Defendant in Noriega Drug Case Asks Judge for Separate Trial

Lt. Col. Luis A. del Cid, a former Panamanian military officer who has been charged with drug trafficking along with Manuel A. Noriega, sought Wednesday to distance himself from his deposed commander by asking a federal judge to grant him a separate trial.

The move came as prosecutors tried to arrange a plea bargain for Del Cid to become a star government witness against Noriega, hoping to strengthen a case somewhat clouded by legal concerns over disclosure of sensitive government records.

The government’s prosecution of Noriega is expected to depend heavily on testimony from persons who allegedly participated with him in helping Colombia’s notorious Medellin drug cartel use Panama as a haven for transshipping cocaine and laundering drug profits.

Del Cid filed legal papers objecting that Noriega’s anticipated defense is antagonistic to his own. While Del Cid plans to contest the charges against him as based on “hearsay evidence,” Noriega is willing to admit criminal offenses on grounds that U.S. intelligence agents condoned them, according to the court filing.

“It is not the intention of defendant Del Cid to seek to engage in ‘graymail’ or entrapment-like defenses implicating agencies of the United States government,” Samuel I. Burstyn, his attorney, said in his request for a severance.

Noriega’s lawyers have announced they will file formal demands for top-secret U.S. records that will illustrate Noriega’s role as a confidential informant for the CIA and Drug Enforcement Administration for many years before 1986. Burstyn said the indictment returned in Miami in February, 1988, shows an “enormous disparity” between the alleged roles of Del Cid and Noriega.

The indictment charges Noriega with 11 counts of smuggling cocaine, laundering drug money and protecting cocaine-processing plants in his country. Del Cid stands accused in four counts of serving as Noriega’s liaison with the cartel and acting as a courier for drug money.

Prosecutors look upon Del Cid as a potential key witness in the government’s case against Noriega because of his firsthand knowledge of his former superior’s activities.

U.S. District Judge William M. Hoeveler took no immediate action on Del Cid’s request for a severance. The judge is expected to wait until other co-defendants have made similar requests before reaching any decisions.