June 27, 1997

PORTRAIT OF GIGANTE -- Prosecutors introduced evidence that they said showed that Vincent Gigante was not mentally ill. B3. AWAITING WHITMAN -- The New Jersey Legislature approved an auto insurance bill that eliminated automatic rate increases and ended some surcharges. B4. STILL UNDER THE INFLUENCE -- While studies have found a general decline in drunken driving, those who drink the most have not changed their ways. Autos on Friday. B16.

Comment on warm reception accorded New York City Mayor Giuliani when he holds town hall-style meeting at North Shore Towers housing complex in Floral Park, Queens; huge co-op towers, just inches from Nassau border, are each so large they constitute their own election districts, and they stand as perfect pillars of Giuliani's support: almost entirely white and Jewish, mostly retired; these voters are so concerned about crime that they moved to gated suburban enclave at city's edge, but worried enough about property taxes that they remain within New York (M)

Supreme Court rules that states may continue to ban practice of doctor-assisted suicide but suggests that door remain open to constitutional claims for assistance by dying patients in future; Court, in pair of 9-0 decisions, rejects constitutional challenges to laws in New York State and Washington that make doctor-assisted suicide crime; Chief Justice William H Rehnquist writes Court's principal opinion; map; photo of Dr Timothy Quill, who challenged New York's assisted suicide ban (M)

Zurich Group, big Swiss insurer, will announce acquisition of majority control of Scudder Stevens & Clark Inc, money management giant, for about $867 million in cash and significant minority stake in combined company; reportedly plans to include Scudder with its existing money management business to form Scudder Kemper Investments; new entity would be one of world's largest investment companies, with more than $200 billion of assets under management (M)

64 children play in National Marbles Tournament at Wildwood, NJ; 12-year-old Megan Winkelman wins girls' division; 11-year-old Michael Thomas wins boys' division (S) (New Jersey Daily Briefing)