A t srian tdg
Eighty-three years of editorial freedom
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
Electronics intrude
into the courtroom
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mi. 48104
News Phone: 764-0552
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1973
Ending Middle East conflict
THE RENEWED OUTBREAK of war in
the Middle East is a deplorable situ-
ation which is the result of the refusal
of the various Arab factions, the Israelis
and the rest of the world community to
make an earnest attempt to begin mean-
ingful negotiations on the Middle East-
situation.
It should be apparent by now that war
will not produce a solution, unless there
is total victory by one side or the other,
a situation that neither the Soviet Union
nor the United States would tolerate. Past
military actions in the area have never
resolved the situation, and this one will
not either.
Syria and Egypt would appear to have
their own strategic reasons for launching
the two-pronged attack on Israeli forces.
The major point of contention for more
than six years has been the land Israel
occupied after the 1967 war. The Arabs
have justifiably demanded that the land'
be returned, and they found a continua-
tion of the status quo highly unsatisfac-
tory. With no negotiated settlement even
remotely in sight, Arab frustration is un-
derstandable.
NEVERTHELESS, WE. abhor the attack
Initiatedby Syria and Egypt. Not
only is such action morally reprehensible,
but the danger that the U. S. and the
Soviet Union will be drawn into an un-
wanted confrontation is great.
The Arab forces seemingly have not
launched a full-scale war bent on the de-
struction of Israel, but are attempting to
regain some territory to be used as diplo-
matic leverage. The Israelis, on the other
hand, will probably not accept an end to
the fighting until the previous cease-fire
lines are restored.
Already both the United States and the
Soviet Union are apparently supplying
arms to the belligerents, an action which
we find to be irresponsible, improper and'
dangerous. Both superpowers should im-
mediately cease transporting arms to the
battling armies. Resupplying arms will
only prolong this senseless war.
WE FURTHER URGE that a ceasefire be
called immediately, with all parties
in their present positions and negotia-
tions to begin immediately.
When the fighting finally ends, both
the Arabs and the Israelis will have to
realize, or be forced to realize, that con-
cessions from both sides will be necessary
for any negotiated solution to be possible.
It seems obvious that land "won" by
the Israelis in the 1967 conflict will event-
ually have to be returned. Although of-
ficial Israeli policy has been that Israel
did not intend to keep the land perma-
nently, recent Israeli settlements in the
Sinai Desert and on the West Bank have
indicated otherwise, and may very well
have contributed to the Arab decision to
attack before the areas were permanent-
ly settled by Israelis.
Israeli settlement and development of
the areas only substantiates Arab claims
that Israel is an expansionist, imperial-
ist country.
()N THE OTHER hand, the state of Is-
rael now exists. The manner in which
it was established almost 25 years ago is
no longer as important as the fact that
it was established.
The ideology of "driving Israel into the
sea" is unacceptable. A concession by
Arab governments that Israel has a right
to maintain its political identity will be
necessary to the production of any ne-
gotiated settlement of Arab-Israeli dif-
ferences.
The road to any negotiations will be
difficult. The fact that the various Arab
factions are not totally united will com-
plicate problems tremendously.
The main problem will be one of pride.
Each side will have to swallow a consider-
able amount if there is to be any sort of
stability in the Middle East. It is up to the
rest of the world community to convince
them that swallowing a little pride will
hurt less than continued bloodshed with
no end in sight.
By ROBERT MANNING
TELEVISION, which holds un-
disputed sway in American
living rooms, may soon win a
place in the nation's courtrooms.
If an administration - sponsored ex-
periment now being conducted in
several states meets with success,
courtroom theatrics will go the
way of Hollywood movies and
vaudeville. Jurors will no longer
hear witnesses' testimony and
lawyers' cross - examination in
open court, but watch them on
videotape, pre-edited by the judge.
Part of the growing administra-
tion-b a c k e d movement to
"streamline" the courts, the video-
tape project is being carried out
by the National Center for State
Courts, under a $151,000 grant from
the Justice Department's Law En-
forcement Assistance Administra-
tion (LEAA).
