European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 04, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday april 4, 1992 the stars and stripes c Page 76-month Noriega trial nearing end jury to decide drug trafficker or simple military dictator from wire reports Miami a Manuel Noriega controlled his nation with an Iron hand and turned it Over to drug lords prosecutors said Friday As they ended their Case against Panama a deposed military Leader. The la member jury must decide if Noriega sold his nation to colombians Medellin cocaine Cartel or if the Case was a politically inspired vendetta against a military dictator As the defense claims. The jury was expected to begin deliberations Friday afternoon. Quot it has nothing to do with politics a it has everything to do with Manuel Norie fax a ability to facilitate drug trafficking or the Medellin Cartel a Lead prosecutor Michael Sullivan told the jury. It Sullivan also  attorney Frank Rubinos emphasis on reduced sentences payments and other deals Given a Parade of convicted drug dealers who took the stand against Noriega. A no one is going through that spinning turnstile of Justice you hear about in our Community he said. A the government Isnit relieving prison overcrowding As or. Rubino says. After the prosecution summed up . District judge William Hoeveler was to give instructions to the jurors and formally hand them the Case. The trial has stretched Over six months of testimony from 78 witnesses and four Days of final arguments. Ten drug and racketeering counts include descriptions of Noriega a alleged role in specific drug shipments into the United states and Overall Protection of the cartels routes laboratories chemical shipments and Money laundering. Noriega if convicted on All counts he could be sentenced to a maximum of 160 years in Federal prison. The jurors have been sequestered since thursday night and will remain so until they reach a verdict. Even if acquitted Noriega is unlikely to be free soon. He faces a second indictment in Tampa accusing him of participating in a marijuana smuggling operation. If Noriega is acquitted in Miami Rubino said Quot Well ask for bail in  Panama a president Guillermo Endara has promised to extradite Noriega to his Homeland to face counts that include murder of a political opponent. Noriega has been held in the Federal metropolitan correctional Center South of Miami and in the courthouse basement jail since he surrendered to . Troops after the december 1989 invasion of Panama. In his summation thursday Rubino sharply criticized the governments indirect testimony connecting Noriega to colombian drug lords. He called the prosecutions Case Quot a leap of Faith. Based on what someone said that someone said that someone said about general  Rubino read and waved Cia summaries that sharply differed with the prosecutions version of a $4 million bribe the Medellin drug Cartel allegedly gave to Noriega. A you either believe the Central intelligence Agency or you believe a theory smooth sailing in big easy the Santa Marfa 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 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 we re going to have to Deal with homicides and also suicides m order to reduce that  because of safety programs the death rate from motor vehicle crashes m the United states has declined substantially since 1966, the cd said. Tour in october. The ships have docked in Miami and the Texas ports of Corpus Christ and Galveston before arriving in new Orleans. The ships Are owned by the Spanish government. 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  based on nothing a Rubino said Rubino showed photographs he said contradicted an allegation that Noriega flew captured drug traffickers out of Panama on his private Jet. Rubino asked Why the government stuck to its version. A this is morally wrong Quot he told the jury. Quot and you re not going to be  Rubino wound up his argument by walking Over to Noriega having him stand up and putting his  around him. Noriega was clearly emotional. Quot Are you going to find him guilty of a it eing a military dictator or arc you going to find him guilty of that indictment Quot Rubino asked jurors. 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 it. We be Given it All we be  a honestly he was crying a Rubino said. Quot he a had  .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 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 Dukes 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  top cause of death in 2 states