You Don't Have To Wait Two Hours Until You're Rescued From The Deep 
We Are Writing This Letter In Response To The Statement Pertaining To The 
Sheriff's Dive Team By Jim Johnson, Sergeant Of Local Dive Teams (jan. 11): 
``you'll Have To Wait At Least Two Hours Until Someone Can Rescue You, Because 
We're Not Allowed To.'' 
This Statement Is Untrue.

3 Democrats Seek Dismissal Of Stish Case

By JOE BUTKIEWICZ; Times Leader Staff Writer
 Saturday, January 21, 1995 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 11C 





For the first 20 minutes of "Murder in the First" -- part prison drama,
part courtroom drama -- the audience is witness to the brutal beatings and
solitary confinement heaped on convict Henri Young (Kevin Bacon). &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 No one really recovers; not Henri, the audience or the movie. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "Murder in the First" is a dank and dreary experience, not that anyone
would expect a film set in Alcatraz prison to be a stroll through the slammer.
But the movie has numerous problems, the most crippling a tendency to depict
in moral extremes. Characters are villains or heroes and nothing between. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The movie begins in 1941, although the story starts several years before,
paralleling two lives. There's James Stamphill (Christian Slater), an orphan,
graduate of Harvard Law School and now on the bottom rung of the San Francisco
public defender's office. And Henri Young, an orphan who has the misfortune of
nabbing $5 from the register of a country store that doubles as a post office.
The federal crime lands him Alcatraz, where he has the misfortune to attempt
escape and earn three years of solitary, interrupted only for the occasional
torture. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 When he's finally released Henri rips open the neck of an adversary with
the dull end of a spoon. He's guilty. The prosecution knows it, the jury knows
it, the defense knows it. So novice attorney Stamphill puts the prison on
trial for crimes against humanity. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Lead performances provide partial vindication for "Murder in the First";
Slater is a notch up from his trademark, smirking mannerisms. But it's Bacon
who brings home the bacon as the quivering shell with a human hidden inside. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Director Marc Rocco ("Where the Day Takes You") is working with some
affecting material (allegedly based on a true story) but he consistently
overplays his hand. For example, sadistic Associate Warden Glenn (Gary Oldman)
lectures with straight razor in hand. The threat is sufficiently unnerving but
Rocco can't resist cutting flesh. Similarly, the director rushes through what
should be juicy courtroom scenes. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Unfortunately, Rocco seems more interested in moving the camera than moving
the audience. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

`murder In The First' Sentences Audience To Dreary Experience