March 27, 1991

With political consultants facing increasing scrutiny from the public, the press and from Government officials over the advertising they create, one of the field's most prominent image makers has decided to drop out of the business. The Sawyer/Miller Group, a top Democratic consulting firm whose clients have included Senators Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York and John Glenn of Ohio, said Monday that it would no longer map out strategy or produce advertising for American political candidates. Instead, it will concentrate almost entirely on advising corporations and foreign political candidates.

A sharply divided Supreme Court ruled today that the use of a coerced confession in a criminal trial does not automatically invalidate a conviction. The 5-to-4 decision significantly undercut a 1967 ruling by the High Court that the use of a coerced or involuntary confession can never be regarded as "harmless error" but must always result in a reversal of the conviction.

A Federal judge said yesterday that a family of 18 living together in a three-bedroom apartment in a Brooklyn housing project could not be evicted solely because one of them sold drugs from the home. The Federal Government had tried to evict the family as part of a nationwide effort to remove drug dealers from public housing. But in rejecting that effort in the Brooklyn case, Judge Jack B. Weinstein ruled that the tenants were entitled to a hearing before being forced out.

New Yorkers are filing far fewer complaints alleging police brutality and misconduct, but this trend has intensified rather than dissolved the debate about brutality and the board that investigates it. Statistics compiled by the New York City Police Department show that the number of complaints has fallen steadily since 1985, when a record 7,073 were filed. Newly released police figures show that only 3,379 complaints were filed last year.

A LONG with thousands of Americans in the military, Capt. Terry L. Whiteside was in Saudi Arabia for Thanksgiving and Christmas. And, his family is eager to add, for the birthdays of his wife and two sons. But Captain Whiteside is home for Easter and he (and everyone around him) is ecstatic. "We're planning to celebrate Easter better than we've ever celebrated it before," said his wife, Beverly.