Fort Lauderdale News from Fort Lauderdale, Florida • Page 7

Trials Revolve Gin Woman Consent Mike Morgan Fort Lauderdale News DIM Sunday, July 7, 197 IB From a legal vantage point, Purdy admitted prosecutors often must appear skeptical toward victims when investigating the attack. "We realize it is a traumatic thing to go through, but in preparing to go to court, we have to know how strong the case is, what the circumstances were, and how the girl will stand up to harsh cross examination by a defense attorney," he said. In preparing a rape case, a prosecutor must establish certain specific 1 things, Purdy said. "There has to be force involved. Penetration of the woman by the man must take place, and the woman must have resisted to the best of her ability or screamed for help.

Also, there has to be no consent." Consent usually becomes the crucial point about which prosecutor and defense attor--ney argue. Was the" act committed with force? Or did the woman consent? James Tylock, public defender, said consent or non-consent is difficult to prove. He said it must be. looked at within the scope of Circumstances and situations surrounding the crime. "You primarily have to look at their actions on the day of the crime.

If the people worked together, drank together, or dated then a de- By GARY SWEET. Staff Writer violence of rape sexual intercourse without' consent is seldom committed against a total stranger. Unlike common television and film versions of rape, which depict the horror of women followed down dark, lonely streets, dragged into alleys, or attacked in their homes by intruders, the Broward State Attorney's Office claims most rapes occur between people who know each other. Chief Asst. State Atty.

Richard Purdy said, "that makes most cases hard to prove because there is evidence that the victim voluntarily put herself in the company of the man." Although Purdy said violent rapes between strangers do happen, he said most are committed after the man and woman meet and spend time together.1 "Most cases that we prose-' cute involve a rape after a girl has been picked up hitchhiking, or after a couple meet in a bar, have a few drinks together, dance, and then go out to a motel or apartment. "Some are provable and some aren't," he said. "The ones that aren't are usually because there is too much evidence that the girl provided the opportunity for the as-' sault." WHEN NARROW ties were in style years past I persisted in wearing at times my wide-wide screen ties and therefore was looked upon as something of an eccentric or a guy totally without sense of style or class. I continued to wear a number of wide-lapel jackets when this style was banned by the man who followed the sartorial dictates of the narrow-lapel years. Last week I happened to select a tie from my rack that hailed from the shoe-string wide (or narrow) years of fashion.

Sure enough, sometime during that day one fel-: low made certain opprobrious comments about my sentiment for long-past fashion. And I continue to wear my narrow-lapel garments when I go choose. It has nothing to do with an independence of taste or a wish to appear idiosyncratic. It is only that I see no reason not to wear garments that are perfectly good, with lots of use remaining. tionally I do not consider myself behind the trends but in fendant would probably have a defense of consent.

Several weeks ago, a case tried in Broward's Circuit Court involved a 24-year-old Sunrise man who had been charged with raping a 15-year-old girl. There was conclusive evidence that intercourse had taken place, and the question of guilt or innocence revolved on the issue of consent. The couple had been out on a date, the girl testified to "liking" the man, and admitted necking with him. She claimed, however, that he threatened her with a knife and forced her to have sexual relations. The jury convicted the man of statutory rape because the girl was under age.

"If she had been over 18," Purdy said, "the jury possibly would not have convicted him because the issue of consent was Because consent is such a vital point, most rape trials can be emotionally strenuous for the victim, Purdy said. Their backgrounds are questioned, their character scrutinized, and their virginity or non-virginity established at the time of the rape. "Trials involving unmarried women who are not virgins are usually lost unless there is evidence of violence like bruises," he said. The reason, he said, is be-" cause it is easier for a jury to believe a virgin did not con-gent than a non-virgin. Defender Tylock described his approach to preparing a rape defense -as circumstantial.

"It is a one-to-one crime us-sually with no corroborating witnesses. The man gets arrested and charged because the woman knows him and can turn his name over to the police. "Once in court, the prosecutor's efforts to win his case, Most rapes occur between people who knot each other. And that makes most cases hard: to prove because there Is evidence that the victim voluntarily put herself Ir the company of the -Chief Asst. State Atty Richard Purdj taking the stand, and usually accusing someone she knows, Purdy said only half of the rapes committed actually get reported.

And according to his office's files, about 25 to 30 a month are reported. "Every woman under the law has a right not to be raped even a prostitute," he said. "But the nature of the crime makes it a difficult offense to prosecute. If they all happened violently, guilt or innocence would be easier to establish, but they just don't happen that way." and our effort to defend our client's, can put the victim in a difficult position," he said. recalled one case involving a girl who claimed she had been raped after driving around with a young man looking to buy some drugs.

