Show 2 i i I I Delta Utah S2000 in out of countv-- months $1300 (In Advance ! Cody 50c Senior Citizens (65 Motions heard in murder case Lance Conway Wood charged with murder in connection with the November 1988 death of Cordon Ray Church will be tried in Provo That was among the many decisions reached by 4th District Court Judge Boyd L Park in response to several motions filed by Wood’s public defender Marcus Taylor during a hearing last week in Fillmore The hearing took all of Wednesday Jan 31 and the first half of Thursday Feb Wood’s trial is scheduled to begin Tuesday Feb 20 Prosecutors agreed to many of the motions but others were disputed and required lengthy argument Motions settled Wednesday with little or no argument included: Advising the jury of the conviction of Michael Anthony Archuleta of murder in the death of Church Archuleta was tried and convicted a few weeks ago and sentenced to die Prosecutors contend he and Wood acted together to kill Church “We view this as somewhat of a critical strategic decision by defense counsel” Millard County Attorney Warren Peterson said “I want a record that Wood agrees with that We don't mind it coming in as long as it's clear this defendant requested it” Judge Park asked Wood if he agreed with the motion Wood said he did and the motion was granted Exclusion of photographs of the victim after his death with the exception of one taken at the gravesite before it was disturbed The victim's body was found in a shallow grave near Cove Fort just off Interstate 13 Disclosure of confidential informants and permission to take deposition Prosecutors said from those sources there were no aufh informants and they would accept the terms If any appeared Park granted the motion providing any resulting deposition would not impede the trial Exclusion of reference to prior criminal record during the guilt phase of the trial Prosecutors reserved the right to raise prior record issues if the trial goes to a penalty phase Leave to take testimony from witnesses by deposition The motion was granted if no trial delay results Access to witness lists The state has cooperated with the defense “and will continue to do so" Peterson said Advising the jury of their privacy rights This motion was seen as preliminary to t motion to permit questioning of prospective jurors in private The subject will be addressed in a question form prospective jurors will fill out A similar form was used to speed the selection process in the Archuleta trial One question on the form will be “does the juror wish to be questioned in private?" Affirmative answers to that question will prompt a motion to question the prospective panelists in private “The states position is that if any juror agrees to that" Peterson said "then all should be treated equally" The 70 panelists called for the Archuleta trial were questioned in private Defendant option to appear without shackles The motion was granted When the motion was made the trial was expected to be held in Provo Utah County security officials have offered Wood the option to appear wearing only a special stun vest If he tried to escape security officer holding a trigger would set off the vest stunning Wood until he could be se :urcd No shackles would be required in any phase of the trial including transportation to and from court Taylor moved to exclude the medical examiners official report “I think it’s surplus" he argued saying the medical examiners testimony would be sufficient to inform the jury "It’s t critical part of our case" Peterson countered Park took the matter under advisement until it appears again in the trial Taylor moved to suppress statements made by Wood to several different law enforcement officers at different times before and shortly after his arrest Taylor contended they were improperly obtained Prosecutors called seven witnesses in their opposition to the motion Testimony occupied most of the court's time Wednesday and much of the following morning Police officers did not violate Wood’s rights to remain silent or seek counsel Park ruled He said Wood was not coerced intimidated or held against his wilL "Everything they did was based on statements freely given by Mr Wood" be said "There was no restraint Mr Wood was free to go at any time" Other motions heard by the court on Thursday included: - Exclusion of some blood spatter photographs taken of the victim's car and testimony by a blood spatter pattern said were the exhibits Taylor expert prejudicial “They have the same value as photographs of the victim” he said Special prosecutor Carvel Harvard argued at length that the exhibits and testimony helped establish the state case that Wood and Archuleta acted together He said multiple to kill the victim injuries were inflicted by several instruments and in some cases it was difficult to establish which of the two defendants inflicted which wounds Harvard said the evidence was not being entered to “incite passions against Rather it would demthe defendant” onstrate that the acts taken at the murder scene were “dynamic" The photographs the same exhibits used in the Archuleta trial were shown to Judge Park "These photographs are not gory” he said in denying the motion “They are not inflammatory at all They constitute evidence th at a jury is entitled to know" — Exclusion of testimony by Archuleta The state believes Archuleta lied “many many times” Taylor said “His credibility is totally lacking We know that The state knows that” “We intend to ask questions of Mr Archuleta the answers to which we accept as being accurate” Harvard countered He said no