European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 4, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 the stars and stripes wednesday june 4,1986 new helmet enables pilots to aim with Heads new York a a Pilot s helmet dubbed Darth Vader May Mark a revolution in Ibe operation of military aircraft As it lets pilots aim weapons at targets just by turning their Heads . Air Force officials say. Developed at Wright Patterson fab in Ohio versions or the helmet Are used by pilots of the army s Apache helicopters and of the Navy s f-4j jets said air Force 1st i. George Sarmiento an Engineer on the project. The helmets have been operational for about two years and versions have been depicted in such movies As Blue Thunder about an advanced police helicopter and the to series  i the army and Navy models when a Pilot spots a target he flips a switch and an electronic system which tenses the position of his helmet Aims missiles or High Speed guns in the same direction he is looking. If he sees a target at 2 o clock and looks at it the sensors will Register it and the missiles will follow said Sarmiento. Pilots aim with their Heads about nine times faster than they do with hand held controls according to air Force studies. Sarmiento said the air Force s version of the head gear which is being used on classified projects should be operational by Early 1987. He said that version is taking More time to develop because it has to be very Small and Light a Large heavy helmet could kill a Pilot ejecting from a speeding fighter. More advanced versions of the headgear arc expected in the 1990s, assuming the Pentagon and Congress approve a $100 million research program he said. The program has already Cost $30 million. Darth Vader so named by Laboratory technicians because of its resemblance to the Star wars movie villain was developed in an Effort to revolutionize the cockpit said Thomas a. Furness head of the helmet research program at Wright Patterson. The goal is to Lurn the helmet into a kind of movie theater where the Pilot is surrounded by a Ihrcke dimensional pictorial and audio display of the outside world Day or night. Apache helicopter pilots already can use their helmets and infrared cameras to see at night Furness said. Heat sensitive cameras mounted outside the helicopter feed pictures to min lure television receivers in the helmet which project their pictures onto the Pilot s visor logo wih what he sees through the cockpit he said. It s like putting on special glasses. They let you see at night said Furness. High court rules confession wrongly used in murder Frid Washington a the supreme court tues Day set aside an Illino woman s murder conviction ruling that her Boyfriend confession wrongly was used As Evi Dence against her. By a 5-4 vote the justices said Millie Lee was unfairly convicted in the 1982 murders of her aunt Mattie Darden and her aunt s Friend Odessa Harris in East St. Louis. The two elderly women were beaten and stabbed to death in Darden s apartment on feb. 11, 1983. Lee and her Boyfriend Edwin Thomas soon became suspects in the killings. Lee who lived with her aunt confessed to police that she and Thomas had been involved in the murders. She said Thomas had been provoked by her aunt s harassment and on the night of the crime Edwin just could t take  in his confession to police Thomas made the crime sound More deliberate than Lee had. He said he and Lee previously had discussed killing her aunt. Lee and Thomas were tried jointly before a state judge who found them both guilty of murder. Lee was sentenced to life in prison. An Illinois appeals court rejected Lee s argument that her conviction was unfair because the judge depended on Thomas confession in determining her guilt. She said she was denied her constitutional right to confront All Adverse witnesses because Thomas did not testify at the trial. Writing for the High court. Justice William j. Brennan said Lee was Correct. The conviction of a defendant based at least in part on presumptively unreliable evidence actually occurred Brennan said. He tent Lee � Case Back to the Illinois courts for a ruling on whether the error in Lee s Case was harmless and docs not require a new trial. That ruling is possible if the state courts find there was sufficient evidence to convict Lee of murder even without Thomas confession. Brennan s opinion appeared to strengthen the court i series of decisions on the right of confrontation protected by the Constitution s sixth amendment. The right to confront and to Cross examine witnesses is primarily a functional right that promotes reliability in criminal trials Brennan said. He added the Mere fact that the confessions of two defendants mesh in certain respects docs not prove the reliability of either one. Joining Brennan were justices Byron r. White thur supreme  Good Marshall John Paul Stevens and Sandra Day o Connor. Chief Justice Warren e. Burger and justices Harry a. Blackmun Lewis f. Powell and William h. Relinquist dissented. In other cases tuesday the court gave gambling casinos a break in a ruling the Federal government said could Cost it at least $67 million in tax Revenue from Nevada and new Jersey casinos. By a 7-2 vote the court rebuffed Reagan administration arguments and said Nevada casinos May list some potential Slot machine payoffs As tax deductions. Tuesday s ruling allows the Casino operator to claim deductions based on the size of jackpots available in so called progressive Slot machines. Hughes properties inc., owner of harolds club Casino in Reno nev., won a refund of 433,441 in taxes and interest covering four years end ing in 1977. Voted 9-0 in a ruling that made it easier for Congress to enact lax Law amendments carrying temporary retroactive effects. The justices sided with the government