In this experiment, witnesses
testify and are cross-examined be-
fore the trial, in the presence of
the defendant, both attorneys, and
an officer of the court. These ses-
sions are videotaped. The presid-
ing judge later views the tape
and deletes inadmissable evidence
along with any improper conduct
by attorneys - those moments in
a trial which the jury, under or-
dinary circumstances, sees, but is
instructed to disregard.
OTHER, MORE limited uses of
the electronic medium also being
tried include videotaped confes-
sions and depositions, and the use
of videotape as the official record
of a trial.
Though the experiment so far
has been extremely limited, the
results from three recent trials
suggest that removal of the "hu-
man factor" may be hard on
criminal defendants and civil plain-
tiffs.
" A Vermont man was convicted
of drunk driving after a trial in
which both live and videotaped
testimony was presented.
" A Florida man was convicted
of possession of heroin partly on
the strength of pre-recorded tes-
timony by an expert witness,
though other witnesses appeared
in person.
* A San Francisco woman lost
her $50,000 suit for injuries suf-
fered in an auto accident, after a
trial during which jurors heard at-
torneys' opening and closing argu-
ments live, but watched all inter-
vening testimony and cross-exam-
ination on two 23-inch videotape
monitors set up in the courtroom.
IN ALL THREE cases, both sides
agreed to the experiment in ad-
vance. But according to R. Grant
Brady, who heads the videotape
project for the National Center
for State Courts, "The defense has
objected stringently in many cases.
The prosecution has generally been
very cooperative."
The winning lawyer in the San
Francisco trial, Joseph Rogers, ex-
pressed satisfaction with the new
techniques. Rogers, who special-
izes in defending insurance com-
panies, said he would like to see
videotaperapparatus set up out-
side courtrooms to record the tes-
timony of police officers, saving
officers the time they now spend
waiting in courtrooms.
San Francisco criminal attorney
Charles Gary was unequivocal in
rejecting this plan. "Never," he
said. "I don't want to see any-
thing taken away from live cross-
examination in front of a jury."
Garry has won a number of major
cases by persuading the jury to
question the credibility of police
witnesses.
REACTIONS FROM judge and
jurors in the San Francisco trial
indicate all felt something was
lacking. Althoughathe jurors were
in agreement that watching the
trial on television had not affected
their ability to reach a decision,
several also, commented that the
television trial lacked "the hu-
man element" and that close-ups
of facial expressions were "not en-
tirely adequate."
Following the Vermont conic-
tion, a state senator introduced
legislation to ban courtroom use of
television except in depositions (in
criminal cases, sworn testimony
taken from witnesses unable to ap-
pear).
The Natinal Center for State
Courts was set up following the
National Conference on the Judic-
iary in 1971. President Nixon and
Chief Justice Warren Burger ad-
dressed the conference, citing in-
creasing caseloads and congestion
in state courts.
Both called for the establish-
ment of a national clearing house
"to stimulate and guide," in the
President's words, "the movement
for improvement of state courts."
The Center was set up as a pri-
vate non-profit institution. How-
ever, its 1971-73 (sic) Annual Re-
port shows that a majority of its
projects were funded by the Na-
tional Institute of Law Enforce-
ment and Criminal Justice, the re-
search arm of LEAA.
SAVING COURTROOM time' is
the principal argument advanced
for the use of videotape. With the
new method, neither, jude,t jury,
nor clerk of the court is obliged to
be present for the testimony of
witnesses. Judge Kane estimates
that the San Francisco trial, which
lasted two days in court, would or-
dinarily have taken four or five.
An additional saving, civil attor-
ney Rogers points out, would re-
sult from the elimination of mis-
trials due to prejudicial conduct.
Critics reply that "Perry Ma-
sonism," despite its excesses, is
an intrinsic part of our 200 year-
old judicial heritage, and that the
human contact of face-to-face con-
frontation is essential to reaching
a reliable verdict. A woman juror
in the San Francisco trial told re-
porters, "If there's any place .you
need the human element, I think
it's in the courtroom where people
are being judged and their lives
are being influenced."
