PUBLIC FORUM.Fodder for lawyers Re ``Horrific'' (Jan. 27): I can just imagine how the suspect's lawyers will argue his case in court. The defense will claim not guilty by reason of insanity not guilty by reason of insanity n. plea in court of a person charged with a crime who admits the criminal act, but whose attorney claims he/she was so mentally disturbed at the time of the crime that he/she lacked the capacity to have intended to commit a crime. and will support this claim by the statement made by Glendale Police Chief Randy Adams who was quoted saying that the suspect is ``deranged'' and was trying to commit suicide Verb 1. commit suicide - kill oneself; "the terminally ill patient committed suicide" kill - cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly; "This man killed several people when he tried to rob a bank"; "The farmer killed a pig for the holidays" , but decided not to do it at the last minute, then ran away when he could not get his vehicle off the tracks. His lawyers will then borrow the arguments from the gun-control advocates by blaming his Grand Cherokee SUV for causing this disaster. - Boysie Cabrera Panorama City Close to home Re ``Horrific'' (Jan. 27): I was shocked to hear the name Jim Tutino being one of the victims in the Metrolink rail crash. Jim and I went to junior high and high school together. We used to play football and cruise around the Valley in his big green Plymouth Fury The Plymouth Fury was an automobile made by the Plymouth division of the Chrysler Corporation from 1956 to 1978. Introduced as a premium-priced halo model (a production automobile designed to showcase the talents and resources of an automotive company, with the intent to draw . I never met a guy with so much energyand enthusiasm. In later years I would still run into Jim now and then and he would yell ``Hey, Byrdman!'' Now because of some loser, we have lost a truly good person. We will not have him in August at the Reseda High class of '75 reunion. I send my deepest condolences to his family for their loss, and they will be in our prayers. I will miss him dearly, but we will have a toast to him at our reunion and celebrate his life. - Robert N. Byrd Reseda Rear engine placement Re ``Horrific'' (Jan. 27): Could the Metrolink tragedy have been diminished if the locomotive had been at the front of the train? We have all seen other collisions where the locomotive in front of the train strikes a vehicle and merely pushes the vehicle a few thousand yards or dislodges the vehicle from the right of way. Conversely, with the locomotive on the rear of the train the passenger car at the front is lighter and more vulnerable to derail de·rail intr. & tr.v. de·railed, de·rail·ing, de·rails 1. To run or cause to run off the rails. 2. in a collision, also there is no protection for the passengers. To compound the tragedy the heavy locomotive's inertia crashes into the passenger cars and strews them about like matchsticks. It's time It's Time was a successful political campaign run by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) under Gough Whitlam at the 1972 election in Australia. Campaigning on the perceived need for change after 23 years of conservative (Liberal Party of Australia) government, Labor put forward a Metrolink took a second look at their rear engine placement. - Walter Semcheshen Mission Hills 'Ron's' plan Re ``Sales-tax proposal for cops gains'' (Jan. 26): The ``Ron'' method of funding more police is simply to have the City Council tax all city departments for the required funds, but requiring them to maintain ``the existing level of services.'' The departments would lose a fraction of the budget, but economizing could boost the morale of city workers, knowing they will make the city a safer place. Taxing the public and assuming the public can maintain ``its existing level of living'' shifts the economizing burden onto the taxpayer. The City Council is entrusted with running the city efficiently and should do so. - Ron Spindler Encino Petty, pious, partisan Re ``Rice confirmed with opposition'' (Jan. 27): When the U.S. Senate voted to confirm the president's choice President's Choice (or "PC") is the private label brand of Loblaw Companies Limited, the largest food retailer in Canada. The PC brand includes a wide variety of food, drinks and consumer products, and services, such as President's Choice Financial services. for secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, 13 senators voted no, which is unprecedented in nearly 200 years. One of the 13 was our very own senator, Barbara Boxer Barbara Levy Boxer (born November 11, 1940) is an American politician and the current junior U.S. Senator from the State of California. A member of the Democratic Party, Boxer was first elected to the U.S. . What a fool is she. Here is California, deep in fiscal red ink red ink Health administration A popular term for financial losses. Cf in the Black. , needing every dollar it can get from big brother Fed and our dear Sen. Boxer decides to take out her trite, petty, pious partisan political peeves on Bush's number one White House pal. Was Boxer absent that day in Politics 101 where you learn ``never bite the hand that signs the appropriations bills'' or is it that Boxer is more concerned about her