"When she got on the stand, she started testifying about how religious she was and how she had discovered Jesus. To combat that, though, the defense had to delve into her background which was laced with promiscuity." With such a strain facing a rape victim skeptical po- lice, skeptical prosecutors, $1.8 Million Increase Expected School Lunch Cost Continues Spiral 'We are going to see a lot of brownbagging. Now I hate to see this because so many of those lunches are nutritionally inadequate. think the big thing here is the inflation and -the board contribution. Either the child of the board pays it.

It's as simple as Lee Searing, director of the a school food services. A if v- 4' Jf- If ft oil i LcwkmJ uyma4Us By JULIE RENNINGER Staff Writer The cost of Broward school lunches, which has increased twice in two years, could continue to rise unless school officials can break the program out of a trend of inflationary ex-; penses, higher-priced meals, and reduced lunch sale. Lee Searing, director of school food services, said costs for the lunch program will increase $1.8 million in I Last week the school board voted to increase the price nf lunches to 60 cents for elementary students, 70 cents for middle school students, 75 cents for high school students, and 90 cents for adults. Although this will add $800,000 to the lunch program, it is still expected to lose $25,995 and to deplete the program's surplus funds, Searing said. The only solution as he sees it is for the school board to allocate more money directly into the food services budget, It now contributes $560,100.

Searing painted the picture: food and labor costs rise, the cost of lunches is increased to help cushion the deficit, but as the price of lunches rises the number of sales decline. Lunch sales declined by one million last year and they are expected to drop another million this year and probably an equal amount the following year, he said. "We're going to see a lot of brownbagging now and I hate to see this because so many of those lunches are nutritionally inadequate," Searing said. Although much of the fall-off in lunch sales is attributed to the price, double sessions and extended day schedules contribute, too, he said. There are 26 schools in Broward County serving fewer than 400 lunches per day.

A sale of 600 is needed to break even, Searing said, He used Coconut Creek High School as an example of a school that was serving from 800-900 lunches per day before it fell to 200. The largest portion of the food services budget comes from the sale of meals. Out of nearly $11 million in income from sales and state, federal, and local subsidies the program will receive approximately $6,6 million from pupil payments in 1974-1975. Federal food subsidies are based on the number and type of lunches sold. For each paid lunch the government reimbursed the food service 10.5 cents last year.

This is expected to rise to 11 cents in the coming year, Searing said. For every free lunch given to needy youth, the state and federal governments together reimburse 67.5 cents. Although the lunch program did not provide reduced-price lunches for disadvantaged students last year, it will in 1974-1975. For this type lunch the food service will get back 80 cents, which includes the 20 cents paid by the student. However, Searing pointed out these reimbursements are adequate only to cover the cost of preparing elementary school lunches.

Last year the food service department spent from 60-72 Cents to prepare one meal for an elementary school child. This cost would be about 10 cents more for middle school and 15 cents for high school, he said. In all, the federal government subsidizes the lunch program with more than $4.1 million, including a $1 million commodity surplus subsidy, Searing said. The idea is to get more surplus commodities from the government and to cut down on the purchased food. However, commodities are becoming more scarce, he said, and food costs this year will increase $1.2 million.

There has been an in-house efficiency study showing Broward County food service personnel operate above the national average of preparing 13.5 lunches per person. Searing his personnel average 16 meals per person. He said labor costs run 37 per cent of the budget, which is average. Last year the lunch program was decentralized, putting each school principal in charge of his school's cafeteria tne avante garde, for both the wide ties and wide lapels re- turned as will the narrow again. Also, consider myself the very model of a concerned cit- izen because I am conserving resources.

Today one of the big drives is to make people conscious of conserving resources. WHAT GOT ME onto the above observations about ties was brought about by watching many of the large oil companies' TV commercials. Be- fore the oil crunch and the resource-conserving trend, the oil companies were exhorting 1 every motorist to fill up the old tank and take off on trips. You don't see much, if any, of this urging today. Instead, the oil companies are patting themselves on their collective backs for exploring for oil around the world and in the oceans to develop new sources of fuel, and how they spend millions of dollars to do this.

Nothing is mentioned of the fact that while doing this patriotic duty they are piling up enormous profits and gasoline costs us up to 80 per cent more than it did 18 months ago. longer are we behested to fill up the old tank and drive and drive because as long as gas is available most of us will do that without urging. We've been conditioned to doit. What has that got to do with ties? Well, I got to thinking how the American public's need for clothes and cars and and other consumer products became a duty to use as much as we could to get rid of clothes and cars often before they were worn out. It was good for the Gross National Product.

It was won-. derful for the productive economy of the nation. We became adherents of psychological obsolescence and were swayed to get new products because lines had been subtly altered on a car, lapels shifted on a jacket, a hemline lowered or raised. Heaven knows I will not argue with an economic philosophy that made us the greatest productive nation in the history of the world, though we did expend resources recklessly. NOR WOULD I advocate that everyone go around wearing pajama-type suits such as is the mode in China, but it always did go against my grain to abandon usable garments simply because someone dictated that a pair of trousers or a jacket would be cut somewhat differently this" year than it was last year.

