El Paso Herald-Post from El Paso, Texas • 11

-f I Wayne Epperson City Editor 546-6340 lEllPasolHeTald-Post Satura5VFbTMoFyl)W9861 In Depth City beat Investigations bring accusations countercharges from strange factions By Joe Old El Paso Herald-Post Fonseca opens campaign by attacking rival Solis Former East Central city Rep Orlando Fonseca launched his campaign for County Commissioner Friday with attacks against his opponent incumbent Miguel Solis Mike Solis said he was going to stump bn me" Fonseca told a room-full of supporters at his press conference "I think he still believes in fairy tales I think he still believes in Mickey Mouse" Fonseca who resigned this week from City Council -to pursue the county post promised to work full-time at the job "1 will not be alghost for years and then come out for an election" he said "I think it's time for Solis to get out of the way so a leader can take over" Fonseca said The candidate said he would have considered running fbr county judge a 1 post for which former County Attorney Luther Jones appears to be running uncontested in the May 3 Democratic -primary if he had not already committed himself to run for county commissioner 1 Solis said he questioned "sincerity and his commitment to the platform of the Democratic party" Fonseca once endorsed former Republican US Sen John Tower Solis said Jim Mattox Bill Moody HtnM-PMt graphic by Erfckl Alamn Henry Lee Lucas Henry Lie! LucosTcdsel ini linef once confessed Because he fired his attorney Lucas may not be able to go trial as scheduled March 3 District Judge Brunson Moore who is handling the Lucas case said he will have a hearing next week to get Lucas another attorney Lucas claims McLennan County District Attorney Vic Feazell is going to help him get a lawyer Feazell denies giving legal advice to Lucas but admits giving him advice common sense advice and spiritual advice" The El Paso district attorney's office believes its evidence against Lucas is solid Henry Lee Lucas 49 is accused of the ax murder and rape of a 72-year-old woman in the Lower Valley After his arrest in East Texas in 1983 Lucas confessed to hundreds of murders but later recanted his statements He claims now he was fed the facts by investigators Last week he fired Tulsa attorney Gary Richardson claiming he had no money with which to pay the former federal prosecutor Attorney General Jim Mattox has accused investigators especially the Texas Rangers task force with police for believing Lucas' false confessions Mattox promises a report that will show Lucas could not have committed many of the crimes he hen he signed on to defend accused murderer Henry Lee Lucas Tulsa attorney Gary Richardson said the case would be a if it ever went to trial The circus however has long since begun Lucas 49 contributed to the circus atmosphere with his borrowed three-piece burgundy suit his bright yellow shirt and his antics during a recent pretrial hearing before District Judge Brunson Moore Accused of the ax murder and rape of Librada Apodaca 72 in May 1983 in her Lower Valley home the man once thought to be the deadliest serial killer fired his flashy attorney during the hearing Lucas is currently in the El Paso County Detention Facility without legal representation Also flamboyant private investigator Jay Armes walked off the job after taking offense when Moore would not let him sit at the defense table during the Jan 21-22 hearing and would not grant him access (o the district files pertaining to the case in the office even with Richardson present Moore who has indicated the trial will probably be delayed beyond the previously scheduled March 3 starting date said Friday he had two or three local attorneys in mind to appoint to the Lucas case and Monday or Tuesday would hold a hearing the jail if necessary to find out what Lucas intends to do about an attorney The hitch is that Lucas suggested in a letter to Moore last week that McLennan County District Attorney Vic Feazell might help him find a lawyer Lucas once confessed to hundreds of murders committed while drifting across the country but later recanted his confessions Feazell who claims he helped the top off the Lucas confession said Tuesday he had talked to Lucas and would it to a few people" that Lucas needed a lawyer Feazell also said that because of the moral issues involved in the Lucas case he felt no compunction about giving Lucas advice common sense advice and spiritual advice" That suggestion raised some eyebrows in the El Paso district office First Attorney Bill Moody said the Code of Criminal Procedure says no district attorney in Texas can of counsel adversely to the state in any case in any court" I i Noting that the code does not specifically define "counsel" Moody questioned whether Fea- zell could ethically be involved in a search for an attorney for Lucas Prosecutors are frequently asked to recommend attorneys to defendants and are not allowed to do it Moody said think it's getting pretty close" he said of Feazell's comments that he would mention need of an attorney to people "I know if gone over the line "By going out" and getting legal counsel for Lucas he is taking a position that is adverse to the Moody said Feazell violates the rules of ethics we might file a grievance against him" These are among the latest in a whole series of circus-like events that have swirled around Lucas since his arrest in June 1983 on weapons