Hartford Courant from Hartford, Connecticut • 26

A26 THE HARTFORD COURANT: TWsdoy, February 11, 1988 Coumrt mules Army's ban on" homosexuals mncoiistituitioinLal Continued from Page 1 A spokesman at the Pentagon said the Army bas not had a chance to review the decision completely and had no comment The Army has the right to seek a rehearing of the three-judge panel's decision by the entire 9th Circuit and by the U-SL Supreme Court. In a dissent, Judge Stephen Bernhardt said that in the Georgia case, ihe Supreme Court held that homosexuals are not entitled to special constitutional protection, because their sexual conduct can be punished criminally. However, Reinhardt condemned the Supreme Court ruling and pre-' dieted it would be overruled. The appeals court ruled in favor of Perry Watkins, 39, who enlisted at age 19 in 1967 and admitted on a pre-induction medical form that he had homosexual tendencies. At the time of Watkins induction, the Army discharged soldiers for sodomy and other specific sexual acts, but not for homosexuality itself.

After the regulations were changed in 1981, the Army sought to discharge Watkins, and succeeded in 1984 on a ruling by the U.S. District Court in Seattle. The 9th Circuit Court on Wednesday ordered the Army to reconsider Watkins application for re-enlistment without regard to his sexual orientation. Watkins had been supervisor of the personnel administration center at Fort Lewis, near Tacoma, Waslu, in 1982. He was discharged five years -short of the 20 required for pension eligibility.

Reached by telephone at his home, Watkins said, "Most certainly Td go back." Although he said he would "love to pursue another career," he maintained that news coverage surrounding the case and poor references from the Army have prevented him from getting a similar civilian position. In the ruling, Norris said the Army's justification for the ban reliance on moral standards endorsed by much of the public was rejected by the Supreme Court in 1967, when it struck down Virginia's inhibition on marriages between lacks and whites. "Laws that limit the acceptable focus of one's sexual desires to members of the opposite sex, like laws that limit one's choice of spouse (or sexual partner) to members of the same race, cannot withstand constitutional scrutiny absent a compel ling governmental justification," Norris wrote. Another Army justification, that homosexuals would hurt morale and discipline, was an attempt to "illegitimately cater to private biases," Norris said, again using a racial analogy. "For much of our history, the military's fear of racial tension kept black soldiers separated from whites," he said.

"Today it is Mideast plan seeks Arab-Israeli talks I i nn i -A CPCT m7j39' I will provide the sole chance for balancing the picture appearing on the TV screens" around the world, he said. The two leaders' widely different reactions and the fact that they could not even agree to receive Murphy jointly on his special Middle East mission reflect the deep divisions within Israel's coalition government as it struggles to overcome a two-month-long wave of Palestinian unrest that- has claimed more than 50 Arab lives. Murphy was upbeat after meeting Tuesday night with Shamir, saying: "We received great encouragement to continue the search for additional ways to advance the peace process." He said he detected "a sense of eagerness and enthusiasm in each place that I visited" on his diplomatic mission. Murphy met with leaders of Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Syria before coming to Jerusalem Moshe Arens, a former defense minister close to Shamir, also praised the U.S. effort.

"We are interested in direct negotiation with the and if there is readiness from the Arab side, such talks will be held." Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin, a Labor Party member, told reporters Wednesday after meeting with Murphy that he believed Israel "is ready to sit around a negotiation table for the sake of peace. We are interested in peace. We are not interested in unrest in the territories." One Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there had been a change in King Hussein's position and he was now willing to discuss interim self-rule before negotiating the final status of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. Continued from Page 1 1978 Camp David accords. But the new proposal calls for an accelerated process and for some kind of international session leading to direct Arab-Israeli talks on Palestinian self-rule and a peace treaty between Jordan and Israel.

The plan calls for: An international effort to launch talks in April. Several formats are being discussed, including a conference held under Soviet-American auspices. Negotiations on the final status of the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, to begin in December, even if talks about temporary self-rule are not completed. Elections for Palestinian self-rule in the occupied lands by late 1988. Implementation of self-rule for Palestinians in three years instead of the Camp David plan's five years.

