European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 4, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Sunday november 4,1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 7woman acquitted in restroom Case from wire reports Houston a a woman who said she was desperate when she went to the menus room at a country Western concert was found innocent Friday of illegally using the restroom. Jurors deliberated Only 23 minutes before acquitting Denise Wells of violating a City ordinance that prohibits people from using restrooms intended for members of the opposite sex in a manner calculated to cause a disturbance. She faced a maximum $200 Fine if convicted of the Misdemeanour. Wells 33, and her lawyer and sister Valorie Wells Davenport laughed and hugged each other when the verdict was read. A a in a relieved. In a elated a Wells said. A the jurors told me a you had us All the a testimony in the trial which began thursday ended earlier in the Day. Wells testified that when she saw the Long line forming outside the women a room at the july 7 concert by George Strait a i Felt i was in a situation where i had to be in a restroom. I took the Only option i Felt was the Legal Secretary said she covered her eyes and apologized to men already in the restroom at the Summit. A loud remark she made about leaving the toilet seat up was a More of a nervous reaction than a cocky remark a she said. Wells was arrested and removed from the concert which she paid $125 to attend. A i was devastated. I Felt i was being harassed for doing something i Felt i had no Choice but to do. I entered the menus room to go to the bathroom and that Sall a she testified. Davenport said the state failed to prove that Wells did not have permission to enter the menus room and Denise Wells left embraces her sister and attorney Valorie Davenport after the verdict. That she entered with the intent to a raise a assistant City attorney Karl Rosette said he did no to think he needed the Summit management to testify whether Wells had permission. Davenport asked municipal court judge Francelia Totty to declare Wells innocent but said she wanted her sister to rebut some of the testimony offered by police. Two police officers testified that Wells left the stall in the menus room and announced a there a i left the lid up just likey All like the defense Scase focused on the Lack of adequate facilities for women at Public places such As the Summit. The Case made Wells a celebrity of sorts. She has been the object of National news coverage and has appeared on talk shows featuring Johnny Carson Geraldo Rivera and Joan Rivers. On thursday officer Daniel b. Ramsey said he was working As a Security guard at the Summit when he answered two menus complaints that women were in the menus room. Ramsey testified he removed three women from the menus room. When he returned he saw Wells coming out of a stall. Ramsey a vice officer for 18 years said he was offended by her presence in the menus restroom. However earlier Friday another police officer Steven Andrews said he was not offended by Wells presence in the menus room. A it did no to bother me one Way or the other a said Andrews a vice officer for nearly two decades who was involved in Wells arrest. Under Cross examination Ramsey said 20 women were in a line stretching into the hallway waiting to enter the women a room while the line of people waiting to use the menus room did not reach past the door. Davenport said her sister waited until intermission was Over and again tried to use the women a room but the line was even longer. Then in desperation she followed a couple into the menus room while the other woman a Date cleared the Way. A i think waiting in line is something that has touched All our lives a Davenport said and jokingly added a a it a been an interesting Case and i think we have a lot of very pressing jurors appeared amused at times but seemed bored during lengthy descriptions about the bathrooms at the Summit and How Long lines Are common outside bathrooms for both sexes during rules against Secretary in Church suit Houston apr a jury ruled against a former Church Secretary who sought $7 million from the roman Catholic Church claiming a priest seduced her and made her pregnant. After several hours of deliberations jurors declined on Friday to Issue any damages or hold the Catholic diocese of Galveston Houston responsible for the actions of the Rev. Fernando Noe Guzman. Debbie Mccorvey 34, claimed Church officials knew Guzman had a history of sexual misconduct and failed to intervene. She has claimed that Guzman 39, forced her into a sexual relationship with him from july 1985 to june 1987. Mccorvey a lawsuit originally asked for $11 million in damages but her attorneys reduced that amount to $7 million thursday. Attorneys for the Church maintained that Mccorvey consented to the relationship with Guzman. Church officials also have denied knowing the extent of Guzman a history of sexual misconduct. Guzman has admitted having sex with a teen age parishioner in 1984 in Nava Sota 45 Miles Northwest of Houston. Six months later the diocese assigned him to the Houston suburb of Galena Park. Mccorvey claimed Guzman exploited her dependence on him As a spiritual Counselor and forced her into a violent sexual relationship. By 1986, Mccorvey was divorced from her husband and pregnant by Guzman. Church attorney Margaret Wilson said that after Mccorvey became pregnant she begged Church officials to let her keep her Job teaching religion to children and to allow Guzman to remain a priest. But once Guzman was fired Mccorvey lost interest in him the attorney said.2 murder suspects jump to their deaths from press reports West Hollywood Calif. A two men wanted for questioning in the slaying of a University student in Lexas jumped to their deaths Friday from the 12th floor of a hotel As police approached authorities said. Matthew Michael Novatny 22, and Jason Smith 19, leaped from a window As officers tried to enter their room at la Mondrian hotel police spokesman Fred Nixon said. Novatny was wanted on charges of killing Tiffani Ann Bruce whose body was found oct. 21 in the bathroom of her Home near the University of Texas in Austin said Austin police sgt. Mike Lummus. Bruce was shot twice in the head and once in the Chest police said. A medical examiner said the 18-year-old was probably killed oct. 18 or 19. Novatny and Smith who were roommates disappeared after the killing. Acting on a tip from a Texas woman los Angeles police went to the hotel and asked the manager to escort them to the room. A was they knocked on the door they heard moving inside and asked the manager to let them in a los Angeles county sheriffs sgt. Robert Stoneman said. A they saw an open window walked Over to it looked out and saw two people 12 floors Novatny May have met Bruce while canvassing the neighbourhood in behalf of clean water action a grassroots environmental organization said Terrence keel an assistant District attorney in Travis county Texas. Austin police tied Novatny to bruces murder by finding what they said was his Palm print in the dead woman a blood. Bruces bound and gagged body was found at her off Campus Home in Austin. A a it a a strange Case a said keel. A this May have been someone infatuated with her and went Back and killed rules districts dilute hispanic vote san Francisco a a Federal appeals court upheld a ruling Friday that the los Angeles county supervisors discriminated against hispanics when they redrew District lines. The court ordered an election in a new District with a hispanic majority. By a 2-1 vote the 9th . Circuit court of appeals approved a plan by . District judge David Kenyon who had found intentional manipulation of election boundaries by supervisors in 1981 to dilute the voting strength of hispanics. The court rejected the county a argument that no new lines should be drawn until after the 1990 census. The county a population of 8.7 million is about 35 percent hispanic. No hispanic has been elected to the five member Board of supervisors in its 115-year history. The court said Kenyon should schedule an election As soon As possible in the new District to succeed retiring supervisor Pete Schabarum. Because of the time needed for computer preparation the primary election is Likely to occur in february or March said Ramona Ripston executive director of the american civil liberties Union of Southern California which represented hispanic plaintiffs in the Case. A a it a a Complete Victory a she said. A a we be maintained All along that the county Board of supervisors discriminated against hispanics. Only White males have been elected to that governing body since its inception. This is a great Day for minorities and women. It Means the government belongs to All of
