‘Dramatic Developments’ Halt Spy’s Testimony at Miller Trial

The espionage retrial of Richard W. Miller was mysteriously adjourned Thursday, apparently because of what one source called a “possible conflict” involving Svetlana Ogorodnikova and her lawyers.

Just minutes after Ogorodnikova began testifying about her first meeting with the former FBI agent in 1984, she suddenly asked U.S. District Judge David V. Kenyon if she could take a break.

After Kenyon agreed, there was a meeting in chambers, during which Ogorodnikova reportedly made statements to the judge that led him to adjourn court an hour and a half later.

“We’ve had some developments, and they will have to be addressed,” Kenyon told the jury. “The developments came to our knowledge during the break. If you think I’m being obtuse, you’re absolutely right. Come back tomorrow morning. By then, I hope to resume our testimony.”

Behind the Scenes

Sources said Kenyon decided to delay the testimony of Ogorodnikova while he maneuvered behind the scenes to resolve “some dramatic developments” related, in part, to the counseling Ogorodnikova has received from her lawyers about her testimony.

While the lawyers involved in the Miller case were sworn not to discuss the problem, other sources said Kenyon was searching for another lawyer to counsel Ogorodnikova on whether she should retain her present lawyers or get a new one.

Ogorodnikova’s lawyers, Brad Brian and Gregory Stone, who have represented her since her arrest in 1984, attended Thursday’s proceedings and met privately with Kenyon. They had no comment when asked if they will continue to represent her and declined to shed any light on the nature of the problem, citing a gag order imposed on all lawyers in the Miller case by Kenyon last year.

After several private meetings in his chambers with the lawyers, however, Kenyon held at least two interviews with other attorneys Thursday afternoon.

No Knowledge

One of them, Maria Stratton, a member of the federal indigent defense panel, said before her meeting with Kenyon that she had no knowledge of the reason for the meeting.

“I don’t know what’s going on,” she said. “I just got a call to go to Judge Kenyon’s chambers.”

Half an hour later, Stratton said she had not been selected to represent Ogorodnikova and declined further comment, saying she also considered herself to be restrained by the gag order.

Ogorodnikova, beginning her third day of testimony in the Miller case under a grant of immunity protecting her from further prosecution, testified that she was confused and frequently referred questions to her lawyers Thursday, as she began telling of her first contacts with Miller.

Questioned by Stanley Greenberg, one of Miller’s two defense lawyers, she resumed her testimony from the previous day by saying that she had continued to meet with FBI counterintelligence agent John Hunt in 1984, shortly before she first met Miller on May 24, 1984.

Sexual Affair

Ogorodnikova, who claims she had a sexual affair with Hunt in 1982, disputed Miller’s testimony by saying that it was Miller who called her on that date. She said she also thought he had called her on two previous occasions but could only remember that someone from the FBI named “Richard” had made those calls.

“Somebody unknown to me called me, and this person said he was Mr. Miller,” Ogorodnikova said. “I called back to the FBI office and asked for Mr. Hunt, because Hunt had told me if somebody was going to be interested in me or himself to let him know immediately.”

Describing her conversation with Hunt on May 24, 1984, which Hunt has denied, along with the sexual accusations made against him, Ogorodnikova said Hunt first asked her which Miller she was talking about, pointing out that there were two Millers in the FBI’s Los Angeles office.

“When I said Richard,” Ogorodnikova said, “He said, ‘You can talk to him right now. He’s right here . . . and find out what he wants.’ ”

As she continued her testimony, Ogorodnikova said she then agreed to meet Miller at a gas station in West Los Angeles, proceeding from there to a restaurant in Marina del Rey, where she said she outlined to Miller her previous alleged sexual relationship with Hunt, as well as his attempts to recruit her as an FBI informant.

“I told him everything about Hunt,” Ogorodnikova said.

“By everything, you mean everything you’ve said here?” Greenberg asked.

“Yes,” she said.

Ogorodnikova said Miller, who claims he never intended to betray the United States but was actually attempting to use Ogorodnikova to infiltrate the Soviet KGB, then told her he was working for both the CIA and the FBI and asked her to work for him as an informant.

‘Bad Experience’

“I told him no,” she said. “I told him it was because I had a bad experience, and I told him everything about Hunt.”

“Did you talk about demands the Soviets had put on you?” Greenberg asked.

“I think I told him everything,” Ogorodnikova continued, adding that she also amended her initial refusal to work as an informant, telling Miller she would “think about it.”

At that point, Ogorodnikova, sentenced to 18 years in prison by Kenyon after pleading guilty to espionage conspiracy last June, requested the break that led to Kenyon’s decision to adjourn the trial for the day. After excusing the jury, Kenyon then huddled with Ogorodnikova and her lawyers, first announcing to reporters in the courtroom that he hoped to be able to explain what was going on later in the day.

At noon, the judge emerged and met again with all the lawyers in the case. He was overheard telling them to avoid any comment. Kenyon then announced that he had no comment himself for the moment until “one further matter can be clarified.”