European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 22, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 2 c the stars and stripes wednesday april 22, 1992 at a glance cards Elton John performs during the Freddie Mercury memorial concert for aids at Wembley stadium in North London on monday night. See Story photos on Page 22.perot is big in Texas Texas billionaire h. Ross Perot would narrowly beat president Bush and far outpace Democrat Bill Clinton in Texas if the presidential election were held today a poll says. A Page 4735 haitians rescued coast guard Crews rescued 735 haitians who fled the Island nation on eight a seaworthy sailboats. A Page 5galvin urges global View whoever assumes command of nato military forces in Europe should View the responsibility As International rather than National said retiring Gen. John r. Galvin. A Page 6serbs assault Sarajevo corpses littered streets in the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina on tuesday As serbs set buildings ablaze and pounded the Host City of the 1904 Winter olympics with machine gun and mortar fire. A paged War coverage guidelines the Pentagon and major . News organizations Are near agreement on new guidelines for War coverage. A Pege 9candy bars go to War the Candy bar War escalated monday when Hershey foods corp., one of the nation s biggest Candy makers began offering refunds to Consumers in response to a similar offer by Mars inc. A Page 17 Index Abby Ann Landers. 19 action line. 16 comics. 19-21 commentary. 13 faces a no places. 22 letters. Money matters. 17-18 sports. 23-28 to listings. A. 27 weather. From Page 1 applications were not adequately reviewed the officials said. The car firm employees May have to return the cards after Usa eur Legal experts review their issuance according to 1st personnel come officials at their Headquarters in Schwet Zingen Germany. The command establishes and enforces id card policy for Usa eur. In addition to raising a serious questions about the propriety of id cards issued to car firm employees the audit brought two other companies under scrutiny said personnel command officials. The officials who asked that their names be withheld refused to identify the other firms. The civilian employees possessing the cards in question work for military car sales of Kronberg Germany a division of oms which has Headquarters in Woodbury . Military car sales officials did not respond to questions submitted april 9 concerning the id cards. The issuance of id cards to car sales employees was initiated by cafes new car sales officials at cafes Headquarters in Dallas the personnel officials said cafes officials queried several times since april 9, responded late tuesday in a written statement. The stars and stripes asked cafes officials what part they played in the issuance of the cards and Why the cards were issued to military car sales employees but not to their competitor Ford military sales. A a cafes does not Issue department of defense id cards nor make polity on this subject a stated it. Col. Louis am Mirati Deputy chief of Public affairs at cafes Headquarters in Dallas. A did cards issued by the appropriate Agency have been issued to new car sales individuals involved strictly with technical aspects of the new car sales program a such As the manufacturer s warranty a for several  the cafes statement did not say Why Ford military sales employees were not issued id cards. Officials would not reveal How Many car sales people have been issued cards. An employee of oms told the stars and stripes that about 15 top level managers and regional supervisors possess id cards. The employee gave the stars and stripes a list of 15 names but military officials refused to confirm or deny that those on the list have id cards. The director of Ford military sales Ted Battistone said that his company requested id cards for some of its overseas emt Mil the the cards had not yet been approved. Key privileges associated with . Government id cards include the use of medical commissary and Exchange facilities and exemption from some German taxes said personnel officials. The issuance of id cards is governed by the status of forces agreement and Usa eur regulation 600-700, both documents outline the agencies and individuals eligible for what is referred to As a logistical support and  the Usa eur regulation outlines several criteria for determining whether employees of agencies that serve the . Military Are eligible for id cards. However 1st personnel come officials pointed to two criteria that might disqualify the car sales employees the Lack of a direct contractual link Between cafes and the car sales company and the residency status of company employees. A person who is normally a resident in Germany is not eligible for an id card unless serving the  military As a a technical expert a according to both the Usa eur regulation and the status of forces agreement. The  regulation defines a person who is Quot normally residents As a . Citizen who has resided continuously in Germany for one year or who has obtained a German work permit for any length of time. The regulation defines a technical expert As someone having a a High degree of skill or knowledge in the systematic procedure by which a Complex or scientific task is  employees of companies contracted by the . Government or one of its subordinate agencies Are eligible for id cards if the employees meet All other requirements according to regulation 600-700. Oms does not have a contract with cafes. The Exchange service has contracts with Chrysler general motors and Ford to sell cars on military installations overseas. Chrysler and general motors which account for about 80 