The State - News from Dec. 18, 1985

A federal judge in San Francisco denied defense motions to suppress evidence in the forthcoming trial of accused Navy spy Jerry A. Whitworth and also upheld the validity of search warrants in the case. U.S. District Judge John P. Vukasin said statements made by Whitworth to two FBI agents at his mobile home May 20 and material seized from a search the same day will be admissible at trial. Whitworth, a retired chief radioman, had testified that he “felt desperate” and was “psychologically beaten down” when he consented to the interview and the search. But Vukasin said: “Much of what he (Whitworth) said about psychological pressure is not credible.” Whitworth, 46, is accused of transmitting secret code and message information to convicted spymaster John A. Walker Jr.