European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 4, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday april 4, 1992 the stars and stripes a Page 7noriega s defense comes to close Panama Leader hugs lawyer Sheds a tear Miami up a Manuel Noriega a defense attorney used his final address to the jury thursday to denounce what he called a indictment diplomacy a saying the former panamanian Leader was guilty of nothing More than being a military dictator. In closing arguments in the seven month trial defense attorney Frank Rubino told the jury Noriega was a military dictator but not a drug trafficker. He said there were too Many conflicts discrepancies and third hand accusations in the governments Case to convict him. A when you put it All together it just does no to make sense. These things just can to be reconciled a Rubino said. A you can to possibly find general Noriega guilty with this Kina of  he repeated prosecutor Myles Mal Many a assertion that Noriega was a beyond a doubt a military dictator who ruled Panama with an Iron fist and that Panama was a not like it is  a no its not a said Rubino. A a it a Panama an Independent Sovereign nation. That a not their obligation to show that Panama was a military dictatorship. A their obligation was to show you that general Noriega was a drug trafficker beyond and to the exclusion of a reasonable  Noriega wearing his Khaki four Star general a uniform stood and faced the jury As Rubino ended his closing arguments. Rubino embraced the deposed dictator who wiped tears from his eyes. Rubino told his client a this is the end this is  Given it All we be  a honestly he was crying a Rubino said. It Rhea a had  prosecutor Pat Sullivan was sched Noriega used to give rebuttal arguments Friday morning and the nine woman three Man jury was expected to begin deliberations at midday. Outside the courtroom Rubino denounced the governments Case As a indictment diplomacy a and said the charges against Noriega were nothing More than a political tool to a get him out of Power once he was no longer useful to the United states. In two Days of closing arguments Rubino described the convicted drug traffickers who testified against Noriega As a scum of the Earth and urged the jury to reject their testimony As unbelievable. Rubino produced documents showing that a secret Clandestine flights to ship Ether used to process cocaine turned out to have been properly documented with flight plans cargo manifests and chemical shipping permits. Other testimony showed an alleged cuban meeting to Settle a dispute Over a raided drug lab was scheduled and discussed with the Cia before the dispute Ever surfaced. And nobody could offer a coherent explanation for Why Noriega raided a cocaine processing lab he allegedly was paid $4 million to protect. Drug lord Carlos Lehder testified that Noriega raided the lab in retaliation because he wanted a bigger piece of the pie. Prosecutors said a local military official stumbled across the lab while investigating suspected guerrilla activity. But that military official testified it was Noriega a office that first told him about suspicious activity at the site and sent him to investigate providing a patrol boat and extra men to do it with. Rubino repeated claims from drug smugglers who insisted Noriega protected their operations although they had never met him and they found no signs any Protection was provided. Rubino summed up by saying a somebody told me that somebody told them that they heard the general said  if convicted on All the counts Noriega would face 160 years in prison. After the Miami trial he is expected to be taken to Tampa where he faces another Federal indictment on marijuana conspiracy charges. The panamanian government has also indicated it wants to try Noriega for the beheading of Hugo Spadafora an outspoken Noriega critic. If Noriega is acquitted in Miami Rubino said a a we la ask for bail in  Noriega has been imprisoned in Miami since he was flown to the United states chained to an air plane toilet in january 1990. He surrendered to . Troops during the december 1989 invasion of  sailing in big easy the Santa Maria a replica of Christopher Columbus ship passes through the Industrial canal in new Orleans on thursday. The Santa Maria and its sister ships the Nina and the Pinta began their american tour in october. The ships have docked in Miami and the Texas ports of Corpus Christi and Galveston before arriving in new Orleans. The ships Are owned by the Spanish  top cause of death in 2 states Atlanta up a gun related death rates Are higher than at any time since the 1920s and Are becoming an increasingly significant Public health problem a Federal health official said thursday. In two states Texas and Louisiana deaths caused by guns have emerged As the leading cause of injury related mortality surpassing motor vehicle crashes and the trends responsible for the Pheno Nemon a increases in homicides and suicides a Are similar to those in the nation As a whole said Marcella Hammett of the Federal centers for disease control. Hammett a health scientist with the cd cd a National Center for environmental health said a a a dramatic increase in homicides was the driving Force behind the Rise in deaths caused by guns. A firearm related deaths Are becoming an increasingly significant Public health problem a she said. A a we re going to have to Deal with homicides and also suicides in order to reduce that  because of safety programs the death rate from motor vehicle crashes in the United states has declined substantially since 1966, the cd said. A in comparison during 1970-1990, the firearm related death rate has fluctuated a the Agency said. A however these rates have been higher than at any time since the 1920s.�?� although the cd did not have statistics on gun related deaths for the nation As a whole it said that in Louisiana deaths caused by guns have been the leading cause of injury related mortality for four of the five years from 1986 through 1990. Firearm related death rates including homicide and suicide increased most for Black males a 42 percent from 1970 through 1990 a compared with 16 percent for White males. During 1990, firearm related injuries surpassed motor vehicle crashes As the leading cause of injury related mortality in Texas the first state to report this pattern to the cd. In both states and the nation increases in the firearm related death rate was greatest for Black males. A what we found is that people of the same race kill one another a Hammett said. A a it a individuals who know each other. You re More Likely to be killed by someone you know than by a stranger.�?�2nd Boston trolley crash prompts safety review from wire reports Boston a for the second time in three Days two trolleys collided along mass transit lines in the City thursday sending eight passengers to the Hospital and prompting a safety review of metro transportation services. The mishap occurred at 10 48 . Est in the Kenmore Square station of the Green line not far from Fenway Park. A single car trolley travelling to Boston College and a single car trolley headed to Riverside station collided officials said. Forty five passengers were aboard the trolleys and eight riders went to Beth Israel Hospital with a a minor injuries according to John Haley jr., general manager of the Massachusetts Bay transportation authority. On tuesday a trolley travelling along the red line in Dorchester hit a disabled trolley near Cedar Grove  hits Tennessee Washington a Light earthquake late thursday rocked two counties in the new Madrid seismic zone in Western Tennessee the . Geological Survey reported. Survey spokesman Don Finley said the tremor which occurred at 8 06 . Est was entered near the Mississippi River about 25 Miles Southwest of Dyersburg Tenn. Survey monitors in Golden colo., said the tremor was recorded at a preliminary magnitude of 3.5 on the Richter  course offered Baton Rouge la. A Louisiana state University will offer a new course the holocaust due to concerns about sex Klansman David Duke popularity on Campus and students Lack of knowledge about the genocide carried out by nazi Germany. University Chancellor William Davis said wednesday that in addition to the course efforts were under Way to establish an endowed chair for Judaic studies within the department of philosophy and religion. Davis said the need for a course on the holocaust was illustrated earlier this year when the Campus newspaper the daily reveille published an advertisement rejected by several other Campus newspapers that offered arguments that the holocaust was a hoax and never occurred. A world War ii to them has the same relationship in my generation to the Boxer rebellion and the Spanish american War a Davis said