waning political limelight and needed a TV photo op to boost her ratings? - Gary Lowe Gary Richard Lowe (born May 4, 1934 in Trenton, Michigan) was an American football defensive back in the NFL for the Washington Redskins and the Detroit Lions. He played college football for Michigan State University. Toluca Lake Forgotten dream The Daily News issued a rather simple poll on Martin Luther King Jr. Day: ``Do you believe in Martin Luther King's dream?'' However the results of the poll were disheartening dis·heart·en tr.v. dis·heart·ened, dis·heart·en·ing, dis·heart·ens To shake or destroy the courage or resolution of; dispirit. See Synonyms at discourage. for a couple of reasons. Firstly, there were only 125 replies, which is much lower than other polls, which can reach several thousand replies. But no, the most discouraging aspect of the poll was itssplit, 50 percent for and 50 percent against. To the 50 percent who voted no, I am disgraced. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream was simply that ``my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.'' Either the people who did vote no were completely racist, or they had no idea what Martin Luther King's dream was. - Chris Eberhard Sylmar Blurring the lines Re ``Also committing murder'' (Your Opinions, Jan. 26): Robin Supak opines Opines are low molecular weight compounds found in plant crown gall tumors produced by the parasitic bacterium Agrobacterium. Opine biosynthesis is catalyzed by specific enzymes encoded by genes contained in a small segment of DNA (known as the T-DNA, for 'transfer DNA') that a society that endorses capital punishment capital punishment, imposition of a penalty of death by the state. History Capital punishment was widely applied in ancient times; it can be found (c.1750 B.C.) in the Code of Hammurabi. for the crime of murder, is ``also committing unnecessary murder.'' Unnecessary murder? Are there necessary murders? Insofar in·so·far adv. To such an extent. Adv. 1. insofar - to the degree or extent that; "insofar as it can be ascertained, the horse lung is comparable to that of man"; "so far as it is reasonably practical he should practice that murder is the unlawful killing of a person, especially with malice aforethought A predetermination to commit an act without legal justification or excuse. A malicious design to injure. An intent, at the time of a killing, willfully to take the life of a human being, or an intent willfully to act in callous and wanton disregard of the consequences to , when is murder necessary? Yet legal execution can be ``necessary'' because it is not murder. Except, of course, in the language of the ``No Death Penalty'' idealists and activists. By blurring the lines between a death penalty verdict arrived at through due process and the wanton murder of one or more fellow human beings, they see equivalence in the murderer and the very justice system that is designed to protect society. - Michael G. Miller Los Angeles Those without choices Re ``Horrors of the past'' (Jan. 27): Sylvia Aronica states that the legalization LEGALIZATION. The act of making lawful. 2. By legalization, is also understood the act by which a judge or competent officer authenticates a record, or other matter, in order that the same may be lawfully read in evidence. Vide Authentication. of abortion ``saved the lives of numerous women who now had the 'choice' to abort (1) To exit a function or application without saving any data that has been changed. (2) To stop a transmission. (programming) abort - To terminate a program or process abnormally and usually suddenly, with or without diagnostic information. unwanted fetuses.'' Sylvia forgets to consider the hundreds of millions of unborn children who died because they had ``no choice.'' Is this what God really wants? - Max S. Duran Acton No logic Re ``Scrap the death penalty'' (Your Opinions, Jan. 21): Naive Sol Taylor wishes not only to abolish capital punishment but to ``scrap the San Quentin Death Row and scatter these murderers to the general prison population for life without possibility of parole life without possibility of parole n. a sentence sometimes given for particularly vicious criminals in murder cases or to repeat felons, particularly if the crime is committed in a state which has no death penalty, the jury chooses not to impose the death penalty, or . Be ending the death penalty, it would motivate potential killers to ``go the limit,'' knowing they won't be executed, despite the cruelty of their crimes, and placing these fiends in the general prison population, they can easily kill again. With such ``logic,'' why not put Charles Manson and Scott Peterson on the parole board? - Eddie Cress Sylmar No free ride Re ``Red Line blues'' (Your Opinions, Jan. 27): I can understand John Kuhn's dismay at seeing ``a horde'' of Red Line subway riders apparently boarding the trains without purchasing a ticket first. Please note that a large majority of subway (and bus and train) riders are using and carrying a monthly pass, which they would be required to present when requested or risk being ticketed. They do so for the (obvious) convenience and also to save money over paying for a ticket for each trip. - Janis Risch Agoura |
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