NATION : Two Charges Against Poindexter in Iran-Contra Case Are Dismissed
A federal judge today granted the request of independent counsel Lawrence E. Walsh to dismiss two of the most serious charges against former National Security Adviser John M. Poindexter in the Iran-Contra case.
But Judge Harold Greene denied a motion by Walsh that he be allowed after the trial to again bring the charges--theft of government property and fraud--against Poindexter.
Walsh asked last week that the charges be dropped to avoid delaying the trial over the use of sensitive national security secrets. Greene said it would not be fair to Poindexter to drop the charges now with the possibility of raising them again.
“He (Poindexter) would have to wait in a state of uncertainty and under public obloquy for an indefinite period of time until the government decided that, somehow, for some reason, the time had become more propitious for proceeding with a trial on the second half of the charges,” Greene said.
Poindexter still faces separate charges of lying to Congress and obstructing the congressional Iran-Contra investigation in his trial, due to start this fall.
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