearly, Kokoraleis' cause is hurt by a lack of lobbyists. The 55-year-old man's parents are JJead and his siblings scattered. church is his only family," said the Rev. Demetri Kantzavelos, chancellor of the Greek Orthodox Diocese of Chicago, who met Kokoraleis Feb. 27 after the Pontiac family that has ministered to Kokoraleis for two years notified the diocese of his case.

But the dearth of publicity is not the only reason Kokoraleis' cause has not been taken up. Kokoraleis was one of the "Ripper" killers who police say kidnapped, raped, tortured, murdered and mutilated as many as 18 Chicago-area women in 1981 and 1982. In some cases the gang Kokoraleis, his brother Tommy, Edward Spre-itzer and ringleader Robin Gecht cannibalized their victims. Gecht, 46, is serving 120 years for attempted murder, rape, kidnapping and deviate sexual assault. Spreitzer, 38, was sen--tenced to death for murder.

Tnitimv Kokoraleis, 38, got 70 hyears for murder. The grisly details discour- aged Kokoraleis' lawyer from 2 publicizing the case after Porter's release. Kirkwood Chicken Breasts boneless skinless 3 lb. bag Nature's Nectar Orange Juice A fancy, 1 2 oz. lease, Kokoraleis' case looked hopeless and, "We don't go to reporters for the hell of it." But that changed Feb.

22, when Freedman filed requests to delay the execution until "new evidence" could be checked out. The evidence involves, in part, Tommy Kokoraleis' confession. Freedman says Tommy Kokoraleis changed his story, first implicating then changing the story to accuse his brother. Spreitzer did the same thing in a separate confession. The attorneys say both men changed their stories after confronting or talking about Gecht, whose "supernatural powers" terrified them.

The defense attorneys say they didn't know about that until recently reading a 1995 book about the case. Andrew Kokoraleis also claims a 1991 lie-detector test shows he's truthfully claiming police slapped him to elicit a confession. The Illinois Supreme Court dismissed his appeal on Friday. His only remaining hope rests in a long-shot appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court or clemency from Gov.

George Ryan. Yes, his attorneys agree, Kokoraleis participated in at least one of the cult's dozen or more murders that of Rose Beck Davis in Chicago in September 1982. For that, he's serving a life sentence. But the conflicting confessions, they say, suggest he didn't participate in Borowski's death, for which he was sentenced to die. Futorian, of the Coalition Against the Death Penalty, says the idea of the moratorium to allow time for a systemwide review of Illinois' death-penalty procedures naturally shifted the focus away from individual cases.

But Freedman's new arguments about the confessions finally gave the moratorium movement reason to focus on Kokoraleis. "The Kokoraleis execution poses precisely the concerns that have motivated the call for a moratorium," said Locke Bowman of the MacArthur Justice Center at University of Chicago Law School. "Of the 11 persons exonerated and released from death row, three Gary Gauger, Rolando Cruz and Alejandro Hernandez their convictions rested in part on confessions that turned out to be unreliable." smoking livery complications was found be significant. Researchers found that more than a quarter of the men whose mothers had the highest levels of smoking and delivery complications were arrested for a violent crime as an adult. While stopping short of saying that babies whose mothers smoked while pregnant will become criminals, researchers say their findings are significant.

"Our results support our hypothesis that maternal smoking during pregnancy is related to increased rates of crime in adult offspring," the authors wrote, adding that the results "suggest an additional critical reason to support public health efforts aimed at improving maternal health behaviors during pregnancy." Further study should be aimed determining the effects of smoking on the brain of developing fetuses and to see if specific agents in tobacco smoke can be more directly linked to antisocial behavior, they said. A spokeswoman for Patricia Brennan, the study's lead author and a researcher at Emory's Department of Psychology, did not return a page Sunday seeking MAMA COUP STUFFED SANDWICHES ham cheese. Decceroni or philly steak cheese, drivers who were wearing their seat belts. This month is child-restraint month, and police will distribute gift certificates to motorists who've properly buckled their children. In April, the department will honor motorists who drive the posted 20 mph speed limit in school Kirkwood Chicken Wings hot spicy, 1 4 oz.

$199 9 oz package for $2.67 JerTb. i H.mvftw Frozen grade TYSON VUOLE FRYERS limit 6 grade flash frozen Study links criminal behavior, i per family )Y(o ssfssi SRL j. I random wt. CTnwiTTnxfcfnu I $179 TD I per lb. Mperlb- Redi-Serve UW'lllim Vrftl! li Mi 1 ViYfjffl 1 Chicken Nibblers pGS3 fex 5lb.

Pi $9 Banquet Chicken or Beef Pot Pies 7oz. Banquet Chicken, Chicken Nuggets or Salisbury Steak Meals 6.75 9 oz. The Stock-Up Store. We reserve the right to nmit quantities. pregnant moms' CHICAGO (AP) Babies whose mothers smoke during pregnancy could be at a higher risk of growing ijb to be criminals, new research suggests.

-Although such links have been studied in children and teen-agers, tfisearchers say a study published in this month's Archives of General Psychiatry is the first to examine the relationship between mothers who smoke and their children's adult behavior. Researchers from Emory University in Atlanta, the University (jj Southern California and the Institute of Preventive Medicine in lEnmark based their findings on djata for 4,169 males born in Copenhagen between September 1959 alid December 1961 and studied tje Omen's arrest histories at age "the number of cigarettes their mothers had smoked during the third trimester of pregnancy affected the men's arrests for nonviolent and violent crimes as adults, e5n after factoring out other possible causes such as alcohol use, GHvorce, income and home envi-ijfinment, researchers said in the ly, which was released Sun- nly one other risk factor de to at i fARMLAND ydA On-Cor Salisbury irJ CANNED HAM 1 1 j-Steak or Sliced Turkey Mti) lf $S99 wit-avy MiOLE Ju VW BONELESS HAM p-' fm Water Product 5 -Bib. nvg. wt yMfL0i. 1 COOK'S SPIRAL rjs.

J. WlTM5f' Yffi I SLICED HALF HAM jf I ffO tZJH 7U II 1 Ui impure cAi JJ 100 Pure tTlUa I I Ground Beef WBHr Ground Beef ll'ZL sold in 3 lb sold in 3 lb. I. Bloomington: 9 a.m.-7 p.m. no A Friday 9 A.M.-8 P.M.

1 208 Towanda Saturdyay 9 PMm 1512 V. Market Street closed Sunday We welcome cash and food stamps only. No checks please. fss--" I ikjm I wkl 1 X. 1 1 I 3 Tm I I General practice with emphasis on: I DUI TRAFFIC CRIMINAL DEFENSE DIVORCE FAMILY LAW TNl Ml 2L I.

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About The Pantagraph Archive

Pages Available:
1,652,984
Years Available:
1857-2024