THE MILLER CASE

May 24, 1984--Miller meets Svetlana Ogorodnikova for first time and begins sexual affair shortly afterwards.

Aug. 5--Miller says Ogorodnikova tells him she is a major in Soviet KGB and offers him money for FBI secrets. Ogorodnikova denies it when she later testifies.

Aug. 8--Miller says he meets Nikolai Ogorodnikov, and discusses meeting Soviet officials for $50,000 in gold. Ogorodnikova later claims the meeting never took place.

Aug. 25--Miller and Ogorodnikova arrive in San Francisco, where she visits Soviet Consulate. Allegedly takes Miller’s FBI credentials, a copy of secret Positive Intelligence Reporting Guide and another secret document.

Sept. 1--Alerted by the San Francisco trip, FBI launches a massive espionage investigation code-named Whipworm, a reference to an internal parasite.

Sept. 25--FBI surveillance agents follow Soviet Vice Consul Aleksandr Grishin to San Francisco International Airport, where he calls Ogorodnikova to discuss plans for a trip with a “friend” to Warsaw.

Sept. 27--Miller tells FBI official P. Bryce Christensen he has been secretly involved with Ogorodnikova to penetrate a Soviet KGB spy ring.

Sept. 28--Five-day FBI interrogation of Miller begins. It continues until Miller admits passing documents to Ogorodnikova.

Oct. 2--Miller and the Ogorodnikovs are arrested on espionage charges.

Oct. 12--Grishin named as an unindicted co-conspirator with Miller and the Ogorodnikovs. The Soviet KGB agent, immune from prosecution because of his diplomatic status, later returns to Moscow.

Oct. 21--Miller and the Ogorodnikovs plead not guilty to espionage charges in court of U.S. District Judge David V. Kenyon, who later severs the cases and orders the Ogorodnikovs to be tried first.

March 5, 1985--After defense lawyers outline their strategies in The Times, Kenyon imposes a gag order on all lawyers banning future comment. He declares: “This trial will not become a circus show outside the courtroom.”

April 19--The trial of the Ogorodnikovs begins.

June 26--After 27 days of prosecution testimony, including eight days by Miller, Ogorodnikov pleads guilty to espionage conspiracy in exchange for an eight-year sentence. Ogorodnikova pleads guilty to the same charge and later is sentenced to 18 years in prison.

Aug. 6--The first Miller trial begins. The prosecution calls 75 witnesses in 25 days of testimony. The defense rests Oct. 4 without calling Miller, presenting 41 other witnesses in an 11-day defense.

Nov. 6--Mistrial declared after jury deadlocks after 14 days of deliberations. Jurors vote 10 to 2 for conviction on three espionage counts and 11 to 1 for conviction on four related charges.

Feb. 25, 1986--Miller’s second trial begins. The prosecution calls 70 witnesses in 32 days of testimony. The defense calls 35 witnesses, including Ogorodnikova, in 25 days. Jury deliberations start on June 16.

June 19--Miller is convicted on six of seven counts.