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Show WESTERN Oart' ''-- ! . v-;- i': ri !l : i AMERipCl. r-r-1 t I - i - ' I i j f i i SAIT LAKE CITY, UTAH VOLUME 16, NUMBER 57 Utah Supreme Court Decisions Calif. Court Tightens Rules For Bail Grants i By Robert Strand SAN FRANCISCO (UPI) i - The California Supreme Court has reaffirmed its decision that the death penalty is unconstitutional, but modified its opinion on the right to bail in cases involving serious i offenses. Declaring its original February 18 decision was now final, the court by a 1 vote March 17, refuse to reconsider its opinion as requested by State Attorney General Evelle J. Younger. Younger then announced he was asking the U.S. Supreme Court to stay the effect of die decision. He said the state court had deprived the people of thir right to have "duly F; 6-- elected and executive officers" make and carry out laws "for the protection of the peoples lives, liberty and proper- representatives ty. t The California court ruled the 107 persons on death row would have their sentences modified by the sentencing court. They will be subject to life imprisonment with or without possibility of parole. The court said that the question of bail was not an issue in its consideration of the constitutionality of the death penalty and that the decision did not affect the laws regulating bail. The court therefore modified its original opinion to declare that in cases involving serious offenses that REVERSES LOWER COURT formerly carried the death penalty bail may be refused "when the proof of guilt is great and the presumption thereof great." Previously, defendants accused of capital crimes were not eligible for bail. Abolition of capital punishment raised the question of whether those accused of such crimes could be released on bail. In the case of Angela Davis, accused of murder, kidnap and conspiracy, the trial judge granted Miss Davis release on $102,000 bail as a result of the courts ruling on capital punishment. The court held that the gas chamber has become "cruel or unusual punishment in violation of the state constitution. The same issue, but based on the U.S. Constitution, has been argued before the U.S. Supreme Court. Its decisiofi is not expected until late spring. Younger is leading a campaign to amend the state constitution to reinstate the death penalty. An initiative measure would require the signature of 520,806 registered voters to qualify the proposal for the ballot. Imports Still Make Seventh Of Steel Total FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 1972 Court Rules No Right By Long Permissive Use A Split Decision on Drainage Ditch Question The Utah Supreme Court reversed a lower court judgment that "plainlm uaa acquired a prescriptive right to employ a drainage ditch running through defendants farm lands, by more that 20 years continuous adverse use thereof . . . and also, enjoined defendant W. R. Westovei from obstructing the drain. F. Henri Henroid wrote the opinion in the Cache County Drainage District, plaintiff v. W. R. Westover and others, defendants and appellants. Chief Justice E. R. Callister Jr. and Justice R. L Tuckett concurred in the opinion. . Justice J. Alan Crockett in dissenting wrote . . . when such a use has continued for the twenty-yea- r prescriptive period, the party so adversed should not be permitted to defeat the . . The acquired right by simply saying Oh well after all, I didnt really care until now. necessity for some means of drainage of the lands in question is so obvious as to require no comment beyond statement of the fact. Justice A. H. Ellett concurred in the dissenting opinion. Unsealed Sketch of Drain & Properties - i WASHINGTON Judge Refuses. Direct Verdict In Casino Trial - A LOS ANGELES (UPI) federal judge has refused to issue directed verdicts of acquittal for six men and a corporation charged with conspiring to conceal illegal interests in the Frontier Hotel. U.S. District Court Judge David W. Williams ruled March 17, that the government had presented sufficient evidence to warrant continuation of the trial. Williams did dismiss two counts of the indictment but rejected defense dismissal motions for eight others, including the major count of con- spiracy. Three of the men, reputed gangland figures in Detroit and St. Louis, allegedly held an interest in the Las Vegas, Nev., hotel-casin- o through three other defendants who . 