questions that present an ethical problem would ’c asked “We will be selective and elective in the areas that we work with him Archuleta is a credible witness for the purpose for which he is being called” Taylor said he did not think Archuleta’s testimony could be structured to avoid prejudicial statements being made on “That bothers me" he said “It bothers me because I don’t think we can carefully edit Mr Archuleta" As to Archuleta’a credibility Park said courts often do not know if a witness is lying “That’s for the finder of the facts (the jury) to determine" he said Peterson offered to brief Taylor before Archuleta is called to testify on what questions will be asked so that Taylor may prepare his Taylor agreed to that and Park denied the motion to exclude Archuleta’s testimony - Informing the jury that lesser cluded offenses may be considered Park denied the motion He pointed out the court is already empowered to find the defendant guilty of a lesser offense - Sequester of jurors Peterson contended that would create a “significant burden on jurors and on the judicial Park and denied the agreed process" motion ' — Provide additional preemptory challenges Park denied the motion He said those challenges will be provided in seating three alternates in addition to the jury — Taylor prosecutors and Judge Park all agree Wood should not be tried in Millard County Tentative plans are for the trial to be held in Provo In his last motion Taylor moved for a further change of venue “Mr Wood is adamant to have his case tried elsewhere” he said Taylor said the impact of the recently completed Archuleta trial would prevent selection of an impartial jury and deny his client a fair trial He suggested the trial be moved to Summit county trials were where the held As an alternative he asked the court to consider holding the trial in Utah County but selecting jurors from either nearby Salt Lake or Wasatch counties Park said he wasn’t sure if he could jury In legally pull an any case he said the 100000 jurors in Utah county provides a sufficient pool to guarantee selection of an impartial jury The motion was denied and Park ordered the trial to be held in Provo Jury selection begins Feb 20 The trial is expected to take about three weeks by Ken Ran Correction In “Peterson supports death penissue alty alternative” in our Feb Millard County Attorney Warren Peterson was attributed as saying to the Senate Judiciary Committee that he "wished there were options in the Archuleta case” The statement was not made by Peterson to the committee It was made to the committee by Sen Frances Farley based on comments made to her earlier by Peterson Peterson said his comment to Farley addressed capital homicide cases in general not the Archuleta case specifically ey pC' ' O t and ckjerl SIS 00 in CQUHtY $2000 Out Of USPS county Vol 80 No 30 February 8 199Q Bush bombs battlefield budget ’ The electronic battlefield the Air Force wants to build in Utah's West Desert is dead for at least a year Presi-- j dent Bush did not fund it in the nation’s 1991 budget The project was apparently the victim of the push to cut defense spending But Air Force chief of staff Maj Gen Ronald Fogelman said the Electronic Combat Test Capability remains in Air Force plans He said it will get another look in 1992 The Pentagon had proposed $10 million in 1991 to build the range and $300000 for maintenance and operation The range would be located partly in Millard and Juab counties south of the Utah Test and Training Range The complex had a projected price lag of $23 billion over a span In Air Force officials said the Draft Environmental Impact Statement on the project would be released about February Officials now say they don’t know when it will be released “We have gotten the word that it is not going to be released today” Lt Col Portia McCracken said Wednesday Jan 31 McCracken is chief spokeswoman for Hill Air Force Base at Ogden "The DEIS is complete” she said "However in light of the current budget situation a number of Air Force programs (including the range) are under review by the Air Staff at the Pentagon" The Air Staff is composed of the Pentagon's senior military and civilian personnel who make policies concerning the Air Force McCracken said she did no know how long the review would take “I have not been given the word at all that it (the range) is a dead program” she "It is not a dead program” said McCracken said the project is simply in light of new budget being constraints The news came as no surprise to Rep Jim Hansen in whose district the range would be located Hansen a member of the House Armed Services Committee had predicted earlier it would not survive budget battles But Sen Jake Gam a member of the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcom- mittee said it was too early to sound the death knell for the range He said the fate of the project may be clearer this time next year when the president releases his 1992 budget “We need to look where our priorities are in cutting the defense budget" he said "There may be other things that are more important" Gam said if more arms treaties can be achieved soon and troop levels cut there may be little need for the Valliquette steps down at Brush Jack Valliquette plant manager of the Brush Wellman Inc Delta mill will retire March 31 Since last summer Valliquette has been working with his replacement Don McMillan “This has been a real ’changing of the guard’ pretty much" Valliquette said McMillan is taking on the duties of both Valliquette and Ken vice president mining who retired Thursday Jan 31 after 30 