Lawyers for Alleged Spy Ask Arrest of Witness

Lawyers for accused spy Richard W. Miller have asked a federal judge to issue an arrest warrant for a Riverside man who allegedly can help substantiate the former FBI agent’s claims that he was trying to infiltrate Soviet intelligence before his arrest on espionage charges.

They requested the arrest of Lawrence Fred Grayson, an employee of a private investigator in Riverside, as a material witness for Miller on grounds that they have been unable to contact Grayson themselves despite repeated efforts to talk to him since Miller’s arrest Oct. 2.

Grayson, the lawyers said, can testify that Miller informed him of his counterespionage plans six weeks before his arrest, explaining that he wasn’t telling his FBI bosses what he was doing because he was afraid they would take him off the case because of his shoddy record as an agent.

In a court document made public Wednesday, defense attorneys Joel Levine and Stanley Greenberg produced an FBI report revealing that Grayson gave that account to two FBI agents who interviewed him on the day of Miller’s arrest.

Hearing Today

The lawyers asked U.S. District Judge David V. Kenyon Jr. to order a deposition of Grayson before Miller’s trial.

Kenyon set a hearing for today to rule on the motion.

Grayson, also known as Larry Sears, was interviewed by the two FBI agents in Riverside on Oct. 2, after Miller had brought his name up during five days of questioning that preceded Miller’s arrest.

Miller had told FBI interrogators that he had asked Grayson to photograph meetings with Soviet intelligence agents so that he could have some proof of his counterespionage efforts to show his FBI superiors.

In an FBI report attached to the request for Grayson’s arrest, FBI Agents Jon G. Knehans and Bernard P. Blais summarized their interview with Grayson in Riverside. The interview was conducted under the pretext that Miller was “stepping down and going on to other matters” and that Blais might be taking over some of Miller’s counterintelligence duties.

Coffee Shop Meeting

Grayson told the agents that sometime in mid-August he met Miller at a Denny’s Coffee Shop in Corona, and that Miller told him he “had been contacted by the Russians” and “asked to provide them with intelligence type information from FBI files.”

The FBI agents said Grayson told them that Miller had asked Grayson to join him on a trip to Mexico in early October to photograph anybody who might be following Miller or watching him.

“Grayson said that with his help, R. W. (Miller) believed that by being able to provide photographs to his superiors as to what took place in Mexico, he would convince them that the Russians were in fact having contact with him,” the FBI agents reported.

The FBI report said Grayson told Miller that to proceed with his plan without the knowledge of his superiors “meant trouble and would be a stupid thing for him to do.” Grayson reportedly advised Miller against having any further contact with the Russians without telling his FBI superiors what he was doing.

But the FBI agents quoted Grayson as saying Miller believed it was best not to tell his superiors because of past problems as an agent during his 20-year FBI career.

“Grayson said that R. W. reasoned that because of the difficulties he had been experiencing with his superiors over job-related matters, it would be of no use for him to tell his superiors he had been contacted by the Russians as they would not believe him,” the FBI agents reported.

Repeated Efforts

Levine and Greenberg said they were unaware that Grayson had corroborated some of Miller’s claims until they saw the FBI interviews with Grayson in January. They said they have been unable to interview him despite repeated efforts.

In requesting Kenyon’s help to produce Grayson for deposition, the lawyers described Grayson as “an important witness” for Miller whose testimony “will corroborate” Miller’s claims that he was involved with Soviet immigrants Svetlana Ogorodnikova and Nikolai Ogorodnikov in an attempt to infiltrate a Soviet spy network.

During the questioning that preceded his arrest on spy charges, Miller identified Grayson as a former government informant and also allegedly said that he had regularly furnished Grayson with Department of Motor Vehicle information and other government data for pay.

Miller has been charged with corruptly accepting $1,185 in exchange for turning over government information to an unnamed private investigator, but that charge, along with seven counts of embezzling government funds, has been separated from Miller’s espionage case.

Miller’s trial is not scheduled until the completion of the espionage trial of the Ogorodnikovs, set to be begin on Tuesday. Questionnaires were distributed Wednesday to 175 prospective jurors, and lawyers will spend the next few days eliminating jurors exposed to pretrial publicity in connection with the case.

Kenyon told the jury panel Wednesday he expects the trial of the Ogorodnikovs to last five to six weeks.