1 i i acted as "front men". The Nevada gaming commission refuses to grant gambling licenses, required of all shareholders in casinos, to men with underworld ties. The defendant corporation is Emprise Corporation of Buffalo, N.Y., which has interests in sports concessions and racetracks around the country. As the prosecution rested its case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Kotoske contended the conspiracy "skimmed $225,000 declared gambling one month prior to Frontier to Howard The defendants from un- receipts in the the sale of the Hughes in 1967. are: Anthony Zerilli, Michael Polizzi, and Anthony allegedly the real Frontier affairs even though they were not licensed by the state, and Peter Bellanca, Arthur Rooks and Jack Shapiro, the alleged "front men." Giardano, kingpins in (ACCN) - In January, steel imports accounted for one out of every seven tons of steel marketed in the United States according to American Iron and Steel Institute. Januarys imports of over 1.1 million tons constituted 14.6 percent of the nations total apparent steel supply during the first month of this year, AISI reports. These imports included 1,093,000 tons of steel mill products, and 11,000 tons of fabricated structural steel and steel blanks. Imports continued to take very large shares of domestic markets for key steel mill products. Foreign producers, for example, sent over 17,000 tons of stainless steel to the U.S. during January. This was nearly 24 percent of the months domestic apparent supply of these high-valu- e specialty steels. Japan with 469,000 tons was the largest single supplier of Januarys imported steel. The members of the European Economic Community sent 365,000 tons of steel into this country during the month. Japanese and EEC steelmakers were parties to the voluntary limitation arrangement on steel imports that expired at the end of 1971. Two major traditional foreign suppliers of steel to the U.S. market which were not part of the voluntary agreement Great Britain and Canada either held their steel exports to the U.S. steady or actually reduced them. Imports from the United Kingdom during January were 58,000 tons, or just about the same as their total for the same month of last year. Canadian steelmakers sent only about 80,000 tons of steel into the U.S. in January, less than their 115,000 ton total during the first month of last year. 1972-substa- nlially However, many developing nations have sharply increased their steel exports to the United States in recent months. Cache County Drainage District counsel for the case was Walter G. Mann of Mann & Hadfield, 35 First Security Bank Building Brigham City, Utah. Mr. L. Brent Hoggan of the law firm of Olson, Hoggan & Sorenson, 56 West Center, Logan, Utah represented the appellant. The detailed decision may be seen on page International 4. Volunteer Firemen Law Urgently Who Stood Pat Needs Sinews, Panel Agrees BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF. Pleas for a (ACCN) of international law, including the setting up of new and permanent tribunals to handle civil and criminal cases involving individuals, were made at a symposium on World. Peace Through Law, held here. The meeting was sponsored by the World Peace Through Law organization, headquartered in Geneva, Switz., and backed by the American Bar Assn., among other legal groups in many nations. The rein-vigorati- on University of Southern California Law Center was also a symposium sponsor. Charles S. Rhyne, a former ABA president and for several years past the president of World Peace Through Law, opened the March 20 meeting with remarks emphasizing the heightened need which international law advocates feel the times demand for their discipline. Rhyne cited the explosion in communications, transportation, space exploration and other fields since World War II, as well as the problems of pollution, hunger, the constant threat of nuclear and the control of such diverse matters as the drug catastrophe, traffic and aerial hijacking. All these things, he said, point up the need for effective international law, but no suitable machinery exists to put it into motion. "The present International Court of Justice is prevented from doing so by the reservations (different nations) attached to its acceptances, such as the U.S. Connally Amendment. Until nations accept the Courts jurisdiction, fully and without reservations, the Courts effectiveness in resolving disputes peacefully is questionable." The U.S. should take the lead in revitalizing the International Court of Justice at The Hague, said Dr. Carl Q. Christol, professor of international law and political science at the Universiy of Southern California. "Court of Man" to try civil suits involving individuals, as contrasted with The Hague Courts jurisdiction A limited to nations, is proposed by another symposium panelist, Gerald Gottlieb. Held Not Liable DES MOINES, IOWA (UPI) -The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled that a volunteer fire department could not be sued for damage because it rushed to the scene of a fire but made no dffort to put it out. The court voted 2 in favor of the Blue Grass Volunteer Firemen who answered an alarm 'at a trailer court, took a look at the flames and headed back to the garage. The units captain, Paul Ehrecke, said Dr. Fred Glade, owner of the trailer court, had failed to pay the required "protection fee" and thus the firemen were not obliged to fight 6-- the fire. The courts majority opinion agreed, saying the volunteers were under no obligation to battle the flames. It said the state code clearly allows municipalities to charge fees for fire service if necessary, and no final contract had been agreed upon by Glade and the Town of Blue Grass. In a vigorous dissent, two judges said it looked as if the firemen were more interested in "soaking Glade than the fire. i |