Whitworth Ordered to Furnish Extensive Handwriting Samples

Accused spy Jerry A. Whitworth was ordered Thursday to turn over extensive samples of his handwriting to federal authorities, who hope to match it to the penmanship on thousands of documents seized in what the government is calling one of the most threatening U.S.-Soviet espionage schemes ever.

U.S. District Judge J.P. Vukasin Jr. ordered the samples delivered to federal authorities, but cautioned the U.S. attorney’s office not to force Whitworth to demonstrate his handwriting by copying incriminating material from the seized documents.

James Larson, Whitworth’s attorney, argued during a hearing that it would violate his client’s constitutional rights to copy documents that would later be used against him in court.

The government says that among the seized materials are several highly sensitive military documents, including a strategy for communicating during a Middle East war.

Vukasin set a trial date of Nov. 12 for the 46-year-old retired Navy radioman, accused of helping to steal military secrets for the Soviet Union as part of a ring headed by John A. Walker Jr.

Also during Thursday’s hearing, the judge refused to allow the conservative Washington Legal Foundation to file a friend-of-the-court brief calling for the death penalty to be considered in the Whitworth case. The group had tried to file a similar brief in the trial of Arthur J. Walker, John Walker’s brother and another member of the alleged spy ring. Arthur Walker was convicted of espionage last week.

Currently, Whitworth faces life imprisonment if convicted.

Larson said he plans to ask for a jury trial in San Francisco, which he described as a good place to try a spy: “There are educated people here, they’re up with current events. . . . They have a cosmopolitan view of things, and they have an objective view toward government.”