European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 04, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday february 4,1990 the stars and stripes Page 7 Calif state senator convicted of extortion by he los Angeles times Sacramento. Calif. Stale sen. Joseph b. Montoya was convicted Friday on seven counts or extortion racketeering and Money laundering. He be came the first California legislator in 34 years to be found guilty of felony corruption charges while in of fice. In a dramatic Climax to the two month trial the Federal court jury rejected Montoya s Contention that he never traded his vote for Money and had been set up by Federal undercover agents. Montoya who sat impassively As the verdicts were read was acquitted on three other charges of Cal onion. Montoya s lawyers said they would Appeal the guilty verdicts. The 50-year-old Democrat from while tier faces up to 20 years in prison on each of the seven counts and could be fined a total of More than $1.75 million. Under the state Constitution he docs not automatically forfeit his seat in the legislature but could be expelled by a two thirds vote of the Senate. Within hours of the verdict at least four of Mon Toya s colleagues began pressuring the Veteran legis Lator to resign from his scat before the Senate moves to oust him. Montoya who left the court without comment is the Only legislator indicted so far in an on going Feder Al investigation of political corruption in the slate Ca Pitol. He was snared in an Fri sting operation in june 1988. When he accepted a $3.000 payment from an undercover agent at a videotaped breakfast meeting near the California Capitol. The guilty verdicts were a major Victory for . Attorney David f. Levi who has headed the controversial four year investigation and personally helped prosecute Montoya. Levi called on other victims of legislative extortion to step Forward and he warned state lawmakers that they will remain under close scrutiny by his office. We believe the conviction will be helpful to us As we pursue a Public corruption program one that is always in place and always following  Levi said. One of the most successful things about this Case is that it shows that a Public official who takes Campaign contributions and honorariums and is smart enough to report them can still be  members of the seven woman five Man jury said the panel looked for ways to acquit Montoya. But in the end. The jurors said they found that the explanations Montoya gave during four Days on the witness stand did not hold up. I wish he had been Able to defend himself  said juror Emily Ingram of Benicia. It was t an easy decision to make. We toiled Over it. All of us. We lost sleep. We could t eat we really tried to find him  break time David Hampton a Sophomore student in Bio electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of technology grimaces As he witches his Model Bridge Sag under a Load of 1,287 pounds applied to it during an Engi Neering school Competition last week. Hampton and teammate Jeff Sarin placed third with their Model which weighed in at less than 2 pounds. Bennett sees Success As drug War intensifies Washington a the drug Scourge is beginning to pass and the government is Well on its Way to winning the War against narcotics National drug policy director William j. Bennett says. The War is by no Means Over but it is clearly winnable and the momentum i think. Is shifting our Way Bennett told the Senate judiciary committee on Fri Day. He said there is still Loo much bad news but there Are also scattered nut Clear signs that we Are beginning to win. The Scourge is beginning to pass. If we keep up our efforts indeed intensify our efforts we arc going to  Bennett said when he became head of the Effort a year ago it was by no Means certain that we would win  but he said my View has  his remarks did not stray beyond what the Bush administration unveiled last week in the second instalment of its anti drug strategy calling for a $10.6 Bil lion budget in the fiscal year that begins oct. I. Senators of both parties did not Bicker Over details of the administration s plan. But chairman Joseph Biden d-del., did ask Bennett to comment on an alter native strategy Biden wrote. It Calls for putting More stress on hard Core users education treatment and a one Lime pro Gram to forgive International debt owed by andean nations if Farmers Plant other crops in place of the coca they normally produce. Bennett agreed with most Biden proposals and said differences were largely a Mailer of emphasis. But he said that if forced to choose Between education and enforcement he would strengthen enforcement. The former Secretary of education said his background is a helpful  i know children Bennett said. That May not be a very Rosy View of