INTERROGATIONS SCRUTINIZED

Police Actions, Terrorism Cases Concern Justices

WASHINGTON - Supreme Court justices sounded conflicted Wednesday as they
wrestled with the question of whether aggressive police interrogations
violate the Constitution.

The high court also took on the contentious issues of abortion, free speech
and violent protest Wednesday, hearing arguments on whether federal laws
intended to combat organized crime and corruption can be used to punish
anti-abortion demonstrators.

The police interrogations case involved a California farmworker who was
shot five times by a police officer and then aggressively questioned in an
emergency room by the officer's supervisor, without being read his rights.

The shooting left Oliverio Martinez blind and paralyzed below the waist.

As the justices contemplated whether police abused their authority in
questioning a seriously wounded man, some also were thinking about how
their ruling might affect counterterrorism investigations.

"Suppose this is someone you believe is going to blow up the World Trade,"
Justice Antonin Scalia asked. "You could beat him with a rubber hose?"

Justice Stephen Breyer wondered why questioning a wounded man in serious
pain isn't "the equivalent of beating someone up."

"What worries me is not so much this case but what we're going to write and
the implications," Breyer said.

The case came before the justices as federal law enforcement agents seek
new ways to gather intelligence from terrorism suspects and associates whom
they may have no intention of prosecuting. The court's ruling, expected by
June, would apply to questioning of U.S. citizens, not foreign "combatants"
like those held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

In the case at hand, two Oxnard police officers investigating drug activity
stopped Martinez in November 1997. Police say a struggle ensued and
Martinez grabbed the gun of one of the officers. The other officer opened
fire, shooting Martinez in the head, torso and legs.

Martinez never was informed of his Miranda rights to remain silent during
the 45-minute interrogation and twice asked Oxnard police patrol supervisor
Sgt. Ben Chavez to leave him alone.

Martinez, now 34, never was charged, and sued Chavez under the Civil Rights
Act, saying his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and his
14th Amendment right to due process had been violated. Chavez argued that
as a public official he was immune to such lawsuits.

A ruling for the authorities in this case could significantly weaken
restraints on police interrogations by saying it is permissible to question
someone aggressively without a Miranda warning as long as the information
is not used in court.

The abortion protest case has its roots in sometimes-violent abortion
protests and asks whether abortion opponents engage in extortion when they
disrupt activity at clinics.

Abortion opponents argue that under that reasoning many political
protesters -- including civil rights activists who took part in
lunch-counter sit-ins -- could also be charged with extortion and in
violation of their right to free speech.

Activists like actor Martin Sheen, animal-rights groups and even some
organizations that support abortion rights are siding with anti-abortion
forces because of concerns that they too could face harsher penalties for
demonstrating.

Such extortion laws are intended to combat corruption, not punish
demonstrators, the court was told by Roy Englert Jr., the lawyer for
Operation Rescue and anti-abortion leaders. He said that if the high court
doesn't intervene, there could be severe punishment for leaders of any
movements "whose followers get out of hand."

An attorney representing abortion clinics in Delaware and Wisconsin and the
National Organization for Women said the laws protect businesses from
violent protests that drive away clients.

The Supreme Court has dealt with few abortion cases in the decade since it
reaffirmed the core holding of its landmark Roe vs. Wade ruling that women
have a constitutional right to abortion.
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Mercury News wire services contributed to this report.
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