Casady could again
face criminal charges
By Jeff Zeleny
Senior Reporter
A special prosecutor could be ap
pointed to reinvestigate Lincoln Po
lice Chief Tom Casady’s conduct in
the controversial death of Francisco
Renteria.
Although one grand jury miscon
duct indictment against Casady was
thrown out in February, a special pros
ecutor still could be appointed to in
vestigate if sufficient evidence exists
to file criminal charges.
Lancaster County Attorney Gary
Lacey filed a motion Monday asking
the district court to appoint a special
prosecutor. Though Lacey said he
believed Casady acted properly, the
Nebraska Bar Association recom
mended that he request an investiga
tion.
It was a case of mistaken identity last
fall when Renteria was stopped by a
University of Nebraska-Lincoln police
officer. Renteria, who spoke little or no
English, died Oct. 1,1994, one day after
a struggle with Lincoln police.
Two Lincoln Police Department
officers and a city fire captain were
acquitted of charges this summer.
When Casady’s indictment wasthrown
out in February, many members of the
Hispanic community protested.
Attorney Bob Bartle of Lincoln
was appointed to prosecute the crimi
nal case against the officers last year.
Lacey requested a special prosecutor
because of his close working relation
ship with Casady and the police de
partment.
Lancaster County District Judge
Donald Endacott dropped the indict
ment against Casady on Feb. 17.
Weeks later, Bartle said Lacey could
possibly become a witness for the
prosecution and defense.
An advisory committee,appointed
on behalf of the Nebraska Bar Asso
ciation, stated earlier this month that
Lacey should not be involved in de
ciding whether criminal chargescould
again be filed against Casady.
Phillips
Continued from Page 1
“Short of suspension, Osborne
would be able to handle this by him
self. The coach has agreed to keep
Phillips off the team until this is
wrapped up,” Griesen said. “Quite
naturally, we’re trying to wrap this up
as quickly as possible.”
Osborne said he had become dis
couraged upon hearing rumors that
Phillips would be reinstated as soon as
Nebraska reached the difficult part of
its schedule. Of the Huskers’ remain
ing five games, four are against teams
ranked in the top 15.
“If that was the case,” Osborne
said, “we probably would have brought
him back for Washington State. Go
ing into that game, I thought we needed
him. The whole deal is not about what
we need to win football games.”
Phillips — who spent part of the
second half of Saturday’s 57-0 win
over Missouri on the NU sidelines—
will meet with Griesen and Director of
Student Judicial Affairs Linda
Schwartzkopf again this week. If he
accepts the sanctions given by those
university officials, his conduct viola
tion case would be finalized.
However, if Phillips chooses to not
accept the sanctions, his case will be
reviewed by a board made up of five
students and four faculty members.
Last week, Phillips was cleared by
the NCAA of any violations connected
with accepting a car and money from
the owners of a group home in which
he lived as a teen-ager.
The Student Code of Conduct au
tomatically applies to all incidents that
occur on university property. How
ever , off-campus incidents such as the
Phillips case also can be brought un
der the code if the misconduct ad
versely affects the educational inter
ests of students.
Griesen said 300 cases filtered
through the student judicial process
each year, including about 30 inci
dents of physical abuse.
“Campusjudicial matters are genu
inely very, very private,” Griesen said.
“Every now and then a case gets so
much notoriety it has to be discussed.”
Student judicial records are confi
dential under federal law, but Griesen
said Phillips agreed to make the case
public because of the intense national
interest in this case.
Osborne said all measures had been
taken to ensure that Phillips and
McEwen were being treated as fairly
as possible. The athletic department,
Osborne said, has paid for 24-hour
protection of McEwen since she was
assaulted.
“She has had all the counseling that
she needs,” Osborne said, “and any
thing within reason that she or her
family had wanted has been done.
“We thought the best thing for Kate
was to have Lawrence have the possi
bility of returning to football if he did
certain things. Believe me, if we
thought his playing football would be
harmful to Rate or to anybody else on
this campus, he wouldn’t do it.”
Phillips was treated last month at
the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kan.
Osborne said the report from the world
renowned psychiatric hospital indi
cated no psychosis or abnormal per
sonality.
“Every person that has examined
him said that he doesn’t appear to be
any threat to any person right now,”
Osborne said.
If Phillips accepts the sanctions
imposed by the judicial board, he could
be allowed to practice almost immedi
ately. But he still would not be ready
to play in a game, Osborne said.
“He probably needs at least two
weeks of practice before he can play
effectively in a game,” Osborne said.
“This is a fellow that has been out now
for six weeks,” he said. “You can’t
just not practice for that length and
have any kind of timing, any kind of
physical conditioning. He has done a
little weight lifting, but I would as
sume he is not ready to play football.”
Jon Waller/DN
Gang graffiti sprays the back wall Tuesday of the Disabled American Veterans thrift store
building at 821 N. 27th St. Police say a piru gang has become more visible in the area.
Gang graffiti leaves scars in Lincoln
By Jeff Zeleny _
Senior Reporter
Many residents in the central Lin
coln neighborhood near 27th and Vine
streets cannot wait for the snow.
