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I M 7Ae Hometown Newspaper of Clinton, Essex, Franklin Counties Vol. Ip3 - No. 59 ,Pw»-IUpublic«n Plattsbuigh, NY 12901, Thursday, October 19,1995 Suggested Price: 50* 32 Pages ^^W&L?. 1 ^^ Snow on the •J-,'.-.' 1 ':. if'JilVJ,.,^ '••'.. .'. ... :'•''••.. • ' .& ,' •• ---•>-- \ - r-n^T^-^—^-.^-^^iii^ng.^.^i, sight of mountains\ clbaKed in shew; Death penalty price tag is high By KENNETH LOVETT and JOHN MILGRIM Ottaway News Service Budget may go up millions ALBANY -, When O.J. Simp- son was tried for murder, he got the best defense attorneys his money could buy. In New York, accused murderers without those kinds of resources still may have an expe- rienced legal defense, but the bill would be picked up by the state. Under the state's recently enacted death penalty statute, New York will pick up the tab for experienced lawyers, forensic ex- perts and private investigators in first-degree murder cases where defendants cannot afford their own defense. Capital cases in- clude cop killers, multiple murders and killings done in the process of another felony and tor- ture killings. Such state aid is not provided for defendants in non-capital murder cases. \It will level the playing field,\ said Essex County District At- torney Ronald Briggs said of capital defendants' access to bet- ter experts and crime labs. \That's OK. It should be level.\ As a result of these require- ments, capital punishment in New York will be ushered in with a rather hefty price tag. Experts say state legal defense expenses could add between $2 million and $5 million to the cost of each trial conducted under the statute. When Gov. George E. Pataki signed the law restoring capital punishment, a new agency Was set up to administer state aid to indigent defendants facing the death penalty. The office also helps train private lawyers to de- fend capital cases. So far, $3.2 million has been allocated for the Capital Defend- er Office. It has a staff of 30, 18 of whom are lawyers making be- By DEBORAH HASTINGS Associated Press Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) - It had to happen sometime: Jacoby is .suing Mayers, t They!:'teamed up nearly 2Q years ago to hang out a TV shingle.that made them the Kmart ^>f American law. But that's 111 over how.' Leonard Jacoby filed a lawsuit Friday against Steven Meyers, accusing Meyers of squeezing him out. And there's nothing cut-rate about the money Jacoby is asking for. He is demanding $2 million from his law school buddy and 23-year business partner, ac- cusing him of breach of partner- ship, fraud and emotional distress. Also named is Gail Koff, who started Jacoby & Meyers' East Coast operation in 1S>79 and can be seen on late-night TV, holding - a hair dryer and warning viewers to beware consumer injury and fraud. And was a storefront law firm good enough for the man who helped make lawsuits the Ameri- tween about $30,000 and $80,000 a year. In regular cases, court-ap- pointed lawyers make between $25 and $40 per hour. Fees for appointed capital case lawyers have yet to,, be set, but $125 an hour has been recommended, ac- cording to the Capital Defender Office. Kevin Doyle, the state's capital defender, said the additional resources and budget are a good idea because before capital punishment was ended, at least eight executed New Yorkers were later found to have been wrongly convicted. Continued Pag* A-8 Meyers can way? Apparently not. Jacoby has re- tained Quinn, Kully and Morrow, a well-respected downtown firm with offices next to the plush Biltmore Hotel. How much is Jacoby paying his own lawyer? *|We feel our rates are competitive,\ was all Michael Walizer would say. Tug-of-war By KENNETH LOVETT Ottaway News Service ALBANY - A veteran State University of New York trustee yesterday ripped the Pataki ad- ministration and its appoint- ments to the SUNY board for \putting politics ahead of educa- tion.\ Hazel Dukes, a civil rights ac- tivist and law professor from Brooklyn appointed to the SUNY Board of Trustees by former Gov. Mario Cuomo seven years ago, accused the new trustees of tak- ing orders from the Pataki ad- ministration, and said the new trustees are unnecessarily \in- terjecting themselves into the whole operations of SUNY.\ \They are driving the staff crazy,\ Dukes told Ottaway News Service. \They are running around the campuses. They are calling the presidents. A trustee is not supposed to do that. We hired a chancellor to do that. And there's been nothing to show me that he's incapable of running the system.