LEGAL OBJECTIONS center
around the possible unconstitu-
tionality of eliminating the con-
frontation before a jury. There is
also concern among civil liber-
tarians and constitutionalists that
making electronic recording avail-
able may lead to the denial of
equal protection under the law to
indigent defendants.
"Public defenders and court-
appointed lawyers may be unduly
prone to accept the electronic
trial," commented a member of
the Vermont Civil Liberties Un-
ion. "Poor and uneducated per-
sons, ignorant of their rights and
often with substandard represen-
tation, would be guinea - pigs in
this experimentation."
Lawyers opposed to widespread
use of videotape would admit it for
limited use. Critic Garry believes
that its employment should be lim-
ited to the recording of deposi-
tions. "I prefer videotape over a
cold (written) depostion, because
you at least get a look at the wit-
ness. But if the witness is avail-
able, he should appear."
BUT SUCH LIMITED use of the
technique would not greatly con-
tribute to the stated objective of
advancing efficiency. If substan-
tial "streamlining" of the courts
is to occur, it will evidently be at
the expense of "the human ele-
ment" - and, some experts, be-.
lieve, at the expense of defend-
ants.
Robert Manning, a former
UPI correspondent, is now a
freelance journalist specializ-
ing in judicial affairs. Copy-
right 1973-the Pacific News
Service.
Battling the diary lobby
The Agnew resignation
By DICK WEST
THE U.S. SENATE plans to take
a two-week recess later this
month while the House of Repre-
sentatives catches up on appro-
priation bills.
If you are wondering why the
House is behind on appropriation
bills, maybe I can give you a clue.
The House is sometimes lag-
gard in pressing money measures
because it tends to become pre-
occupied with other issues, such as
whether to change the w o r d
"diary" to "dairy" in the 1973
farm bill. Right away you can see
the importance of making t h i s
change.
For if the wording in the bill as
originally passed had been allow-
ed to stand, farmers who keep
diaries presumably would be re-
ceiving federal subsidies intend-
ed for those who keep milk cows.
At least that is my understand-
ing.
HOW COULD such a thing hap-
pen?rDo not congressmen know the
difference between personal daily
journals and mature female bo-
vines?
Yes, they do. In most cases. The
reference in the farm bill to "diary
producers, handlers and proces-
sors" apparently was a typographi-
cal error rather than a case of
mistaken identity.
In fact, more than 20 other mis-
prints appeared in the measure,
including the rendering of forego-
ing as foreoging." But they were
relatively trivial.
Nobody is likely to get very
disturbed about a little "foreog-
ing." The issue here, I am con-
vinced, was strictly between the
dairy and the diary interests.
In any event, when a bill to cor-
rect the typos in the original leg-
islation was brought to the House
floor, a motion to approve it by
voice vote was blocked by Rep.
Silvio Conte (R-Mass.); who de-
manded a roll call.
Twice before, Conte had block-
ed moves to approve the correc-
tive legislation by unanimous, con-
sent.
His adroit parliamentary maneu-
vering set the stage for the final
dramatic showdown. By a vote of
330 to 28, the House went firmly on
the record in favor of the dairy
farmers.
The debate and discussion that
H IMMAN WHO railed against "radi-
clibs" and the "effete snobs" of the
East coast media is no longer the Vice
President of'the United States.
And almost immediately after Spiro
Agnew's resignation, a welter of specula-
tion began over his possible successor.
Goldwater? Scranton? Rockefeller? Rich- .
ardson? The list is endless.
Yet, this predicting and fantasizing, in-
teresting as it may be, is a diversion from
the real implications of the Vice Presi-
dent's resignation. For the first time in
American history, the second highest of-
ficer in the land has stepped down due to
pressure upon him.
Moreover, the Agnew resignation comes
after virtually the entire original Nixon
coterie of aides and subordinates has
been implicated in some kind of nefar-
ious or criminal activity.