years with Brush Valliquette began working with Brush in 1950 after graduating from the University of Toledo with a degree in At the time the chemical engineering company was called Brush Beryllium Co "We had a contract to supply beryllium metal for the strategic stockpile" Valliquette said When that contract was filled in 1953 Valliquette spent a short time at Libby Owens Ford He returned to Brush in 1956 After working in Ohio for awhile he got into the Utah operation doing cost estimates on production of a beryllium ore find in the West Desert “We concluded at that time (1964) that we didn’t have enough business to warrant the project to go through" he said It was the Trident nuclear submarine as well as development of a new processing method that made operation of the mine and mill possible That was in about 1967 Valliquette became plant manager through a tragic twist of fate The man designated to manage the plant was killed at the railroad crossing in front of See Valliquette Page 2 range State officials hoped the electronic indusbattlefield would attract tries to Utah Some groups notably the Ogden Chamber of Commerce had supported the project on economic grounds Stiff opposition came from environmentalists ranchers military watchdog groups and West Desert residents It was also opposed by the Juab County Commission the Utah Cattlemen’s Association and Rep Wayne Owens among others Brough: release DEIS anyway 3 die in Delta accident A freight train struck a pickup truck near downtown Delta Monday afternoon killing the three occupants of the vehicle A Millard County Sheriffi dispatcher identified the victims as Archie Barben 79 Brittney Stewart 6 and Shannel Smith 6 AU were from Delta Stewart was Barben’s Smith was the daughter of Jake and Pam Smith ShenfT s Deputy Rob Lang the instigating officer said he was called to the scene at 2:13 pjn Monday Feb 3 Lang said the accident occurred at a railroad crossing a few feet west of 200 North 400 West which is only s few feet from the Barben residence “According he said "the to witness statements” lights were flashing the trrin was approaching with its sirens blasting in what appears to be preparation of anas mg one of these residential area or crossings" The pickup was crossing the railroad tracks westbound when it was struck by the front engine of a southbound Union Pacific train according to Lang The impact pushed the truck about 300 feet down the tracks The three occupants of the vehicle were taken to Delta Community Medical Center in two ambulances Hospital Administrator Gary Slay said Barben wax admitted with massive head and chest injuries Stay said Barben failed to respond to efforts to revive him and wax pronounced dead at the hospital The other two victims were not removed from the ambulance when they arrived at the hospital Stay said He said a ooctor pronounced them dead on arrival Cause of the accident is under investigation (I by Ken Rand Juab County Commissioners opposed from the beginning to the electronic battlefield the Air Force wants to build in the West Desert were pleased to hear it was excluded from the 1991 defense budget “I have maintained all along that the proposal was merely an attempt on the part of the Air Force to seize more air space and that the battlefield was never really essential for our national Commissioner Richard security” Brough said Brough said he was distressed to hear Air Force officials say the Draft Environmental Impact Statement on the project scheduled to be made public now will be delayed indefinitely “As an elected county commissioner in a county which will be most impacted by the electronic battlefield" he said “I demand that the study be released and that it not be suppressed "We have a right to look at it gardless of the Air Force’s disappointment in the present set of circumstances with the budget The E1S w as prepared with United States tax dollars and its content does not affect national Therefore as elected offisecurity cials and taxpaying citizens we have an undisputed right to have it released f Don McMillan talks about the future at Brush McMillan new chief Don McMillan has been named the Director of Utah Operations for Brush Wellman Inc The position is new It resulted from a consolidation of posts in the company's Utah operations including the mill north of Delta the beryllium mine west of Topaz Mountain anc in office in Salt Lake City All operations will be headquartered at the Delta mill site by June 30 "This was an effort to streamline the organizational structure of the area” McMillan said “and bring the mine function and the mill function closer together" In the change McMillan replaces Jack Valliquette as plant minsger of the mill and Ken Poulson as vice president of mining Valliquette retires March 31 Poulson retired January 31 "I’m replacing what I consider to be at Brush two very professional people" McMillan said “They have both done very excellent jobs with the operations out here I’ve inherited two operations that have their houses in pretty good order" Wearing two hats is a tough job "I’m not superman and I don’t expect to do both Jack's and Ken’s jobs in total the way they used to do it" McMillan said The answer in part is to spread the responsibilities among employees he said "I think probably the major thrust of what happens with this new change is that there’ll be more responsibilities pushed down in the organization" McMillan is working wUh what he called a team approach "I like lots of employee input" he said “I like to give as much responsibility to employees as See McMillan - Page 2 J |