Miller Trial Dispute in 4th Day
Attorneys in the spy trial of former FBI agent Richard Miller spent a fourth day Monday locked in disagreement over the wording of jury instructions.
The four lawyers met with U.S. District Judge David Kenyon, who opened his courtroom for a special Columbus Day session in an effort to smooth out their differences. Kenyon, sensing the process would take longer than anticipated, reluctantly agreed last week to postpone closing arguments until jury instructions were “ironed out.”
The instructions will be the jury’s legal guide when the panel begins deliberating the charges against Miller, the only FBI agent ever accused of spying. He is accused of giving at least one secret document to his Soviet lover, admitted spy Svetlana Ogorodnikova, for sex and a promised $65,000 in cash and gold.
His attorneys claim that he passed no documents and that he was trying to appear recruitable to the Russians so he could use Ogorodnikova in a “James Bond fantasy” plan to infiltrate the KGB and save his faltering FBI career.
The defense claims Miller cannot be convicted of espionage if his intent was to benefit the United States. Prosecutors insist motive should not be considered by the jury.
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