in a$6.000 estate tax dispute from Illinois that had its roots in 1976 amendments in Federal tax Laws. Charles Hirschi in 1976 made gifts totalling $45,000 to five people. He reported the gifts on a Federal gift tax return indicating no tax due. Hirschi in part relied on lifetime gift tax exemption then available to All taxpayers. In tax Law amendments As Iaac effect later that year Congva a replaced he gift and estate tax exemptions with a unified  a transitional Rule the amendments provided that a person who previously had claimed the gift lax exemption could not later cum the full unified credit. Nevertheless when Hirschi died in 1978, the trustee of his estate a Highland iii., Bank claimed the full unified  struck Down new York liquor pricing regulations thai state officials said were designed to put on discount to com Umbra. By a 5-3 vote the Justice said the rules interfere with interstate Commerce in violation of the  distillers corp. Challenged a new York liquor authority Rule concerning so called promotional allowances used by wholesalers to pay for advertisement. New Yok requires that distillers sell liquor to new Yor wholesalers at the lowest Price the distillers charge else where in to c nation. New York banned promotional allow ances and required tha they be used to lower the Price of liquor sold to i York wholesalers. But the High court said the new Vork Rule its effect allowed new York to control liquor prices in other states. Defects blamed in deaths of 2 infants complaint filed to Force company to recall crib toys Washington up the govern ment announced monday it has filed a complaint to Force Johnson & Johnson to re Call 1.6 million crib toys for defects blamed into infant deaths Ana warned parents to re move the toys from cribs immediately. An unusual formal complaint by the consumer product safely commission which endorses voluntary toy Industry Itan Dart asked in administrative Law judge to Force the recall of soft Triplet Piglet crib gym and triplets marching band distributed by Johnson & Johnson baby products co. Inc. Johnson & Johnson based in new Bru Wick nj., stopped distributing the Hong Kong made toys in March but has refused to recall j.6 million already sold beginning in 1979, cps spokesman Davidson Moltzer told a news conference. Schmeltzer said the toys which consist of stuffed cloth figures holding hands in a Lin held together by elastic Are declared dangerous because the elastic and strings used to attach them across cribs could strangle older infants. The strings must be provided by the purchaser. He said other companies put warnings on crib toys that they Are not for use after 6 months because once a child is Able to grab the toy or stand up strangulation is a risk. But he said the Johnson & Johnson toys Are marked for use by children As old As 2. Johnson & Johnson has proposed issuing a warning against using the toys in the crib but sch Clizer said a warning is not enough because people will use it As it was designed As a crib  the crib dolls were sold mostly by mail order from parents american baby and baby talk magazines for $6.50 apiece Schmeltzer said. The commission s staff demonstrated with a crib the toys and a doll Bow two babies died while playing with the toys. In october 1984, a 10-Montft-Oid Temple Hills md., boy strangled to death when he became entangled in cords used to tie a Triplet toy to his crib. In december 1985, a 7-Monlh-old Coronado calif., girl was asphyxiated when she became caught on the Triplet toy that Hung Over her crib. The toys create a substantial risk of injury the cps said and it urged parents who own such toys to remove them from cribs and playpens immediately. The cps called on Johnson & Johnson Woolworth recalls toy copter because of potential Hazard Washington a a flying toy helicopter which could cause Eye injuries is being recalled by the Woolworth company the Federal consumer product safety com Mission said tuesday. The us. Woolworth division of the . Woolworth co. Is recalling about 42,000 of the toys sold Between 1984 and this year the commission said. Involved is the flying helicopter toy Sun Unco no. 127624, which sold for about $3. The commission said the flying toy is no longer being sold and was being recalled because of the possibility it could cause Eye injuries or facial cuts. The toy is a six Inch plastic helicopter with a hand launching device. The helicopter is mostly White with red Blades and a Green launcher. Consumers were urged to return the toys to a Woolworth store Lor a refund. To either repair the toys so there a no defect replace them with a toy that is not defective or refund the Price. Schmeltzer said it would take from 4 to 6 months for a ruling that the cps could either accept or reject. A civil lawsuit could follow if Johnson & Johnson still refuses to comply with a recall order. James Murray of Johnson & Johnson responded that the firm considers the toys Safe when used properly and said both fatalities occurred when parents tied the toys across the top of a Playpen or crib which the directions included with the product say not to do. Hundreds of thousands of the toys have been used safely Murray said. He said his company has sent letters to about 700,000 people who bought the toy by mail and is sending posters to toy stores but does not con Sider a recall necessary. The commission voted 3-1 to Issue the complaint and will now hold a bearing where Murray said his firm will defend its position that no recall is needed. Voting in favor of the complaint we reacting chairman Anne Graham and com missioners Terence m. Scanlon and Saun dra Brown Armstrong. Commissioner Carol Dawson voted no. The cps asked that parents with questions about the toys Call a toll free hotline Soo-638-2772, or 800-638-8270 Tor Ibe hearing unpaired