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http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/metropolitan/499130
March 21, 2000, 9:06PM
Contempt charges possible in CIA case
By DEBORAH TEDFORD
Copyright 2000 Houston Chronicle
A federal judge in Houston must decide
whether to hold three other federal jurists
and high-level Justice Department employees
in contempt for submitting false evidence in a
case that has kept a CIA employee
imprisoned since 1982.
Ex-CIA operative Edwin Wilson asked U.S.
District Judge Lynn Hughes to issue
contempt citations against 17 current and
former government attorneys or top CIA
officials. All helped prosecute him in 1982 for
smuggling explosives to Libya.
Justice Department attorneys have
acknowledged using an affidavit from
then-CIA Executive Director Charles Briggs
even though they knew it was false.
The affidavit, which stated that Wilson did
no work for the CIA after his 1971 retirement,
was characterized as a crucial piece of
evidence by jurors, Justice Department trial
attorneys and Wilson's appellate attorney.
"It shredded any possibility of the jury
thinking that the government had actually
asked him to do this," said David Adler.
Among those who played a role in Wilson's
case and could now be cited for contempt are
U.S. District Judges D. Lowell Jensen and
Stanley Sporkin, who recently took senior
status; Stephen S. Trott, who sits on the 9th
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals; Houston
attorney Dan Hedges, who was U.S. attorney
in Houston during Wilson's trial and
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Powers, a federal
prosecutor in Houston.
Justice Department spokesman John Russell
refused to comment on the contempt motion.
A request that Wilson's conviction be
overturned was filed with the motion. In it,
Adler contends that 22 government
documents show that prosecutors and CIA
officials knew before the jury verdict, and
verified after the verdict, that the affidavit
was false.
In January federal prosecutors acknowledged
the government knowingly submitted a false
affidavit to help convict Wilson. But they say
he's not entitled to a new trial because the
bogus evidence was inconsequential and
unrelated to the charges.
The Justice Department maintained the
ex-agent shipped arms to Libya from Texas
and Virginia and had plotted the murder of
the New York prosecutor who spearheaded
the cases. Wilson was sentenced to 52 years
in prison.
If Hughes overturns Wilson's conviction in
the Texas case, Adler said the other two cases
could crumble.
Wilson could be eligible for mandatory
release if the cases are overturned, Adler
said.
At the core of the Texas arms-smuggling case
was the CIA's claim that Wilson had done no
work for the agency after his Feb. 28, 1971,
retirement.
But prosecutors now admit Wilson had at
least 80 "nonsocial" contacts with CIA
personnel after his retirement, according to
documents filed by the government.
Adler speculated prosecutors used the
affidavit when plans to call an expert witness
went awry.
The expert, referred to in court documents by
the pseudonym "Larson" and later identified
as the then-chief of the CIA's Information
Management Section, was not called to
testify because the trial judge refused a
government request to limit his questioning
by the defense.
According to documents released to Wilson
under the federal Freedom of Information
Act, "Larson" had told prosecutors the
agency would "deal with the devil" if need
be.
"Larson" also acknowledged the CIA might
consider providing 40,000 pounds of
explosives to someone in Libya if "great"
information could be obtained.
Then-U.S. District Judge Ross Sterling
allowed the government to submit an
affidavit from CIA Director Briggs because of
security concerns, even though he could not
be cross-examined.
Briggs' affidavit stated, "Wilson was not
asked or requested, directly or indirectly, to
perform or provide any services, directly or
indirectly, for the CIA" after Wilson's 1971
retirement.
Court documents state that CIA attorneys,
concerned about the accuracy of the affidavit,
urged Justice Department prosecutors not to
use it in the trial. But prosecutors insisted it
was the backbone of their case
Adler has asked Hughes to enter a finding
that Wilson's conviction was illegally
obtained through the prosecutors' knowing
use of perjured testimony.
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