Attorney Contends Client Is Confused : Demjanjuk Unsure About Firing Lawyer

A confused John Demjanjuk was unable to decide today whether to go through with the firing of his chief defense attorney, American Mark O’Connor, midway through his Nazi war crimes trial.

Demjanjuk requested a second special court hearing on the issue. Presiding Judge Dov Levine, although obviously frustrated by the use of court time, scheduled the hearing for Monday.

It was the first time Demjanjuk spoke about O’Connor, of Buffalo, N.Y., since he wrote a June 30 letter dismissing him. O’Connor has contended that Demjanjuk was confused, did not really want to fire him and wrote the letter under the influence of his family.

“I’m not able to make my decision at this point,” Demjanjuk said today. “I would like to postpone this hearing for at least two days so I can confer with my family by telephone.”

In granting the request, Levine said Demjanjuk had to make a “difficult decision” and urged the defense team to concentrate on the case and “not indulge in side affairs.”

Demjanjuk, 67, is charged with being “Ivan the Terrible,” a sadistic guard who operated the gas chambers at the Treblinka death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland. About 850,000 Jews were killed at the camp in 1942 and 1943.

Demjanjuk, a retired auto worker who lived in the Cleveland suburb of Seven Hills until being extradited to Israel in 1986, has said he is a victim of mistaken identity.