January 19, 1993

Day after day, week after week, a county clerk has spread the evidence before the jury: a baseball bat leaning against a rostrum, a red-handled broom alongside, a piece of wood dowling lost among papers stacked in uneven piles on a counter. In the courtroom setting, the implements appear innocuous -- a bat, a stick, a broom -- banal. Day after day, week after week, the jury has filed in, settling back for endless tides of arcane questioning as the four defense lawyers mounted separate assaults on the state's case, grilling witnesses at length and lingering on such minutiae as who typed a given report and precisely how and where and why an array of colored pencils was laid out by a psychiatric nurse who specialized in rape trauma syndrome. Over time, the essential issue of the case -- sexual assault -- was obscured in that mountain of detail.

Companies Centocor stock plunged when it said it was ending domestic tests and suspending sales in Europe of its new drug to treat an often-fatal bacterial infection. The announcement of a high death rate among patients using the drug also depressed the stock of Eli Lilly, which invested $100 million in Centocor. [ Page D1. ] Xerox will divest its financial services operations and take a $778 million after-tax charge against fourth-quarter earnings. It will also take a $650 million charge involving retirement benefits. The total charges will bring a large loss for the year. [ D1. ]

NEW YORK CITY AN INMATE SCHEME THAT STARTLES JAILERS New York City jail officials thought they had seen it all. Now they have uncovered a scheme that even startles them: Inmates are shooting themselves. Investigators say they think as many as 10 inmates in the last three years have arranged to suffer the pain of minor gun wounds. Their payoff: They can sue the city for negligence, or they can try to get better jail accommodations. In most cases, the investigators believe, the inmates have bribed correction officers -- with payoffs ranging from $1,100 to $7,500 -- to smuggle in the guns. None of the suits, which accuse the city of failing to provide adequate protection in the jails, have come to trial. A1. UNDERCOVER OFFICERS WOUNDED

Encouraged by President-elect Bill Clinton's emphasis on economic competitiveness as a critical part of post-cold-war national security, domestic industries are beginning to line up for Government protection against foreign competition, contending that their survival is vital to the nation's economic security. Federal law gives the President broad powers to limit imports or help domestic industries for national-security reasons, but until now Government and industry trade experts have defined security almost exclusively in military terms.

New Hopes for Protection Domestic industries are lining up for Government protection against foreign rivals, encouraged by Clinton campaign promises. Page D1. G.O.P. Hires Passport Aide A Federal official who was demoted for his role in the search of Bill Clinton's passport files has been hired by Senate Republicans. Page A18. Indiana Train Crash Kills 7 Seven people were killed and dozens more were injured in Gary when two commuter trains sideswiped each other near a bridge. Page A16. Big Plunge in a Drug Stock Centocor's stock lost two-thirds of its value after the company said it was stopping American clinical trials on its leading new drug. Page D1. Teaching by the Book Because of bureaucracy and union seniority rules, a veteran Manhattan teacher is being forced to leave her class of gifted pupils. Page B1.