Poindexter and North Enter Not Guilty Pleas : Secord, Hakim Also Arraigned on Iran-Contra Charges; Judge Indicates He Will Expedite Case

Former National Security Adviser John M. Poindexter, fired White House aide Oliver L. North and two business middlemen pleaded not guilty Thursday to conspiring to defraud the government in the Iran-Contra operation, as U.S. District Judge Gerhard A. Gesell repeatedly signaled that he intends to move the complex case along quickly.

About 40 demonstrators outside the same federal courthouse where the Watergate conspiracy was tried displayed signs supporting North and booed and jeered as independent counsel Lawrence E. Walsh strode past them after arraignment of the defendants, the first to face trial in the scandal.

All Four Released

Gesell released on their own recognizance North, Poindexter and the other two men indicted, retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Richard V. Secord and his business partner, Albert A. Hakim.

The judge set a hearing for April 12 on whether the prosecution has been tainted by the defendants’ testimony before Congress under what Gesell called “broad immunity.”

When Gesell’s clerk summarized the 16 counts against North, the defendant declared a firm “not guilty.” North--who is retiring from the Marines on May 1, partly because he may have to subpoena testimony from President Reagan and other senior officials--wore a blue pinstriped suit instead of the bemedaled uniform he has regularly donned for court hearings.

Among the charges against the 44-year-old North are conspiracy to defraud the United States, theft of government property, wire fraud, false statements, obstruction of Congress and justice, destroying official documents, receiving an illegal gratuity and illegally converting traveler’s checks to his personal use.

Poindexter, 51, who has grown a mustache since appearing at the televised congressional hearings last summer, embraced North at the defendants’ table and patted him on the back before the hearing opened.

Thursday’s court actions were dictated by Gesell’s clear intention to speed trial proceedings, a trait for which the veteran federal judge is well known. Gesell is highly regarded by the Washington legal community for his intellect and the firm control he maintains over his courtroom.

When Secord’s lawyer, Thomas C. Green, told the judge that his client and Hakim were ready to begin a civil trial as defendants on related matters on June 27 in federal court in Miami, Gesell said: “It will not go forward . . . . A criminal case takes precedence.”

Judge Cuts Off Walsh

As Walsh rose to arrange for the defendants to be photographed and fingerprinted, Gesell cut him off, observing that the processing had already been completed. “I don’t like to have those things interfere with progress,” the judge said.

Gesell then disclosed that he had canceled other judicial obligations and his vacation to concentrate on the case. He said that the proceedings “will move fairly, but they’re going to move forward.”

The judge’s intention to expedite the case raised the prospect that a trial could begin before the November elections. But the large number of legal issues to be thrashed out, ranging from a constitutional challenge against independent counsels to the substantial amounts of classified material involved, seem to make that prospect remote.

If President Reagan decides to pardon the defendants, the trial could be avoided, although presidential spokesmen say that pardons have not been considered.

Delay in Any Pardons Seen

Speculation around the courthouse and the White House is that any pardons would be delayed beyond the election to avoid potential damage to Vice President George Bush in the presidential race.

North made no comments outside the courtroom. The other defendants also avoided any substantive comments, which one of their lawyers said was to avoid complicating the tainted prosecution charge and claims of prejudicial publicity that the defendants are likely to make.

In front of the courthouse on Constitution Avenue, the demonstrators carried signs denouncing the case as a “$10-million Witch Hunt,” declaring “We Love Ollie” and urging “Investigate Communists in Congress.”

As the hearings began, Robert C. McFarlane, Poindexter’s predecessor as national security adviser, headed to another floor of the courthouse to testify before a federal grand jury that is investigating Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III’s role in seeking to assist the construction of a controversial $1-billion Iraqi pipeline.

Met With Meese Friend

McFarlane, at Meese’s request, met with Meese’s longtime friend, attorney E. Robert Wallach, who represented a principal in the pipeline project, which is at the center of an independent counsel’s investigation of Meese.

McFarlane, who was regarded as North’s mentor at the National Security Counsel, pleaded guilty on March 11 to four misdemeanor counts of withholding information from congressional committees investigating secret support for the Nicaraguan rebels.

Under a plea agreement with Walsh, McFarlane is expected to testify as a prosecution witness in the conspiracy trial.