children but i do know  sen. Edward m. Kennedy. D-mass., pressed Bennett on Why the administration did not bar the import of semiautomatic assault pistols which Are often Only slightly different from the semiautomatic assault rifles the government docs not allow to be imported. The question sparked an Exchange similar to fiery arguments Over firearms thai have Arisen at past judiciary com Mittee hearings Between Bennett and Sens. Kennedy and Howard my Lzan Baum a Ohio. Catho c Church s Flag coffin decision criticized Quincy. Mass. A the roman Catholic Church s decision to ban the traditional draping of an american Flag on the coffins of War veterans or police officers has drawn fire from veterans groups. There arc a lot of people who feel strongly that either dad or Uncle Char Ley or whoever received these War med als and should have the right to a Flag if they want  said Hank Bradley com Mander of inc american legion s nor Folk county District. A Vatican approved revision of the funeral Liturgy took effect dec. 3. It specifically spelled out a ban on secular sym Bols which had been stated less clearly in an earlier Liturgy. We believe the eucharist or the mass is so Central to Faith thai Only Christian symbols can be used said monsignor Dennis Shechan director of the Boston archdiocesan office for family worship. The casket May be draped with a Flag during the Wake but it must be replaced Wilh a while cloth before the funeral. The rag May be returned to the casket after the service. John Walsh a spokesman for Cardinal Bernard Law said some veterans groups had already contacted the archdiocese 10 object. Some will apparently misunderstand this As a Dyni Galion of patriotism he said. It is no such thing. I Don l want to make Light of what inc veterans Are feel ing. But they should try to look Ai the intent of this particular  Bui veterans groups disagree. It s terrible. If someone served in the War and they re a Veteran like my Hus band i think icy should have the Righi to have the Flag draped Over them said Anne Torrance a member of the Ameri can legion auxiliary. New Airport bomb Detector attacked As Fli Flam Washington a members of a presid Colial commission say a costly new device to a Eccl explosives Al airports is flawed and probably could not have found the terrorist bomb that destroyed pan am flight 103 Over Lockerbie Scotland. Members of inc presidential commission on aviation Security and terrorism complained Friday that the giant and heavy bomb detectors being deployed Al major . And foreign airports have not been adequately tested. Several members said at a hearing thai inc devices should not be installed at hundreds of airports until their reliability can be guaranteed. But Monte Belg or. Associate administrator of the Federal aviation administration said the sophisticated act Calion device is the Besl of is kind has gone through enough Icsis and should be Sci up soon to make airports More secure. It is nol perfect and we know  Belg or said. Bui it would be a mistake nol to continue to deploy it. It is wrong to wait for the perfect  at an All Day hearing the commission also was Lold inc device which uses a technique called Thermal Neutron analysis or Tea would Cost far More than original estimates of Between $700,000 and $ i million each. Belger said the first five Tea machines actually will Cost a total of $15 million or about $3 million each because of the Rush order. A Tea system employing an 18-foot-High, 10-ton Detector is inspecting baggage at Kennedy International Airport in new York. A second system was installed at Miami International Airport a week ago and is being calibrated. A third Tea machine is to be installed at Gatwick Airport near London next month and another is being planned for Dulles International Airport near Washington. I think Iacre is a lot of Fli Flam going on said sen. Alphonse d Avalo  a panel member saying the Tea has incredible  the Tea looks Good but it docs not do what it is supposed to  d Amato said. Congress has been sold a Bill of goods. There is a reduced ability to a Eccl plastic explosives Al the Levels believed to have been used at  investigators believe the Lockerbie crash on dec. 21. 1988, was caused by less than a Pound of plastic explosives inside a portable tape player. The crash killed 259 people aboard the Boeing 747 aircraft and 11 people on the ground. Hadi Bozor Manesh vice president of science applications International corp., defended the Tea de vice his company developed saying the accusation thai inc machine cannot a Eccl bombs As Small As 2 pounds is absolutely  he said the machine has a 94 percent reliability Rale and said the company obviously would like to get closer to 100 percent and to act eco smaller amounts of explosives with belter accuracy