charges in Montague County Texas after which he pleaded guilty to the murder of an 80-year-old woman from Stoneburg Texas and began confessing to hundreds of other murders Once convicted of murdering his mother Lucas also received nine more convictions including one for the 1979 capital murder of an unidentified hitchhiker near Georgetown Texas in 1979 He is under the death sentence for that murder Last year an investigative series in the Dallas Times Herald a grand jury investigation in McLennan County from April to July of 1985 and an investigation by Texas Attorney General Jim office have ledtothe widespread belief that Lucas is a fraud Commissioner Mary Haynes publicly and others privately have questioned whether the county should spend the possibly half a million dollars in efforts to convict a known fraud especially since Lucas already has a death sentence hanging over him District Attorney Steve Simmons however has taken the position that anyone committing a crime in his jurisdiction can expect to be prosecuted Moreover some officials say privately they doubt the earlier death sentence on Lucas will stand up on appeal This case is also seen by some as the best existing case against Lucas and an opportunity to vindicate investigators who were accused of police work" by Mattox Other oddities in this case include: Richardson the former US Attorney for the eastern district of Oklahoma is under investigation by the Oklahoma Bar Association following charges by Oklahoma House Speaker Dan Draper that Richardson used perjured in prosecuting Draper and the former House majority leader in a federal conspiracy and mail fraud case in 1983 Richardson once had to abandon a proposed contract with Lucas for the book rights to life in exchange for defending Lucas because it proved to be illegal in Texas He tried to get Moore to appoint a local attorney to do the research in the case but Moore declined saying it looked as though Richardson wanted someone else to do the work so he could come in and try the case After Moore refused to let Richardson quit because Lucas could not pay him Lucas fired Richardson leaving the judge no alternative but to let him withdraw Richardson said he will continue to handle the of defending Lucas Mattox and Col Jim Adams director of the Texas Department of Public Safety have been blasting at each other for months over the quality of the police work in the Lucas investigation Feazell who cooperated with Mattox in a McLennan County grand jury investigation has filed a complaint with the US Department of Justice charging Adams with directing a conspiracy to deprive Feazell of his civil rights The conspiracy Feazell contends was a result of his efforts to show Lucas a fraud It also led to a federal grand jury investigation of allegations that Feazell and other attorneys in his office may have taken money from DWI suspects who paid to have their cases dropped John Foster an Austin attorney from the firm that represented Feazell before the grand jury said no complaint was ever filed against Feazell On Tuesday at a news conference in Austin Mattox renewed charges that the Texas Rangers task force which came into being after Lucas was arrested in East Texas in 1983 attributed crimes to Lucas that he could not have committed thus causing other law enforcement agencies to delay their investigations obvious that a great miscarriage of justice took place and brought about a level of Disrespect for our criminal justice system" Mattox said He promised that a report soon to be released by his office will show that Lucas could not have killed all the people he onced confessed to killing in a nationwide crime spree Adams however claims the role of the Texas Rangers in the Lucas affair has been grossly misunderstood The task force he said was only in existence to make Lucas available to law enforcement officers who from the beginning were told that Lucas both true and false information" all of which had to be checked Successor sworn in as Juarez mayor resigns Juarez City Council swore in a new mayor Friday only minutes after granting Francisco Barrio Terrazas a six-month leave of absence to run for governor of Chihuahua Miguel Agustin Corral Olivas vice mayor under the Barrio administration will likely remain as acting mayor of Mexico's fifth largest city until October when Barrio Terrazas' three-year-term of office ends -The 37-year-old mayor a former teacher and businessman informed the city councilmen and city adminstrators be Corral Olivas intended to follow goals that had been outlined by his predecesor Barrio Terrazas decided to step down as mayor after being chosen at a party convention in Chihuahua City last Sunday the National Action Party (PAN) candidate for governor of Chihuahua Friday he announced that Juarez Police Chief Ruben Raymundo Gomez will serve as his general campaign manager in his bid to become the first opposition party governor in modem Mexico The Juarez police chief stepped down earlier Friday at a ceremony in the downtown Plaza de Armas attended by several hundred uniformed Juarez policemen Tomas Terrazas Garcia former director of the state CeReSo penitentiary in southeast Juarez was sworn in as the new Juarez chief of police at the same ceremony i i Taxpayers make most 'of final day to pay up Long lines formed at City Hall Friday as taxpayers tried to pay their county taxes before they became delinquent The