They don ’t mind the warm weather,
but winter breezes could be the only
thing to take gangs off their streets.
“The winter months are about the
only time 1 walk to work, and 1 live
three blocks away,” said Shelly Powell,
who lives in the neighborhood and is
concerned with gang graffiti becom
ing common.
Powell, who manages the Disabled
American Veterans thrift store at 821
N. 27th St., stood behind the building
and pointed to the red swirls of letters
that she discovered on it Tuesday
morning. The spray-painted message
is a clear reminder that her neighbor
hood is changing, she said.
“I think it’s pretty damn stupid,”
Powell said. “It’s obvious that you
have your bloods and your crips. We
figure that this is the bloods.”
The words“Blood Gang” and “East
Side 24 Jackson Avenue Piru” were
among the messages painted on the
west wall of the thrift store. The graf
fiti was spread over more than half the
building’s side. The letters mentioned
Missouri and Kansas City, but it was
unclear if the vandals actually came
from outside Lincoln.
Lincoln Police Chief Tom Casady
said there were people in Lincoln who
claimed to be members of gangs, in
cluding the bloods and crips. A piru
gang, a smaller group or “set” of the
blood nation, has made its presence
“You never know, these guys are out there driving
arou nd, rival gangs could take a course of action
against the employees. ”
SHELLY POWELL
Manager, Disabled American Veterans thrift store
known in the area, Casady said.
“We have people in Lincoln who
claim to be members of piru blood
sets,” he said. “This is not one that
I’ve ever heard of, however.”
The damage to the thrill store wall
was estimated at $500. A storage bin
behind the store and a white delivery
truck each received $100 damage,
police estimated. A backdoor at the
neighboring Mum’s Liquor also re
ceived $100 damage.
At the thrift store, the 1988
Chevrolet truck was not used Tues
day, Powell said, because it also was
painted with a Jackson Avenue piru
message.
“Right now, I just don’t want to use
it,” she said. “You never know, these
guys are out there driving around,
rival gangs could take a course of
action against the employees.”
The light-brown wall was repainted
two months ago, Powell said. Traces
of blue graffiti — the color of crip
gangs — were barely visible on the
wall. However, two larger blue mes
sages remained quite visible on the
storage bin.
Powell said she believed the
freshly-painted red messages were
done in retaliation to the older crip
symbols.
“It’s kind of scary that they are this
close,” said Powell, who has worked
at the store for 10 years and lived in
the area for three years. “I’mnot happy
about it, but I can’t afford to move,
and I work right here.”
Casady said the only way to catch
graffiti artists was while they were in
the act. Otherwise, he said, it’s nearly
impossible to identify if the vandals
are legitimate gang members or
wannabes.
“It doesn’t really matter who it’s
done by. Ifyou’ve got junior high kids
doing this, that is troubling,” Casady
said. “Or ifyou’ve got 24-year-old
convicted felons, that is troubling.”
As Powell stood and surveyed the
damage to her store, her curiosity
momentarily displaced her anger.
“It’s interesting to know what it
means,” she said. “They’re pretty darn
good, don’t you think?”
Parking
Continued from Page 1
complex.
McDowell said that system would
reduce lines when students apply for
parking permits. Freshmen would be
able to pre-order permits more easily
because their permits would not de
pend on the residence hall they were
living in, he said.
The new system is on the agenda
for further discussion and a possible
vote next week.
The committee brainstormed on
how to reduce counterfeit parking
permits, about 20 of which are found
each year. One found a few weeks ago
was made with a laser scanner and a
color printer. The current punishment
is a $100 fine and loss of parking
privileges for one year. The car also
will be towed.
Committee members suggested that
the Student Code of Conduct be stud
ied to determine if counterfeit permits
violated it.
' 1
Homecoming
■ ^ Homecoming Steering Committee
I ^ Coordinated By:
W J ^ J ASUN-UNL Student Government
Interfratemity Council
_ Panhellenic Council
8:00 am to 8:00 pm - Voting Sites Residence Hall Association
Student Alumni Association
Nebraska Union-City University Program Council
Nebraska Union-East Agri. Sciences & Nat. Res. Student Adv. Bd.
Student Foundation
Cammis Recreation Center
Left to Right the Homecoming Royalty are:
(1) Ryan Frank, (2) Shelley Moses, (3) David
Milligan, (4) Shawntell Hurtgen, (5) Paul Cain, (6)
Stacy Brandt, (7) Daniel Brox, (8) Tricia Koch, (9)
Jason Katt, (10) Stephanie Brauner, (11) Dean
Acheson, (12) Karen Starr, (13) Jason Neuhaus,
(14) Annie Jones, (15) Michael Johnson, (16)
Stephanie Pitts, (17) Scott Keetle, (18) Lauri
Wyrick, (19) Mark Byars, (20) Juli Jones.
Corporate Sponsors:
Woodman Accident & Life
Big Red Keno
MBNA America
Marketing Systems, Inc.
Sittels
KFRX
Bob Berrier
Reimiers Kaufman
Construction Co.
PO Pears
Fairbury
Pepsi
Old Home Bread
Runza