I was never, moved by a psychological compulsion to buy a new. car when the old one, even though it looked old, had a reserve of transportation miles left in its digestive system. Not that I am against an economy that enables blue white collar working stiffs to have pools in their backyards and make it possible for the workingrnan to enjoy luxuries once within the purlieu of only the wealthy it's just that I rebel against the unvoiced orders of psychological obsolescence which silently commands, "Don't wear those pants because they look old-fashioned." (I quickly add that the voice of my child bride, on the same subject is not so silent.) Staff Photo by Piul Willis Shades of Evel Knievel. Eleven-year-old Chuck Riger takes a mini-jump while guiding his motorcycle over a dirt trail located at a Lauderdale Lakes development area. Chuck, son of Chuck Riger, 4581 NW 34th may not have matched Evel's scheduled Grand Canyon jump but he realizes you have to start on a smaller scale.

Children Desert Him Burning Boat Found Deserted Tin Just Too Old; They Don't Want Me' me at the dinner table; it really turned me up." No one is sure how Harry ended up at the Dania Police Station the morning after he arrived with one suitcase and $50 at the Fort Lau-derdale-Hollywood International Airport. "My daughter put me on the plane in Philadelphia. She said someone would be here to meet me," he said. But no one was there. For five hours Friday, Sgt.

Edward Baxter called and traced Harry's relatives. He was able to locate two daughters one in Hollywood and one in Fort Lauderdale. Both told police they hadn't expected him, had no way to take care of him and thought police should "just put him on a plane back to Philadelphia." "I guess I'm just too old. They don't want me," Harry said. Sgt.

Baxter called Philadelphia where the daughter with whom Harry had been living told him she "was tired of taking care of the old man and thought her sisters should share some of the responsibility." By the time Policewoman Kennedy was leaving work no one had found a home for Harry. So she took him. By RUBY LITINSKY Staff Writer DANIA All day Friday, Harry J. Hannings was a 78-year-old homeless stranger who cried intermittently as he sat for hours on a hard chair in the Dania police station. By Friday night he was "Uncle Harry" as he sat at a dinner table with four friends he called "my new family." Today, Uncle Harry is staying at the Miami home of policewoman Sybil Kennedy and her husband, Knowles, until he finds a permanent home.

At dinner, tears welled in his eyes as he told how his daughter and son-in-law in Pennsylvania "told me to get the hell out" of the house he lived in with them in a Philadelphia suburb. The couple purchased the house with money they got by selling Harry's former residence. He explained they had him "sign papers" a few years ago when he was hospitalized for eye surgery. This has been verified by another relative, police said. He lived with the couple at the new house but, he said, eventually "they wouldn't even talk to First they stopped at a friend's house in Dania where Harry Musller of the St.

Vincent de Paul Society said he would try to arrange for all of Harry's relatives to agree on a place for Harry to stay even if it meant a nursing home. "But Harry is far from being the stereotyped nursing home resident," Mrs. Kennedy explained. "He likes a few beers, takes an active interest in current events and has a very dry sense of humor," she said. In less than a day he's become a part of the Kennedy family.

Yesterday afternoon he sipped a few beers and watched television with the Kennedy's teenage daughter, Diane. Mrs. Kennedy said she would "probably have to keep him until I can find a proper place for him to stay. "He's not a pauper and can afford to pay room and board somewhere. All he lieeds is companionship and love.

He has a lot of love to give." Meanwhile, Dania City Manager Woodward M. Hampton said he too, will try to find Harry a home. Hampton said anyone who might have room for Harry or know of someone who does, should call his office at Dania City Hall. identifying marks on the boat. Andrews said private boats in the area might have picked up passengers from the burning boat.

"No one has called with any information on passengers," he said. "We searched until after dark. We' floated a datum marker buoy in the water so we'll know the direction a floating object would take, just in case," Andrews said. He said the boat was towed to the Fort Lauderdale Coast Guard station. "The case could be reopened at any moment if we get further information," Andrews said.

The weather was calm about the time the boat caught fire, Coast Guard officials said. Seas were one to two feet and wind was five knots. There was no rain or lightning at the time, Andrews said. A 24-foot boat burned to the water line nine miles off Hal-landale Beach last night but Coast Guard officials said they found no sign of people on the boat or in nearby "We assume there were people on board, or the fire never would have started nine miles at sea. But unless we get more information like an overdue boat we won't continue to search.

"If we suspected there were people in the water we would continue to search," said Coast Guard Lt. J. E. Andrews. Andrews said a police aircraft spotted the boat about 6:30 p.m.

yesterday. By the time Coast Guard helicopters and four boats reached the 24- foot red inboard-outboard, it had burned to the water level, he said. Andrews said there were no.