Expects Him to Be Aquitted : Still Believes North Is a ‘Hero,’ President Says

President Reagan said Friday he expects former national security aides Oliver L. North and John M. Poindexter will be found innocent of criminal charges in the Iran-Contra affair, adding: “I still think Ollie North is a hero.”

Reagan refused to say whether he would pardon them, saying he could not discuss the case because it is before the courts.

However, that did not stop him from proclaiming the defendants’ innocence.

“I just have to believe that they’re going to be found innocent because I don’t think they were guilty of any lawbreaking or any crime,” the President said.

Reagan’s comments raised the question of whether a President should make a pretrial judgment of a person’s guilt or innocence.

“An ordinary citizen might express his opinion about a criminal trial without harm,” said Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.). “But for the chief executive, who is sworn to faithfully execute the law, (to make) such a statement could lead to a miscarriage of justice.”

He said Reagan had “contributed to a prejudicial climate that could make it extremely difficult to get an unbiased jury in these cases.”

Views Carry Weight

Prof. John F. Banzhaf III of George Washington University Law School called Reagan’s remarks “highly inappropriate” and said they could influence jurors in the case.

“Millions of people feel strongly in favor of the President and his views carry great weight. He has an awful lot of credibility,” said Banzhaf, a consumer advocate who has been associated with liberal causes. “This is prejudging the case.”

In 1970, defense lawyers unsuccessfully sought dismissal of murder charges against Charles Manson after then-President Richard M. Nixon said Manson “was guilty directly or indirectly of eight murders without reason.” Nixon later issued a statement saying that he had not intended to proclaim Manson guilty, and that a person was presumed innocent until proved otherwise.

Reagan’s comment appeared to be an off-the-cuff response to a question posed from the audience after a speech to young people at a seminar sponsored by the Center for the Study of the Presidency.

White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater, questioned later about Reagan’s remark, said: “He’s a man who tells you what he thinks and that’s what he thinks.” Fitzwater said the President is “a man of rare insight and perception, just giving his perception there.”

Pleaded Not Guilty

North and Poindexter, along with arms dealers Richard V. Secord and Albert A. Hakim, pleaded not guilty last week to charges of conspiracy, theft and fraud in the Iran-Contra case.

Reagan previously had said he did not think any laws were broken in the Iran-Contra affair, but had never gone so far as to predict acquittals.

The question asked of Reagan was whether he still believes North is a hero--as he once said--and whether he will pardon North and Poindexter.

“I still think Ollie North is a hero,” the President said.

After saying he believes North and Poindexter will be acquitted, Reagan professed amazement that the whole Iran-Contra affair has come to be regarded as a scandal.

“I find it hard to think of it as scandal,” Reagan said, launching into a lengthy explanation of why the United States secretly sold arms to Iran, a nation it had condemned as a sponsor of terrorism.

The President said there still are unanswered questions in the Iran-Contra affair, particularly where the excess profits from the Iranian arms sales went.

“I still don’t know who got that extra money or where it came from, but I’m hoping to find out . . . but I wanted you know that I have some definite reason for still believing that Ollie North is a hero.”