witching hour was 5:30 pm when the office closed "Monday taxpayers paying their county taxes will have to pay a six percent penalty -plus one percent said Marta Hernandez city tax collector The interest increases one percent for 'each month the taxes are late Hernandez said office collects all taxes in -the county including RE Thomason General Hospital El Paso Community 'College and school district taxes under a consolidation agreement with the taxing entities will be open from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm-all next week so delinquent taxpayers can pay their Hernandez said of the taxes are paid up this last week but delinquent taxpayers will continue to pay for quite a long time after the deadline" she said Total taxes to be collected will be approximately $152 million Telephone service filos to stay in business Uni-tel a telephone Service operated locally by Leon Hooten claims in a suit that it is being forced out of business by Southwestern Bell Southwestern Bell wants to disconnect all of its lines including its business number with Uni-tel because Uni-tel owes it $200000 But Uni-tel is current with its for the business line the suit said and filed a request for a permanent injunction Friday in the district clerk's office Uni-tel was granted a temporary injunction forcing Southwestern Bell to leave the business line open until a hearing is held on the permanent injunction The hearing is scheduled for 9 am Feb 6 before Judge John McKellips of the 41st District Court The temporary injunction was granted by Judge Herb Marsh of the 243rd District Court because McKellips was out of his office Hooten is president and chairman of the Uni-tel here He claimed in the injunction request that the move to shut down the business number constituted harassment and a threat to force Uni-tel out of business i Bid yourself a bedtime story with Miss El Paso IWF-'-W 31 air travel and lunch provided No joke And company President Evern Wall and his missus are donating a diamond ring to be auctioned off Maybe choose to put your head in the clouds with a champagne hot air balloon ride courtesy of Chris Crum Or 10 hours of flying lessons with Suzie Azar How about a Bill Kolliker painting something most people would kill for? Or a Manny Acosta original a customized charcoal sketch just for you? At last count there were 65 items with a total value of nearly $30000 You really ought to come out and bid on something Call Insights at 542-2990 and make your reservation And maybe you will be the lucky hunter who gets a three-day whitetail deer hunt on the Withers Ranch in the Fort Davis Mountains with Jackson Curlin as your guide Or a day and game with the El Paso Diablos Or a horse race at Sunland Park Or a condo in Mazatlan for one week courtesy Dick De Bruyn Call Insights and plan to be there Wednesday evening Just think It could be 1 you saying Mayor Jon I wanted this martini stirred not shaken And with a twist of lime Better try that again Bud" Or maybe your name will be at the bottom of this column Charles Edgren Is a columnist for the El Paso Herald-Post hen was the last time you were tucked into bed and had a bedtime story read to you? Last night you say? OK then when was the last time Miss El Paso did that for you? Well fella this could be your dream come true if the successful bidder in the upcoming Insights Science celebrity auction at 7 pm Wednesday at the Marriott Hotel The auction all For the $35 ticket you also get cocktails hors oeuvres a sumptuous dinner and a program of Even the heavenly beauty of Halley's ice ball pales beside Karen Wallace Miss El Paso However Miss El Paso's tender goodnight how much sleep do you think get after that? is but one of the many attractive items on the block Ever wanted to write a newspaper column? Well you can mine! If the high bidder I will relinquish this space for one day sometime before March 5 And you will have a chance to praise castigate plead remonstrate laud reminisce joke whatever strikes your fancy I will be available to advise you keep you out of libel lawsuits set up an interview for you things like that And one to pique the imagination: Mayor and Mrs Rogers will bartend for an early evening party at your house Presumably Orlando Fonseca will not be bidding on this one This service is valued at $500 I'm salivating about one item No not the Miss El Paso tuck-in and tail-tale time I'm no more interested in that than my wife would be in having Tom Selleek tuck her in Actually it's the tour of historic sites in El Paso personally guided by historian Leon Metz That's valued at a paltry $300 If you can steal it for that getting the deal of the century If you have an ongoing affair with fine food tickle your palate with a curry banquet for 100 people courtesy of chef supreme Chuck Dodson and valued at $1000 Or really put your city representatives to work and dive into a delicious Mexican food feast lovingly prepared by the gourmet team of Alicia Cnacon and Jim Goldman That carries a $500 auction tag And here I declare a temporary unilateral truce with the electric company No not going soft in my old age It's just a case of credit where credit is due The electric company is one of the most 'rock-solid supporters Insights has in this town It's through its generosity that the hands-on museum even has a place to exist The electric company is donating something too a tour of Palo Verde with.