If an agreement on timing and a format for talks can be reached, U.S. Secretary of State George P. Shultz will try to persuade the Soviets to go along with the idea when he goes to Moscow in March, the officials said, Shamir did not reject the plan's1 ideas outright for fear of appearing intransigent, but he told members of his Likud parliamentary faction that "great difficulties" would result if the Camp David process were accelerated, the officials said. Peres, head of the Labor Party, told Murphy he had "no substantial reservations" about the U.S. plan, an official said.

Speaking on Israel radio, Peres stressed the importance of a political solution, which many believe will defuse the tensions that have sparked the nine weeks of anti-Israeli protests in the West Bank and Gaza. "If there is a political initiative, It i Sherry Peters Special to The Courant Waterbury State's Attorney John A. Connelly testifies before the day. Behind him, at far left, is gambler and police informant Thomas legislature's program review investigations committee YVednes- W. Speers, the focus of much of Connelly's testimony.

Prosecutor says Speers used state police Meese plans to close FLO mission to U.N. have been dropped and there would have been no need to set a trial date. "I think Mr. Moynahan was taken a little by surprise," Connelly said. Toward the end of the meeting, which took place in Dranginis chambers, Connelly said, Moynahan.

asked to speak with the judge in private. Connelly said he left the judge's Shortly afterward, the two lawyers argued a point of law in the courtroom. Then Moynahan appeared to have left the courthouse, Connelly said. Moynahan testified last week that he did not meet privately with Dranginis until after the public legal, arguments. Dranginis' version of events is the same as Connelly's.

ConneUy also appeared to quesT tion some decisions made by Kelly that left him uninformed about crucial developments in the Speers case. During a January 1986 meeting with Moynahan and Superior Court Judge William P. Murray, Connelly said it became apparent that the defense had more information about the case than he did. Moynahan said at the meeting he had learned from Speers that a grand jury investigating corruption in Waterbury during 1985 and 1986 had developed information that could help Speers's defense in the gambling case, Connelly said. Moynahan said he wanted the information, and Connelly denied any knowledge of it "Moynahan said, 'Well there are things out there that you don't know.

Kelly's not telling you everything in this Connelly testified. ConneUy said Murray told him to find out if Moynahan's information was true. Later that day, Kelly confirmed Moynahan's assertions about the grand jury information during a meeting in Waterbury, Connelly said. they wanted arrested, people who often were competing bookmakers. Speers said they "would tell me things that they wouldn't mind the state knowing." "Maybe they had ulterior motives.

All right But so what? The information was righteous. That's all that counted," he said. Connelly testified Wednesday that a wiretap on Speers's telephone recorded a call to Speers from a New Haven-area gambler with organized crime ties. Speers said he would try to get the man some information about an arrest, Connelly testified. Committee members also questioned Connelly about events leading to a private March 19 meeting between Moynahan and Dranginis.

Last week, Dranginis testified that Moynahan tried to blackmail her during the meeting in an attempt to win a pre-trial ruling favorable to Speers. Moynahan vigorously denies the charge. He says he requested the private meeting to warn her that Speers might have a tape recording of her husband making a bet. And, Moynahan said, he wanted to warn the judge her husband might be the subject of a gambling investigation that could prove embarrassing. Connelly said it was common knowledge in Waterbury Superior Court by mid-February 1987 that Dranginis would preside over a critical pretrial hearing in the Speers case.

There was also an indication, as late as the morning of March 19, that Dranginis would rule against Speers, Connelly said. To support that claim Wednesday, Connelly said Dranginis told him and Moynahan that morning that, after she ruled in the hearing, they would have to meet again to discuss a trial date. Dranginis ruled in Speers's favor, the gambling charges would Speers's recording. Connelly was questioned on a wide variety of subjects, ranging from the bribery arrest of former Assistant Waterbury State's Attorney Arthur McDonald to Connelly's plans for the future. However, he became most animated on the subject of Speers's service as an informant.

His testimony differed from that provided last week by Lt. Bruce W. Haines, commander of the state police organized crime squad. Haines said Speers's information had led to about 200 arrests in the past 16 years. Of the 200, Haines said, 50 to 80 were associates of organized crime figures and two were sworn members of organized crime families.