\ Dukes' comments underscored a sharp split in the board that developed when Gov. George E. Pataki was elected and appointed seven of its 16 members. On one side are holdover trustees from the Cuomo era. On the other are Pataki appointees enthusiastic to make major changes to the system, including cutting administration and pro- grams, while increasing class size and the number of hours professors must teach. The split erupted publicly yesterday when the trustees during their monthly meeting took up what was expected to be the routine matter of adopting a proposed budget request for 1996-97. Pataki's budget office had re- quested the proposals by the end of this month. In her letter, Budget Director Patricia Wood- Continuvd Pag* A-5 cocaine nets three from city By STEVE MANOR Staff Writer Northwn Clinton BH ROUSES POINT - Three North Country residents were arrested on federal drug charges Wednesday in connection with an alleged attempt to distribute five kilos of cocaine. If convicted, the trio could face a mandatory 10-year prison sentence. Louis Therrien Sr., his wife, Debra Therrien, and her brother, Terry \Tooker\ Alexander, were each indicted on one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, according to Assistant U.S. At- torney Bill Pericak of Albany. Their ages and addresses were not available Wednesday, but Therrien was described as being in his late 50s while his wife, Debra, was described as being in her 40s. The federal indictment of the Therriens and Alexander in- volves conspiracy to distribute five kilos of cocaine, Pericak said. Due to the amount of cocaine involved, the trio faces a man- datory 10-year prison term under federal law up to a maximum of life' imprisonment and up to $4 million in fines, he added. U.S. Drug Enforcement Ad- ministration agents, assisted by State Police officers, took the Therriens into custody in the Ci- ty of Plattsburgh. Alexander was picked-up in Morrisonville. Pericak said Therrien is origi- nally from Waterford while his wife and Alexander are from the North Country area. Therrien moved to the Plattsburgh area to join his wife, he added. The case was built on \under- cover buys made by police of- ficers and wire taps,\ Pericak said. \In general, the members of the conspiracy would go to New York City to buy ounces of co- caine and bring it back to Water- ford, Louis Therrien Sr.'s home, for distribution. \A portion of the cocaine would also be taken to Plattsburgh — where Therrien's wife, Debra, and Alexander both live — for distribution in the Plattsburgh area,\ Pericak said. The Therriens and Alexander were taken before U.S. Magis- trate Henry VanAcker Jr. of Rouses Point, who ordered them detained by police pending fur- ther court action in U.S. District Court in Albany. All three remained in federal custody in Albany Wednesday afternoon. The drug investigation leading to the federal indictment was conducted jointly by the DEA, State Police and the Colonie Police Department. Mostly cloudy. High near 60. Vari- able wind becoming south at 5 to 15 mph. ti\\w> •• Brldisj| ,...^....u..^.. i .p3 Ann Lahcfcrsl; ;...„.....;..:&»£ Busings Stews .....#$,6 Atts*; ; A-6;? 1 ClassflM... ;&2 Public Record X-7 Comics.. ...;C8 Sp6W*.*.» B-l-4 Editorial A-4 Wedther D-2 Lotto: 1.T9.23-40.41-50. The ft\ #,Y. CAP) -».: overs bM -rmimits, melted ice cireain 'and other trivial indignities of their confinement are legally harassing the state with thou- Bandsol frivolous lawsuits costing taxpayers millidnS of Mlars, New York's attorney gen- eral said Wpdriesday. Dennif#|cco Used a hearing, by the Senate Standing Committee on Crime Vic- tims, Crime and Correction vem J^fM two chief priapn^s s Legal Aid Society and Pris- -deiv; aid groups countered that quate legal services helps pre- 1 means to address executive director of •H>- saiaj'DU, >: • theii6jj$Uiaid\... ,. His gfbUp'i lawyers advise prisoners ~ ^e^bH ? tTiaWthSRmerwedbWthave^t^^^ attack prison legal services resources, we don't have the lawyers, and we don't have the energy to bring cases that are frivolous,\ Greenberg said. New York has the most expensive legal services system for inmates in the United States, according to the committee's chair- man, Sen, Michael Nozzolio, a Republican from Seneca Falls. There have been 50,000 inmate lawsuits since 1976. Since 1983, when the state court system was computerized, the state has paid more than $18 million in inmate awards, and the attorney general's office spent about $25 million to defend the state against in- mate lawsuits; Nozzolio said. Nozzolio has proposed eliminating funding, for either p^i|bn libraries or legal aid law- yers. Since 1978, taxpayers have spent $53 million for Prisoners' Legeili Services and the Legal -Aid-Society to provide professional legal representation for inmates, he said. Court-awarded attorney's fees for these two agencies cost taxpayers another $3 million for cases decided in favor of the inmate, Noz- zolfdBliclr •\ \•\' ....... AP Photo Attorney General Dennis Vacco speak* to a Senate panel Wednes- day. With him is Lhury Peterson- Smith, an Albany 8th grader learn- ing as \Attorney Qeneral fora Day.\ \Inmates have rights, but taxpayers too have rights, and they are being victimized again and again by the astronomical costs of -inmate lawsuits,\ Nozzolio said. a:k A :i'M&:;i^;&':i&^ ... „»„,.;;,„
