Wrangles May Delay North Trial : Gesell Tells Distress Over Key Documents, Testimony Immunity

WASHINGTON —  The chances of an early trial in the Iran-Contra scandal grew dimmer today as the judge said there is a logjam over defense access to secret documents and ordered more testimony on prosecutors’ exposure to immunized testimony.

U.S. District Judge Gerhard Gesell told prosecutors he will be forced to dismiss the charges against Marine Lt. Col. Oliver L. North and three co-defendants unless key classified documents are turned over to the defense.

“There seems to be an absolute stultification of informal discovery of key documents in the case, which if are not turned over will mean the case will have to be dismissed,” Gesell said.

The judge said he wants both sides to work to “break a very serious logjam” caused by the refusal of government agencies to release classified documents to the defendants.

Gesell said he is “extremely disturbed by the implications” of a motion filed Tuesday by defendant Albert A. Hakim, complaining that independent counsel Lawrence E. Walsh is trying to limit his access to the most sensitive documents gathered by the investigation.

Procedure Described

Under the procedures proposed by Walsh, lawyers for Hakim and retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Richard V. Secord would have to obtain court permission before showing these documents to their clients.

The proposed restrictions would not apply to North and former national security adviser John M. Poindexter, the other two defendants charged with conspiring to illegally divert U.S.-Iran arms sale profits to the Nicaraguan rebels.

The judge also signaled a shift in his plans to examine the problems caused by the immunized congressional testimony of North, Hakim and Poindexter.

“We are a long way from any resolution of the pretrial Kastigar problems,” Gesell said, referring to the 1972 Supreme Court ruling that said prosecutors must obtain their evidence independently from the defendants’ immunized testimony.

North, Poindexter and Hakim contend their Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination would be violated if they are forced to stand trial because they gave testimony to Congress that inevitably aided Walsh’s investigation.

Gesell said he wants to resolve the issue before the trial begins, saying: “I have no interest in undertaking a four- to six-week trial for no purpose, only to throw it out at the end.”