The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio • Page 1

PREP FOOTBALL No. 1 Colerain fops No. 2 St. 26-7 Complete prep coverage: Sports, Section THE QNQNMTI ENQUM AGannett Newspaper 501,100 Readers Daily Saturday September 23, 1995 Final EditionEast 35 cents BUT NOT THE WAY V-- EI 7 did not, could not and would not have committed this crime NBA star aims to save sports at Withrow 0 0 CI BY DAVE SCHUTTE Enquirer contributor Tyrone Hill didn't want Withrow High School to lose its sports programs, so the NBA all-star acted Friday to save the Tigers. a telephone call to Tigers' basketball coach George Jackson, Hill, a 1986 Withrow graduate, pledged between $30,000 and $40,000 to be used for sports.

"I felt bad when I read (in The Enquirer) that coach Jackson was collecting for parking at home football games to raise money," said Hill, who played at Xavier University before being selected 11th in the first round of the 1990 NBA draft. "I told George I would give him any amount he needed. I'll make out the check to anyone he tells me and send it right now." "a Hill Ji rtl JURY OPTIONS Conviction, first-degree murder Jurors must unanimously conclude that Simpson planned the murders and carried them out deliberately. If they also determine that a special circumstance for multiple murders applies, the mandatory sentence is life in prison without parole. Without the special circumstance, the sentence is 25 years to life with possible parole.

Conviction, second-degree murder. Jurors may convict on this charge if they determine there is insufficient evidence of premeditation and deliberation. If jurors choose second-degree for both murders, the mandatory sentence is 15 years to life. If jurors convict on one charge of first-degree murder and one of second-degree they must still decide the special circumstance of multiple killings. If they find a special circumstance, the mandatory sentence is life without parole.

Acquittal: Simpson goes free and cannot be retried. Deadlock: In that case prosecutors may retry Simpson on the undecided charges. Simpson most likely would remain in custody. The Associated Press BY DAVID MARGOLICK The New York Times LOS ANGELES Breaking his long silence, O.J. Simpson rose.

Friday to explain his failure to testify, and to reiterate his innocence, his faith in the jury and his love for his family. Then both sides in the Simpson trial rested, and Judge Lance Ito laid out the law to jurors who will soon decide the defendant's fate. In a gesture that left prosecutors and the father of one victim literally trembling with rage, Simpson turned a routine waiver of his right to testify into a mini-oration before the jury entered the room. Aside from an occasional "Yes, your Honor" and one "too tight," it was his first public statement in months. For all its seeming spontaneity, some members of the defense conceded that it was two weeks in the works.

"As much as I would like to address some of the misrepresentations about myself, and my Nicole, and "our life together," Simpson said, "I am mindful of the mood and the stamina of this jury. I have confidence, a lot more than it seems Miss Clark has, of their integrity that they will find as the record stands now that I did not, could not and would not have committed this crime. "I have four kids two kids I haven't seen in a year," he continued. "They asked me every week, (Please see SIMPSON, Page A6) If Hill, who has played forward for the Cleveland Cavaliers the past three years, donates at least $40,000, all varsity sports at Withrow will be restored for the rest of the year, according to school principal Dr. Patricia Rice.

The school needs $52,000 to fund boys and girls basketball, baseball, track, cross country and tennis at the varsity level. Rice estimates Withrow has raised $12,000. Many Cincinnati public schools face the elimination of sports if two operating levies fail to pass in the Nov. 7 election. With Hill's donation, Withrow joins Walnut Hills and Western Hills among city schools with enough money to support sports the rest of the school year.

The Associated PressReed Saxon Simpson addresses the court Friday, waiving his right to testify but denying he killed Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. The jury was not present for his statement. Both sides then rested, ending the presentation of evidence. Man who recanted Bernardin charge dies at 36 Senate GOP touts Medicare rebates Senate Republicans on Friday proposed giving cash rebates to Medicare benefi-ciaries who select low-cost insurance plans. Story, A2 'Merger could alter health benefits din in the churchman's fight with cancer.

The rapprochement also drew Cook back to the faith from which he had been alienated so long. He received communion shortly before he died. Cook's accusation came in a $10 million federal lawsuit in 1993. It evoked disbelief, in 1 '7 suffering I was experiencing." Bernardin will not attend Cook's funeral, but he promised to offer a Mass in Chicago "for the repose of his soul." Bernardin said Cook was more than a repentant accuser. "I don't want him remembered only as someone who tried to hurt me.

