European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 16, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6a the stars and stripes sunday june 16, 1991 North May have won i ran Contra j Edge do u its conviction by the los Angeles times Washington a the judge who presided at the trial of former White House aide Oliver l. North said Friday that he doubts that North a conviction in the Iran Contra scandal can stand up under rules set by the . Circuit court of appeals. . District judge Gerhard a. Gesell in his first remarks since the appellate court  voided North a 1989 conviction on three charges said that it looks like a the end of the cases if the testimony of any prosecution witness proves to have been influenced by North a forced testimony Given under immunity to Congress in 1987. The hearing Friday was the first on the matter since the appeals court ruling last july. The . Supreme court let that decision stand last month. A a it a a pretty big can of Worms a Gesell said. Gesell said however that he would conduct an evidentiary hearing in september at the request of Independent counsel Lawrence e. Walsh. The first witness to be examined at the hearing will be former National Security adviser Robert c. Mcfarland who was the prosecution a principal witness. Two App? w former president Rea the judge said the government a would Gan said that North s right to avoid self ear a very heavy Burden Quot to show the incrimination May have been violated by trial testimony of Mcfarlane who was. Cause prosecutors failed to prove that once North a Boss had not been affected none of the witnesses had been m or tainted by Mcfarlane a familiarity with fluence by his congressional testimony. North a congressional testimony two some witnesses. Including High level years earlier. Reagan administration officials watched in a 2-1 ruling last year the appellate North on television and could have had court in Washington nullified North a convictions on charges of lying to Congress destroying government documents and accepting an illegal gratuity in the form of a Home Security system. The appeals court opinion written by their a memories refreshed by what he said the court ruled. If so their testimony in his trial would have been a tainted a requiring that his convictions be reversed judges Laurence h. Silberman and David b. Sentelle said. Lawyer rules out Keating testimony los Angeles apr former Lincoln savings operator Charles h. Keatingjr. Will not testify at his civil trial in january his lawyer said Friday. The trial in Phoenix Federal court combines a number of lawsuits including a $1.1 billion Federal fraud and racketeering action and an attempt by investors to recover $250 million they lost a on junk Bonds sold at Lincoln branches. Joseph Cotchett a san Francisco lawyer who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the bondholders said he never expected Keating to testify. He said there arc other witnesses. A a. A a a a regulators say Lincoln is failure is the costliest Ever carrying a bailout Tab of More than $2.6 billion. Keating was a staunch critic of regulators before and after Lincoln was seized in april 1989. He accuses Power crazed bureaucrats of launching a vendetta against him because he would not Bow to them dooming Irvine based Lincoln and its Parent Keatings american Continental corp. In Phoenix. A i did no to do anything wrong a Keating told the Sacramento Bee in a recent interview. A the government did it and someday the truth will be  Stephen c. Neal who is representing Keating said his client would like nothing better than to make that argument at trial. But with a pending fraud Case in a California criminal court a Federal criminal grand jury investigation under Way plus a barrage of other civil and regulatory actions Keating lacks time to prepare for pre trial depositions this summer Neal said. . Police official to abide by probe los Angeles apr the assistant police chief said Friday he will resign if an investigation finds his beliefs interfered with City policy assistant police chief Robert Vernon made his com mints after testifying before a closed hearing of the Christopher commission an Independent panel formed after the March 3 police beating of Motorist Rodney King to investigate police practices. Vernon is being investigated by a police panel at the request of City councilman Zev Yaroslavsky. Yaroslavsky suggested Vernon a stated opposition to homosexuality and women a rights had affected hiring in the police department. �?o1 am not afraid of being investigated Quot Vernon told reporters Friday. A i have nothing to  he said he sought guidance from elders of his Grace Community Church before arresting abortion Protys ters. The Church describes itself As a non denominational Christian Church. A a i thought that since it was an Issue dividing the nation i had to get some moral counselling a he said. A what if the Church had told me to go against City policy i done to go along with everything my Church says. I am not a robot who follows every edict of my  he then declared a if my position differs with Cit policy i will resign my  the juror Over Vernon a , arose after. It was revealed that he had made a series of audio tapes sold by his Church in which lie espoused Corporal punishment Lor children and submissiveness by wives to their husbands. The tapes also reveal the 2b-Vear department Veteran believes police Ottie ers Are a ministers of  a made the Grade Mary Ann Stan left reads a plaque presented for bravery and courage to her bedridden son James after he attended his High school graduation in Chicago on Friday. The 18-year-old has fought brain cancer for the past two years and medications have caused his weight to soar. The student who has been tutored at Home was initially told he would not be allowed to attend graduation because it would be a disruptive a but the i principal reversed his decision after news reports publicized the Case. I by the Washington Post democratic leaders completed two Days of meetings Friday designed to build support and financing for a strategy in the 1992 presidential election that by writing off sections of the country As unwinnable amounts to political triage. The Complex strategy being devised in part by Paul Tully democratic National committee political director uses a wide Range of calculations to construct a scenario in which the democratic nominee for president could defeat president Bush. A everyone talks about the Republican electoral College lock a said a democratic operative familiar with Lully a approach. A what he a tried to do maybe with a Strong Jolt of optimism is to create a democratic geography of the nation a or maybe a hypothetical democratic  in an interview after the meetings in Middleburg va., fully described the  developing a Quot Basket Quot of winnable states. At the Start of the Campaign this Basket according to other sources would include Stales with 361 to 400 electoral votes. Significantly More than the 270 required to win. The most controversial aspect involves the states that would be written of As so firmly Republican in their presidential voting patterns that an investment of Cash or staff is a waste of resources. �?o1�?Take Utah a Tully said. A even if 1988 presidential nominee Michael a Dukakis doubled his vote there he would have lost. Utah does no to fall in the  the other states besides Utah that would be added to the list depends on a Host of variables including the ideology and regional strength of whomever the party nominates As its presidential candidate the state of the Economy and the Central issues before the nation in 1992. Sources other than Tully said a tentative list of those states that look out of reach for the democrats no Matte what combinations of reasonable statistical calculations Are made include 1 a much of the Mountain West including Nevada. Wyoming and Idaho. Colorado and Montana Are considered winnable by democratic strategists. A most of the deep South a Alabama Georgia am. South Carolina a and Florida. For a democratic electoral College strategy to remain viable Texas has to by considered possible and it is in most of the calculations. So Are the Border Southern states except depending on the method of analysis Virginia. A hard Core Republican states including Kansa it. In Diana. New Hampshire. Nebraska and Oklahoma