THE NIXON STAFF and Cabinet has re-
sembled a game of musical chairs
more than anything else since April.
"Law and order" was once the catch-
phrase of the Nixon administration, and
Agnew himself played an ostentatious
part in decryinig campus radicals and
black rioters alike.
Yet, the findings of the grand jury
probing Agnew's gubernatorial years
show that even while he was denouncing
student protesters, the future Vice Presi-
Sports Staff
DAN BORUS
Sports Editor
FRANK LONGO
Managing Sports Editor
BOB McGINN ...... .......Executive Sports Editor
CHUCK BLOOM ............- Associate Sports Editor
JOEL GREER ..............Associate Sports Editor
RICH STUCK ..............Contributing Sports Editor
BOB HEUER ............Contributing Sports Editor
NIGHT EDITORS: Jeff Chown, Brian Deming, Jim
Ecker, Marc Feldman, G e o r g e Hastings, Marcia
Merker, Roger Rossiter, Theresa Swedo
STAFF: Barry Argenbright, .Bill Crane, Richard Fla-
herty, Cary Fotias, Andy Glazer, Leba Hertz, John
Kahler, Mike Lisull, Jeffrey Milgrom, Tom Pyden,
Leslie Riester, Jeff Schiller, Bill Stieg, Fred Upton
Business Staff
-Tt m AFK-
I feel certain that Conte h a s
become a tool of the powerful
diary lobby, whichfwas trying to
capitalize on the farm bill typo.
This is not to say the diarists
don't deserve a government sub-
dent was accepting money u:der the ta-
ble for awarding engineering contracts in
his home state.
According to the testimony of Agnew's
Maryland associates, it was the Vice Pres-
ident himself who asked that the cash
payment system in operation while he was
governor of Maryland be continued when
he attained the Vice Presidency.
The only change was in the type of con-
tract awarded; federal, instead of state,
contracts became the locus of Agnew's in-
fluence. Agnew, the grand jury reported,
continued to receive payments through
the end of last December.
THERE IS NO question that kickbacks
and payoffs are standard practices in
the political world. Agnew's participation
in them is notable mainly because of his
rank and the systematic nature of the
payoff process he involved himself in.
But the fact that corruption is wide-
spread does not in any sense justify it.
James Thompson, federal prosecutor for
northern- Illinois, was brutally correct in
his remark on the Agnew case: "The
country is well rid of him. The man is
a , croak."
The magnitude of the Vice President's
action has, at least temporarily, obscured
the more far reaching issue of Watergate
and the President's possible involvement
in that affair. Ironically, it has been Ag-
new and his supporters who have pointed
out that fact most often.
FROM ALL SIDES, the call for "national
unity" in the "national interest" can
be heard; we must jump on the Nixon
bandwagon to be certain the ship of state
is righted. This is precisely the time when
such an action would be disastrous. More
attention than ever should be focused on
the Watergate issue in the aftermath of
Agnew's resignation.
The Agnew resignation is one symptom
of the crisis which has surrounded the
Nixon administration since last spring.
It was the all-encompassing nature of
the administration's troubles - from
Watergate to inflation - which allowed
a formerly netty scandal to turn into a
:::}~{y.s:' : ' tt :N t t "A N A YJ.NIa
"For if the wording in the bill as originally passed
had been allowed to stand, farmers who keep
diaries would be receiving federal subsidies in.
tended for those who keep cows."
preceded the vote made it appear sidy. Maybe they do. But not as an
that Conte was unhappy over some agricultural product.
of the provisions in the original bill Just try to milk one and you'll
and forced. the time-consuming roll see what I mean.
call out of pique.
But I don't for one minute be- Dick West Is a writer for the
lieve that was the case. United Press International.
Contact your reps-
Sen. Phillip Hart (Dem), Rm 253, Old Senate Bldg., Capitol
Hill, Washington, D.C. 20515.
Sen. Robert Griffin (Rep), Rm 353, Old Senate Bldg., Capitol
Hill, Washington, D.C. 20515.
