European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 17, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday february 17, 1992 the stars and stripes a Page 7 Hooks to quit a act Post angry dispute splits Board by the new York times new York a Benjamin Hooks said saturday that he would resign As executive director of the a act and the leadership of the nations oldest civil rights organization broke ranks publicly in an angry debate Over limiting the terms of its officers. The 67-Vear-old Hooks who has led the National association for the advancement of coloured people since 1977, announced his resignation late saturday afternoon near the end of a turbulent annual Board meeting in new York. In a statement he said this would be his last year As executive director. He gave no reason for the decision which took top officers by Surprise. He has not been publicly involved in the dispute Over term limits which would not have affected him because he is a staff member and not an officer. In an interview saturday evening he said he had been contemplating Hooks retirement for some time and deflected questions about the Issue of term limits. Earlier in the Day the a acpt a National president Hazel n. Dukes and some prominent Board members were Defeated for re election Over the Issue of term limits which they had supported. A i was purged a said Julian Bond a former Georgia state legislator and one of the Defeated Board members. Another longtime Board member Percy e. Sutton the former Manhattan Borough president resigned saturday. Like Hooks he would not give a reason. A a it a a family matter a he said a and i done to wish to Rochester Mich. Up a a Coroner testifying at a hearing saturday for or. Jack Kevorkian said that one of two women the euthanasia advocate is accused of helping to kill was physically incapable of taking her life. And a Friend of the same woman admitted during the preliminary hearing for Kevorkian that she helped him place the woman a head in the mask that was hooked up to his infamous death machine. The second Day of the preliminary hearing for retired pathologist Kevorkian dubbed a Cdr. Death by the Media lasted seven hours. Oakland county District court judge James Sheehy listened to testimony to determine whether Kevorkian should stand trial for murder in the deaths last year of Marjorie Wantz and Sher-17 Miller. The hearing was to resume today when the prosecution was expected to close its Case with four witnesses assistant county prosecutor Lawrence Bunting said. A grand jury charged Kevorkian on feb. 3 with two counts of open murder in the deaths of Miller and Wantz a meaning he could be convicted of various degrees of homicide from manslaughter to first degree murder a and one count of delivery of a controlled  to remove Albany . Apr a judge was within his authority when he ordered a prosecutor to remove an american Flag pin from his Lapel because it might have biased a jury As the persian Gulf War unfolded an appeals court has ruled. It is possible that patriotic jurors could a ascribe a greater measure of veracity and personal commitment to the correctness of what the prosecutor said than to a defense lawyer who did no to Wear a Flag the court ruled. Town Justice Michael j. Muller in Queensbury about 50 Miles North of Albany ordered Warren county District attorney William e. Montgomery Iii to remove the pin during a pretrial hearing March 6. Lawyer Kurt Mausert representing a Man charged with Misdemeanour theft had requested that Montgom make any  but people who were in the closed meeting said he resigned because of the rancorous debate Over term limits. It was the first time in a decade that incumbents were not re elected to the Board. One of those denied re election was Herbert h. Henderson a West Virginia lawyer and a Board member since 1980. He had been a Leader in an unsuccessful fight last year to keep the organizations rules limiting officers to two terms of Nrec years. If the limits had remained in place the organizations chairman or. William f. Gibson would have had to step Down this year at the end of his second term. He campaigned strongly for repeal of term limits at last years Board meeting. On saturday some of the ousted Board members blamed him for the split. Gibson a South Carolina dentist said his Campaign against the limits was not an attempt to extend his own term. A that was not my motivation a he said. He was angrily criticized by supporters of the term limits who said the leadership was being torn apart not by issues of principle but by a debate Over internal rules. A this is not about different approaches to affirmative action a Bond said. A a it a not about whether we were Correct in opposing Clarence Thomas for the supreme court. This is Amos and  the organization based in Baltimore is governed by a 64-member Board of directors. Some Are elected at Large by the National membership and others Are regional representatives. Dukes who is president of the new York City of track betting corp., had completed one three year term As president of the a act. She will continue to serve As a regional representative. Her replacement As president will be Rupert Richardson president of the organizations Louisiana state conference. Dukes said there was no doubt in her mind that Gibson campaigned against her because she sided with Bond and Henderson on the Issue of tenure limits. The Coroner who testified saturday or. Ljubisa Dragovic said the manner