Start of Ex-Agent’s Contra Trial Delayed
A federal judge on Friday moved back to July 24 the starting date of the Iran-Contra trial of a former CIA agent.
U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton granted the two-week delay after lawyers for Joseph F. Fernandez said the government’s case has been tainted with testimony given under immunity from prosecution.
Fernandez, the CIA’s former station chief in Costa Rica, is accused of covering up his ties to Oliver L. North’s secret Contra resupply operation. The network operated during a congressional ban on military aid to the Nicaraguan rebels.
Fernandez is accused of obstructing and making false statements to the CIA’s inspector general and the presidentially appointed Tower Commission early in 1987.
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