Speers, his state police contacts and Connelly became involved with one another in 1985 when Speers was arrested on a half-dozen gambling charges. Connelly and the Waterbury police department pushed for the arrest over the strong objections of the state police. Since the arrest, Connelly has had a running dispute with the state police over the case. On two occasions, Haines secretly recorded meetings with Connelly. Much of the animosity between the two stems from Connelly's assertions that Speers manipulated the state police for his own purposes and provided little information about organized crime.

During an interview with The Courant late last year, Speers acknowledged that there had been times when he provided state police with information at the request of people he said were associated with criminal organizations. Describing his state police relationship, he said, "Everybody got something out of this thing." Speers said gamblers with whom he associated men with links to criminal organizations occasionally gave him the names of people Continued from Page 1 han. He testified that, although he was prosecuting Speers on gambling charges, he often was not informed of developments in the case by Chief State's Attorney John J. Kelly -and state police. There were times, Connelly said, when it appeared Speers and his lawyer had access to more information than he did.

He accused state police, as he has for months, of trying to hinder his efforts to prosecute and jail Speers. He said he believes Speers made secret recordings that could embarrass some state police officers and that the officers were afraid Speers would use the tapes if he faced imprisonment. In the later stages of Speers's gambling case, Connelly said he was often reluctant to share his concerns with Kelly because he believed Kelly had a close relationship with the state police. "I think it was well known, at least among the state's attorneys and maybe up here at the legislature, that when Mr. Kelly took office he allied himself very closely with the state police," Connelly testified.

Just before Connelly spoke about secret recordings Speers, who was at the Capitol for the committee hearing, placed a compact recorder in front of him to tape the testimony. Connelly never hesitated, and he later used the recorder as a prop to describe a surreptitious telephone recording device found at Speers's home during a search. Later in the day, a machine used by the committee to record the hearings momentarily malfunctioned. "Maybe Speers will let us use his tape to fill in any holes," Sen. Fred H.

Lovegrove R-Fairf ield, said. The machine was repaired without members' having to borrow Washington Post WASHINGTON Attorney General Edwin Messe HI has made tentative decision to close the Palestine Liberation Organization's observer mission to the United Nations in New York over the strong objections of the Department of State, congressional and Department of Justice sources said. The sources said the justice department's Office of Legal Counsel has concluded that the administration should abide by legislation Congress passed in December declaring the PLO a "terrorist organization" and ordering its New York office closed by March 21, even if conflicts with U.S. international obligations to the United Nations. But state department officials insisted Wednesday that Messe has "not made any kind of decision yet," and predicted none would be announced before next week.

White House spokesman Martin Fitzwater said discussions between the state and justice departments over the PLO mission's closure had been "intense" the past few days. But he said no final decision had been For crime boss DeBrizzi, an unusual eulogy Palestinian unrest claims more victims made yet. The Arab League's ambassador, Clovis Maksoud, dennounced the reported decision as "regrettable, most unfortunate" and charged it was "a total violation" of the U.N. charter. Arab diplomats have been warning that a U.S.

decision to close the, PLO mission could provoke a special session of the U.N. General Assembly, possibly held in Geneva rather than New York, to condemn the action. Arab American Institute Executive Director James J. Zogby issued a statement saying the decision left the Reagan administration's Middle East policy "in shambles" coming just as Assistant Secretary of State Richard W. Murphy is visiting the region to seek support for a new peace proposal.

Rep. Jack Kemp, a chief sponsor of the legislation demanding the PLO office's closure, hailed the justice department's reported decision and said it would send "a strong signal" to the' world that the United States was waging a war against terrorism. In Arab east Jerusalem, police have arrested 400 Arabs in the past three weeks in connection with anti-Israeli protests, and about 300 of the detainees have been indicted, Israel TV said. In Athens, a Palestine Liberation Organization official said 135 Palestinian deportees were planning to sail back to Israel to call attention to the plight of those expelled, but he did not say when the trip would take place. Israeli officials vowed to keep the ship from reaching shore.

Scattered stone-throwing protests broke out in 'Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem, and police confiscated an Arab-owned printing press they said was used to print anti-Israeli leaflets. A violent protest broke out in the West Bank city of Nablus after the military lifted a curfew that had been in effect 10 days. Soldiers used tear gas and then rubber bullets to try to quell the disturbance. The commander of the army unit then opened fire, and two Arabs were wounded, one in the leg and the other in the back, the army said. r- in the absence of trust.