percent of the overseas military car Market have hired overseas military sales corp. To conduct the overseas sales. Military car sales is a subsidiary of oms but is registered As a German company and has no official agreements with cafes according to Exchange officials. The car sales company applied for the id cards through new car sales officials at cafes Headquarters in Dallas according to an cafes letter obtained by the stars and stripes. The letter outlines the procedure for obtaining authorization for the cards from Thomas Gallagher chief of the cafes automotive division. The letter was addressed to Jeff Gardner general manager of military car sales and Battistone the chief of Ford military sales. It was signed by William Munn of cafes Europe Headquarters. Although the letter is undated personnel command officials said cards had been issued to car sales people As Early As last summer. Aai i Decd after Midnight but the 9th . Circuit it Law Imby a in Malm court of appeals in san Francisco out from Page 1 porters cited his past As an abused child among other things As reason he should have been spared. With Harris execution California becomes the 20th state to make use of the death penalty since the . Supreme court in 1976 allowed states to resume capital punishment. He was the 169th person put to death since the ruling. Sixteen other states have the death penalty but have not used it. A total of 330 men and women remain on death Row in California and there were More than 2,500 nationally As of january. The last person executed in California was police killer Aaron Mitchell who fought with guards and shouted that he was Jesus Christ As he was strapped into the Gas chamber in 1967. Harris had been scheduled to die just court of appeals in san Francisco put the execution on hold six hours beforehand based on a claim that his brother shot one of the teen agers. It issued three More stays based on a claim that death by Gas is cruel and unusual punishment before the supreme court ordered no More stays. As with the previous votes justices Harry Blackmun and John Paul Stevens dissented. Before the fourth stay came Down Harris was strapped into the chair by three guards at 3 49 . At 3 51 ., the Telephone in the witness room rang. A member of Harris family was heard to say a ooh  he was returned to a holding area before the supreme court cleared the Way for his execution 2vi hours later. The american civil liberties Union argued that the was chamber used by a diminishing number of states violates a evolving standards of decency recognized under the Constitution. California Arizona and Maryland use Gas for executions Mississippi and North Carolina have Gas or lethal injection. Harris had previously appealed to the supreme court six times received five execution dates and came within 12 hours of death in 1990 As the Case made its Way through the courts becoming a test of several death penalty issues. According to testimony at his trial Harris and his brother Danny were looking for a getaway car when they came upon John Mayeski and Michael Baker eating hamburgers in a parking lot. Harris forced the 16-year-Olds to drive to a Rural area ordered them out of the car and shot them. Danny Harris who took the stand against his brother and received a 3vz-year sentence for kidnapping under a plea bargain testified that Robert Harris taunted one of the boys to a quit crying and die like a Man a then shot them. Later prosecutors said Robert Harris laughed and bragged about the  from Page 1 uranium processing Plant. A ruled that the Federal government and not Alaska owns More than 1,000 acres of submerged land in Norton sound off the City of Nome. Resolving a Battle Over what might become an offshore Gold Rush the court said unanimously that the disputed land is owned and controlled by the Federal government. A made it More difficult for creditors to get at Money that bankrupt debtors wrongly claimed was exempt from being used to pay their Bills. The courts 8-1 decision said any claimed exemptions a even if they have no Legal basis a May not be challenged after the 30-Day time limit Federal bankruptcy Law provides for such challenges. Justice Byron r. White writing for the court in the pension Case rejected arguments that the Money military retirees receive is not a pension in the usual sense but rather is reduced compensation for reduced work. State officials said the Money should be considered reduced pay since military retirees remain in a state of readiness. The argument that a military retirement benefits May be characterized As current compensation for reduced current services does not survive analysis in Light of the manner in which these benefits Are calculated Quot White said. A we see no significant differences Between military retirees and state and local government retirees that justify disparate tax treatment by the state a he said. A the amount of retirement pay a merr Ber of the armed services receives is it based on current duties performed by on years served on Active duty and Mil tary rank White said. Also he said Congress for Many Pui poses does not consider military retire ment pay to be current compensation pc reduced current services. Tuesdays ruling which overturned a decision by the Kansas supreme court re solves a question left unanswered by the justices in a 1989 ruling. The High court Sai then in a Case from Michigan that state May not tax Federal pensions while exempt my the pensions of their own retired stat and local government workers. The Bush administration sided with the military retirees in Kansas in urging the court to declare that states tax unlawfully discriminatory. The Case is Barker is. Kansas 91-611