of death of Miller and Wantz was homicide not suicide. Miller 43, of Roseville had multiple sclerosis and Wantz 58, of Sodus had a chronic Pelvic condition neither illness is considered terminal. Both died Side by Side on cots in a Remote Oakland county Cabin oct. 23. Dragovic said his conclusion of homicide a comes from the evidence that Miller could not have inflicted on herself by herself the injuries that killed  Miller died from Carbon monoxide poisoning that came from a canister through a tube and into a mask placed around her head and fastened by an elastic band. A Friend of Millers Sharon Welsh testified at the hearing saturday saying Millers head had to be lifted up to put the mask around her face. Welsh said Miller had strength remaining in her left hand enough Only to a wipe away a tear Quot or a put food in her Mouth. A Welsh said she helped Kevorkian put the mask on Millers face. A i held her head up and put the elastic band around her head with Kevorkian a assistance said Welsh who was Given immunity by a jury to testify against  pin upheld Ery take off the pin before the Start of the hearing. Montgomery said he had worn the pin every Day since it was Given to him in january 1990, when he was sworn in. A i Felt then and i feel now that its ironic that i As an american prosecutor can be stripped of my right to Wear an american Flag at the very time that our own troops were dying for what our Flag stood for a he said. Muller noted the United states was facing a a special time in history because of the War and a jury could have been prejudiced against the defendant whose trial is pending. Judge John Dier of the trial level state supreme court overturned Muller a decision. An Appeal of Dierks ruling was considered by the appellate division which ruled 4-0 that Muller acted within his Powers. Us pair s Hospital nuptials an affair of the heart from wire reports Overland Park Kan. The Groom was sick at heart but the wedding went on. Marlin Weyer 45, and Carol Hay Ell 46, went through with their Valentines Day wedding plans in a Hospital room after Weyer suffered a heart attack two hours before the ceremony. A if we re going to do it on Valentines Day wed have to wait another year a Hay Ell said. A when you get old you done to like to  the ceremony proceeded after doctors inserted a Catheter in Weyer to open a blocked artery. Hospital chaplain Mike Jacob officiated. A they came in and told me about their plans Quot Jacob said. A they said a i guess we can to get  i said a Why not in a a minister. I can marry  a Weyer was listed in satisfactory condition and was expected to be released Early this  bodies retrieved fort Collins Colo. A the bodies of two men who were aboard a news helicopter that crashed in an ice covered Reservoir were recovered by Rescue teams late saturday. Diving teams earlier recovered wreckage of the helicopter operated by Denver station Kusa to to be examined for clues to the cause of the crash. The helicopter crashed wednesday in fog shrouded horse tooth Reservoir while flying from Denver to fort Collins. The Craft Sank in water about 120 feet deep said Norm Winmeyer of the National transportation safety Board. Pilot Peter Peelgrane 46, who was pulled from the Reservoir 30 to 45 minutes after the crash remained in critical condition saturday at Poudri Valley memorial Hospital. The two passengers reportedly free Lance Denver photographers were spotted in the icy water shortly after the crash but disappeared under the surface before rescuers could reach  protested Teaneck . A about 400 people marched in a steady rain saturday to demand that Federal civil rights charges be lodged against a White policeman cleared in state court of manslaughter in the shooting of a Black teen Ager. The Rev. A1 Sharpton a new York civil rights Leader said he would Call for a Boycott of a major retail Chain to be named this week to show Black Unity and anger Over the acquittal of Tea neck police officer Gary Spath. An All White jury tuesday acquitted Spath 31, of reckless manslaughter in the death of 16-year-old Phillip Pannell. The prosecution argued that Pannell had his arms up As if to surrender when Spath shot him in the Back after a foot Chase april 10,1990. Spath said he fired in self defense because Pannell was about to shoot  chooses abortion Fargo . A a pregnant woman arrested 13 times for sniffing paint and other volatile chemicals has decided to get an abortion her attorney said. Martina Greywind 12 weeks pregnant with her seventh child was charged last week with recklessly endangering the fetus by sniffing volatile fumes. Greywind a attorney Mark Beauchene said she was making arrangements for an abortion and had accepted a donors offer to pay for it. Abortion opponents had offered her $11,000 to keep the baby. Greywind was arrested wednesday night Tor the 13th time after police spotted her sniffing paint from a plastic bag. A judge thursday ordered her to spend 30 Days at the state mental Hospital for chemical dependency  in the red Cambridge mass. A Harvard University which has the largest endowment of any University in the world finished fiscal 1991 with a $41.9 million deficit and is operating at a loss this year. Deferred maintenance greatly increased costs of employee benefits and a lacklustre performance of endowment investments produced the financial problems according to statements released by the University. Woman was too ill to commit suicide Kevorkian hearing told