"His life was like a turbulent roller coaster; trying to keep at bay that which was opposite to each other: love, hate, peace, violence, vulnerability, hardness, generosity-to-a-fault and never enough, laughter of life to the laughter of cynicism. They were all in his heart." Lynch said that, if DeBrizzi, 64, could rise from his coffin, he would tell those gathered, "I laughed, but I never had a day of peace. I lived well, but I never found happiness." DeBrizzi sought peace in his garden and through his cooking, but it was a fragile and tentative peace, Lynch said. "One of the questions that he leaves each of us is: How can you get caught up, especially in an aspect of a lifestyle that you know in your guts is wrong, that takes over your heart? How can we be seduced by Lynch told the mourners it is easy to become seduced by evil. "We become fascinated by living on the edge of life.

There's a fascination by being a somebody, by having power," Lynch said. "Most of all there's a fascination in having control over a person's life or death by just a nod or a word." Law enforcement sources said they suspect DeBrizzi's killing was engineered just that way a "hit' Continued from Page 1 the back and chest. The slaying of DeBrizzi the highest ranking member of the Carlo Gambino crime family in Connecticut took law enforcement officials by surprise. Police sources said they knew of no dissension within the family or with members of other crime organizations operating in Fairfield County. While law enforcement officials puzzled over who -shot DeBrizzi and why, Lynch's eulogy offered a more basic perception: DeBrizzi was a man who lived by the sword and died by the sword.

Rather than gloss over the less honorable parts of DeBrizzi's life which included criminal convictions for illegal gambling, racketeering, loan-sharking and weapons charges Lynch met those head on. The priest said he had spent a good deal of time talking with DeBrizzi's family Tuesday, then speculated from the pulpit on what DeBrizzi, himself, would have wanted him to say. Lynch told those gathered including some identified by police a3 bookmakers and others who work on the fringes of DeBrizzi's operation that if DeBrizzi could come back from the dead and tell them any- sanctioned by the upper echelon of the Gambino crime family against an old soldier. DeBrizzi, court documents and police say, ran a multimillion-dollar illegal gambling operation in Fairfield County. He has been the family's top man in Connecticut since the killing of Frank Piccolo in Bridgeport in 1981.

When DeBrizzi walked out of prison last August, he walked back into an organization that bore Gotti's mark. Connecticut law enforcement officials say, however, that they are not ignoring the word from some informants that the slaying was not sanctioned by the family. If that were the case, one said, "There will be trouble. There will be more bodies." That is of no concern now to DeBrizzi who, Lynch said, never realized his dream "simply to someday buy a little farm and live in peace and let everything go. Outside the church, two men who said they had known DeBrizzi for 35 years described him as "the nicest person you could meet" Why, then, was he killed? "It's all business," said one man.

"It's nothing personal" Associated Press JERUSALEM A Palestinian shot by Israeli troops died Wednesday of his wounds, and soldiers shot two more Arabs in the West Bank and fired tear gas at mourners attending the funeral of an unrest, victim in the Gaza Strip. Three Arabs were wounded by gunfire in the occupied territories, including a 12-year-old boy who said he was shot by Israeli civilians, Scores of Palestinians were hospitalized with beating injuries, hospital of icials said. Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin meanwhile decided to establish military appeals courts in the occupied territories, a Defense Ministry official said. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, would not provide details. Rabin followed a recommendation issued by the Supreme' Court last week.

Military courts are trying hundreds of Palestinians arrested as part of the Israeli crackdown on nine weeks of Arab rioting in the occupied territories. Palestinians tried by the courts have no venue of appeal. THOMAS DeBRIZZI thing, he would say, "You know, the price was too high. Change your lives." DeBrizzi would have said, according to the priest, "I was tough in life. I was tough on my kids; I demanded a lot from them.

I was tough in business. If someone had to pay off a debt at 11 a.m. Wednesday, he'd better be there at five of 1 1. So don't hedge any bets, Father." What followed was a eulogy that discussed the dilemma in which DeBrizzi often found himself trying to keep his family life separate from his work; trying to express emotion -3JL.