I don't want him to be remembered as the one who accused me, the one who created a lot of pain for me at that time." Instead, Bernardin said, he wanted Cook to be remembered as "someone who tried to live his life the best he could. This is a story of conversion. Here was a man who experienced both the joys and the tragedies of life. In the final analysis, he was reconciled and he is at peace. He has gone home.

My prayer is that he is at peace." Elder High School graduate accused the Rev. Ellis Harsham of long-term sexual abuse in the 1970s and of delivering him to Bernardin for anal sex white Bernardin was archbishop of Cincinnati. Cook said the repressed memory came out after therapy with a hypnotist. Both priests denied any wrongdoing and, last year, Cook said his memory was unreliable and dropped his claim against Bernardin. Harsham who had been campus ministry director at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio left the priesthood.

Last year, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati settled Cook's claim against Harsham. Terms of the settlement were not revealed. Bernardin said he last spoke to Cook about six weeks ago. "He told me he was praying for me. He had some idea of the Cardinal: My prayer is that he is at peace' BY BEN L.

KAUFMAN The Cincinnati Enquirer Steven Cook, the former Cincinnati seminarian who recanted his stunning sodomy, accusation against Cardinal Joseph L. Bernardin, died Friday in University Hospital. Cook, 36, had been suffering with AIDS. He had been hospitalized since Aug. 30.

The hospital did not disclose the cause of death. Bernardin said he spoke with Cook's mother, Mary. "She said, 'He is now at The two men reconciled in December and, more recently, Cook counseled Bernar Cook Big changes at Community Mutual Insurance Co. could lead to big changes in health benefits for several million residents in three 'states. A merger was approved Friday between Community -Mutual and the Lndianapolis-4 based Associated Group, a -deal that would create one of 1, the nation's largest Blue companies.

Story, Bl part because it made Bernardin the highest-ranking Catholic prelate accused of sexual abuse, and because Bernardin has been a leader in seeking more compassionate ways of responding to priestly abuse. In his suit, the former seminarian and 24 die in Alaska plane crash WEATHER it Chill in the air the end," Clay Wallace, an Air Hlah 598Low 35 ''j' ALASKA Fall weather means falling temperatures. Mostly sunny today, clear tonight. But near freezing overnight, with frost in some places. 'fvf' I i Elmendorf Air Fnrro RnSB 1 i ij mm I 4 Anchorage nnf anllna Details, back page this section INDEX Five sections, 155th year, No.167 Copyright 1995, The Cincinnati Enquirer 1 it Lastest in string of Air Force accidents BY ROSANNE PAGANO The Associated Press ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska A huge AWACS battlefield-radar plane carrying U.S.

and Canadian military personnel crashed and burned on takeoff Friday. All 24 people aboard were presumed dead. The bodies of 22 crewmembers were found. Searchers were looking for the other two Friday evening. It was the first crash of an Airborne Warning and Control System plane since the Air Force began using them in 1977.

The plane exploded on impact deep in the woods, inaccessible to fire engines. Rescuers had to bull- National Guard captain who was at Elmendorf Air Force Base, told radio station KENI. "I said, 'Where the hell did he and all of a sudden down he went in a huge fireball." The four-engine E-3 AWACS plane, a $180 million modified Boeing 707 laden with sophisticated radar and other electronic surveillance gear, had set out just after daybreak on a training mission with 22 Americans and two Canadians, the Air Force said. Wallace said he saw the far left engine catch fire as the plane went down the runway. The plane still tried to take off but crashed about 500 feet from the end of the runway, he said.

A string of Air Force crashes had already resulted in 29 deaths this year. Pacific Ocean B6 D2 Obituaries Abby D16 B8 Puzzles Business C1 D17 Sports Comics B9-15 A10 Stocks Editorials The Associated PressRichard Drew Horoscope D17 The Talk D2 D1 doze a path to the site. The Air Force was notifying families of the dead late Friday afternoon, Maj. Jereon Brown said at a news conference at the base, 10 miles north of Anchorage. "Just as he got wheels up, the front left engine started popping and I could see fire shooting out A12 Tempo Lotteries D18 B1 TV High-five for a dream deal: Ted Turner, left, and Gerald Levin, Time Warner CEO, congratulate each other before a news conference Friday in New York.

Time Warner agreed Friday to acquire Turner's TV empire. Story, B8. Metro E1 NationWorld A2-8 Wheels. Classified E2-36 Printed on recycled newsprim using toy oil Ink.