Marcos Too Ill for Trial, U.S. Prosecutors Decide

Federal prosecutors temporarily severed former Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos from a racketeering case Thursday, saying he is too ill with pneumonia and recurring infections to stand trial.

“The government is withdrawing its opposition to Marcos’ motion for a medical severance,” Asst. U.S. Atty. Debra Livingston wrote in a letter to John F. Keenan, the judge assigned to the case. “Based upon Mr. Marcos’ repeated bouts of pneumonia and his susceptibility to other infections since January, 1989, the government is no longer able to represent to the court that Mr. Marcos is now able to stand trial.”

Prosecutors said, however, they are prepared to reinstate charges against Marcos if he recuperates.

Marcos, his wife, Imelda, and several co-defendants are accused of illegally siphoning $100 million from the Philippine treasury and secretly buying real estate in New York. Imelda Marcos pleaded not guilty and is free on $5 million bail provided by her friend Doris Duke, the tobacco heiress. The government’s decision Thursday does not affect her case.

Hospitalized in Honolulu

Marcos, 71, is in guarded condition at St. Francis Medical Center in Honolulu, where he was admitted with pneumonia on Jan. 15. He has since suffered from recurrences of pneumonia and other infections.

His lawyers said they would ask Keenan later this month to make the severance permanent.

“The government at long last has seen the merits of our early position,” said John J. Tigue, Marcos’ lawyer. “We made the status of President Marcos’ health well known to the government before he was indicted.”

Tigue said Marcos is “highly unlikely to survive his current medical condition” and ever stand trial.

Prosecutors said that Marcos was examined over the weekend by Dr. Francis Weld, a New York physician appointed by the court.

“I have spoken with Dr. Weld regarding his findings,” Livingston wrote the judge. “In brief, Dr. Weld has concluded that Marcos’ recurrent infections since his latest hospitalization have resulted in a deterioration in his overall health status so that Marcos cannot at present assist in the preparation of his defense or stand trial.”

Livingston asked that Marcos’ indictment “be placed in suspense” subject to a later motion for him to rejoin the case should his health improve.

Since his indictment, several court-appointed physicians have examined the former Philippine president. In October, a doctor found that Marcos had “significant departures from normal” in his kidneys, heart and neuromuscular system.

In her letter, Livingston told Keenan that neither government doctors nor Marcos’ own medical team were able to account for the former ruler’s reports of “escalating and widespread pain at that time.”

Marcos was examined by Dr. Robert C. Collins, chairman of the department of neurology at the UCLA Medical School. During that examination, Collins concluded that the neurological conditions were “mild, chronic and stable” and did not prevent the defendant from appearing in court. But later, Marcos’ health worsened.

The Marcoses have been living in exile in Honolulu since he was ousted in a military-led uprising in February, 1986, and replaced by President Corazon Aquino.