TUESDAY
WEATHER:
Today - Partly cloudy.
West wind 10 to 15 mph.
Tonight - Fair. Lows in
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_October 3, 1995
July reaches verdicts in Simpson trial
Short deliberation
shocks courtroom;
nation waits in awe
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Refusing to meet
O.J. Simpson’s gaze, 12 jurors filed back into
the courtroom Monday to confirm they had
reached verdicts after fewer than four hours of
deliberation.
Their decision shocked the courtroom and a
nation already busy debating how many weeks
the jurors might be out.
Superior Court Judge Lance Ito said the
verdicts would be read today at noon.
Governor bid
looks good
to Breslow
By Jeff Zeleny
Senior Reporter
As State Auditor John Breslow ate a chicken
fried steak lunch last Thursday in Ben Nelson’s
hometown of McCook, Jie told local Ki wanis
Club members that he would like to follow in
the governor s footsteps.
Or at least in his position
as governor.
Breslow, who is in his sec
ond four-year term as state
auditor, said he was likely to
seek the 1998 Republican
nomination for governor.
The 46-year-old Lincoln na
tive i s known throughout the
1 Breslow emment watchdog.
“I have not planned any strategy,” Breslow
said, “but the thing that I would do if I do decide
to run is watch out for the taxpayers’ money.”
. Breslow was elected to both terms of auditor
as a Democrat. He joined the Republican party
in November 1994, shortly after his second
election. He said his conservative stance on
issues made him more suited for the GOP.
“Government can’t do all things for all
people,” he said, explaining his political shift.
“Sometimes government has to say, ‘ We cannot
get involved in things.’”
Nelson, a Democrat, announced last montn
- he would enter the race for U.S. Senate. If
Nelson is elected in 1996, Lt. Gov. Kim Robak
would serve as appointed governor for two
years before deciding whether to launch her
own campaign.
“Everyone is starting to think about it,”
Breslow said, declining to give predictions on
who would enter the 1998 gubernatorial cam
paign field. “Governor Nelson’s planned po
tential exit has moved up a lot of people’s minds
as far as running for office.”
Breslow said when he was asked at the
McCook lunch if he would run for governor, he
answered honestly. However, he said it could be
* as long as two years before he ironed out the
issues and his campaign hit full force.
- “It is difficult for me to look into a crystal
ball and know what the issues are,” Breslow
said. “I hope a lot of the issues such as crime and
property taxes are solved.”
Breslow defeated 20-year incumbent Ray
A.C. Johnson in 1990 to become state auditor,
A political unknown during his first campaign
Breslow used a barking dog in television com
mercials to promote his goal of aggressively
fighting government spending.
Breslow has been a staunch supporter of
•; term limits during his five years in office. He
jf said he would not seek re-election to the same
• office.
“It is time for someone else in the state
auditor’s office,” Breslow said. “My option is
to move up to governor or quit. I was thinking
' ' See BRESLOW on 6
.
As the 10 women and two men on the jury
filed into court at 2:55 p.m., Simpson stood and
stared at them. None looked his way.
The judge then announced the start ling news.
He said his court clerk told him that the panel
had made its decision.
“Is that correct?” he asked.
“Yes,” said the jury forewoman.
There were gasps in theJTushed courtroom.
Lawyers on both sides seemed almost dazed
by the speed of the verdict.
“Surprise doesn’t begin to describe my feel
ings. I am stunned at the speed,” defense attor
ney Carl Douglas said.
Prosecutor Christopher Darden, asked if he
See SIMPSON on 6
1
Professors of law
debate significance
of quick decision
By Ted Taylor _
Staff Reporter ”
« Anna Shavers couldn’t believe her ears
Monday when she heard that the jurors in the
O.J. Simpson trial had reached a verdict after
fewer than four hours of deliberation.
“Everyone is shocked and amazed the ver
dict came so quick,” the associate professor of
law said. “Usually in a long, complex trial like
mis one me jury stays tnat much longer to reach
a verdict.”
Judge Lance Ito told the court a verdict
would be announced today at noon.
Shavers said she could understand how the
jurors made such a quick decision.
“They may have seen the case much more
simpler than we did,” Shavers said. “They saw
things in a more condensed fashion than the
public did and maybe made a quick explanation
of what did and didn’t happen.”
Jo Potuto, a professor of constitutional law,
said she also was surprised by the quick verdict.
“I thought there would be a fair chance it
would be a hung jury,” she said. “It would have
been much longer for that to be the case. It’s
very hard to tell.”
See REACTION on 6
A LITTLE CHEMISTRY
' Travis Heying/DN
Paolo Rossi and Elisabetta Bini share a bench on Broyhill Plaza Monday afternoon. The two are both graduate '
students in chemistry.
Council deliberates Hurricane’s license
By Ted Taylor
Staff Reporter
The Lincoln €ity Council will take two weeks
to decide the fate of one of downtown’s hottest
nightspots. i
The Hurricane, 1108 O St., found itself in the
middle of the controversy Monday as council
members considered revoking its liquor license
based on a number of past violations.
Standing before the council with a plea for a
second chance, Hurricane attorney Mike
Johnson told council members the bar would
put an end to the under-21 “College Nights” it
has featured in the past. -
“People will hate it,” Johnson said. “But
because of the problems, it’s time to eliminate
■ it. From now on, no one under 21 will be able to
walk into the bar.”
Assistant City Attorney Joel Peterson asked
the council to revoke the establishment’s liquor
license, citing a similar case earlier this year
when the council revoked Montigo Bay’s li
cense. ' „ .
Peterson cited affidavits from seven viola
tions, including: '
— Oct. 2, 1994: Disturbance and fighting
call.
— Dec. 28,1994: Minor in Possession vio
lation when bar staff admitted serving a minor
without asking for ID.
— Jan. 5: Serving an intoxicated person.
Lincoln police reports state that an officer saw
a bartender serve someone who was obviously
intoxicated. Blood alcohol tests later showed
the person’s blood alcohol level had been .271,
twice the legal limit.
— April 28: MIP violation.
—June 1: Drinkingafter hours violation. An
officer found people, including bar employees,
drinking in an upstairs office at 1:21 a.m. Offic
ers also noticed another person, not affiliated
with the Hurricane, smoking from what ap
peared to be drug paraphernalia. That person
later turned over a small bag of marijuana to
police.
—June 7: MIP violation. Police saw a young
man enter a back door of the bar without being
carded and was later found inside holding a
beer.
t—Aug. 10: Serving an intoxicated person.
Peterson also told the council about the
Hurricane’s 71 police calls in the last year.
Kaboom’s, 11110 St., led Lincoln bars with
256 police calls in that same period, according
to police records.
“Each particular violation alone wouldn’t
warrant revocation,” Peterson said of the Hur
ricane incidents. “But this is a repeated practice
of continuing serious violations and something
that should be looked at seriously;”
Jack Hanrahan and Nancy Severge are co
owners of the Hurricane.
Johnson said his clients did not take the
matter lightly.
“Have we had problems in the past?” he
asked the council. “Yes, we have.
“We have also had inefficient management
duringJhat time and have gone to great lengths
to find someone to change things.”
Troy Way, former manager of the Hurricane,
was asked by Hanrahan and Sevege to resign
earlier this year.
Chad Sitzman, a 26-year-old former UNL
student, has taken over as manager of the club
See HURRICANE on 6