Psychiatrist Granted Clearance to See Files in Soviet Spy Case
A court-appointed psychiatrist for Svetlana Ogorodnikova, who is accused of being a Soviet spy, was granted a national security clearance Thursday to examine secret FBI files, which her attorneys hope to use as part of a limited insanity defense in her pending espionage trial.
Disclosure of the government’s action was made to U.S. District Judge David V. Kenyon by Ogorodnikova’s lawyers after weeks of closed court sessions in Los Angeles relating to her possible mental and emotional problems.
Ogorodnikova, 34, was arrested Oct. 2 along with her husband, Nikolai Ogorodnikov, 52, on charges of conspiring with former FBI agent Richard W. Miller to pass FBI documents to the Soviet Union.
Possible Insanity Plea
Kenyon last week separated the trial of the two accused of being Soviet spies from that of Miller, ordering the trial of the Ogorodnikovs to begin March 5, with Miller’s to follow.
Dr. Saul J. Faerstein, a Beverly Hills forensic psychiatrist, was appointed by Kenyon to examine Ogorodnikova after her attorneys, Brad A. Brian and Gregory P. Stone, informed the judge that they were considering a possible limited insanity plea on her behalf.
Before examining Ogorodnikova, however, Faerstein wanted to examine government documents relating to a possible history of mental and emotional trouble, including her alleged alcoholism.
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