The Region - News from April 8, 1986

After denying a motion to dismiss the case against General Dynamics and four present and former executives of the company, U. S. District Court Judge Ferdinand F. Fernandez continued the trial date from July 8 to Oct. 14. The giant defense contractor, James M. Beggs, Ralph E. Hawes Jr., David L. McPherson and James C. Hansen Jr. were indicted by a federal grand jury last December on charges of conspiring to defraud the U. S. Defense Department in a government contract for a tank-mounted anti-aircraft weapons system. In moving for dismissal, the defendants maintained that questions about whether General Dynamics had complied with contractural terms should be resolved by the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals. Beggs became head of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration after leaving General Dynamics. He has since resigned from NASA.