Rep. Marvin Esch (Rep), Rm. 412, Cannon Bldg., Capitol
Hill, Washington, D.C. 20515.
Sen. Gilbert Bursley (Rep), Senate, State Capitol Bldg.,
Lansing, Mi. 48933.
Rep. Perry Bullard (Dem), House of Representatives, State
Capitol Bldg., Lansing, Mi. 48933.
-----
Letter
To The Daily:
NOW THAT President Fleming
has hinted ofa surplus of tuition-
generated revenues I expect that
various special interest groups will
begin lobbying for their causes.
I would like to make a plug for
one such group consisting of stii-
dents who qualified for financial
aid but were denied it ". . . due to
a combination of circumstances,
including an increased number of
applicants, increases in educational
costs, and insufficient federal fund-
ing."
The myopic bureaucrats in the
budgeting offices of this institu-
tion should be forewarned that
many of the consequences of the
denied financial aid will not be
felt until Winter or Spring terms
and these consequences will put the
crunch on many students and per-
haps the institution.
A number of us -who applied for
National Direct Loans were led to
hoi..AVA .b 1. mlintan.nnaA
Using excess tuition revenue
this will necessitate dropping out
at the end of this term when our
funds run out. This couldrconceiv-
ably reduce the tuition revenues
for the Winter-Spring terms trig-
gering another tuition increase.
A partial tuition rebate seems
unlikely and, according to Presi-
dent Fleming, ". . . a commitment
which I don't know if we [the
University] can keep."
Therefore, I propose that any
tuition revenue in excess of those
needed to cover alleged losses in-
curred by tlW new residency rul-
ings be tagged for student fin-ncial
aid. Specifically, highest priority
for these monies should be given
to aiding students who applied for
aid, demonstrated need and, were
denied aid for the above mentioned
reasons.
-Alan W. Lanning, grad
Oct. 8
Capitalist
appointed to this absurd commis-
sion, naively believing, I might be
able to make a contribution. Af-
ter the first meeting, it became
quite obvious certain members
were not the least bit interested
in examining facts, but rather only
interested in using this commis-
sion as a forum to espouse their
own particular brand of political
and economic philosophies.
What Mayor Harris hoped to ac-
complish when he appointed this
commission, God only knows; eith-
er he succumbed to political pres-
sure or he did it as a practical
joke.
In this article, there is a sexist
quote which Mr. Ehrlich attributed
to me, "the financial institutions
are the real whores." At one of
the three or four meetings I at-
tended, I attempted to show the
effect that certain types of mort-
gage financing could have on ren-
struction loan
thing possible
obtaining a
elsewhere.
and they did every-
to prevent me from
construction 1 o a n
Fortunately, I learned what they
were doing in time and stopped
payment on the check. I was told
later by someone with supposedly
inside information that the bank
was not in a position to honor their
permanent loan commitment and
by preventing the project from go-
ing ahead, could keep the commit-
ment fee. Fortunately, avarice and
greed caught up with the "Par-
son's Group" and they met their
deserved demise.
The other example I related took
place at the same time. I was
approached by a correspondent for
an insurance company who offer-
ed to make a long term mortgag3
loan. Their offer was quite inter-
esting. First, they would buy the
land and lease it back to us for 49
mortgage for 22 years at 9%, per
cent .plus 20 per cent of all future
gross rent increases. Unfortunate-
ly, our expenses have risen faster
than the gross income. The kicker
is that this mortgage cannot be
paid off for 15 years.
Now, when I was discusing these
three examples with Mr. Ehrlich,
it may have revived some very
unpleasant memories and caused
me to make some rather rash
statements. Whether I used the
word whore or not, I don't recall,
however, when I was referring to
these three examples, I might have
used something equally deroga-
tory.
Unfortunately, Mr. Ehrlich trans-
lated this emotional outburst on my
part to include all financial insti-
tutions. This was certainly not
the case. I am one of the found-
ers of a local bank and serve on
its Board of Directors and I am