Court to Tape Testimony by Reagan Friday : Iran-Contra: He has been called as a witness by Poindexter. Federal judge implies that press, public will be barred from the session in Los Angeles.

A federal judge decided Monday that Ronald Reagan’s Iran-Contra testimony will be videotaped Friday in a Los Angeles courtroom.

U.S. District Judge Harold H. Greene thus overruled a defense request to delay questioning of the former President until the prosecution completes its case against Reagan’s former national security adviser, John M. Poindexter. The location was something of a compromise: The defense wanted Reagan brought to Washington to testify, while Reagan wanted to answer questions from his Los Angeles office.

Ruling on a stack of procedural motions, Greene postponed the start of Poindexter’s trial to March 5. He also strongly implied that he will not require Reagan to surrender excerpts from his White House diaries, and left little doubt that the press and public will be excluded from the taping.

Poindexter, facing five felony counts of obstructing Congress, making false statements and conspiracy, called Reagan as a defense witness to bolster his claim that his actions were authorized by the President. He also sought more than 30 excerpts from Reagan’s diaries.

During a hearing that lasted almost two hours, Poindexter’s lawyer, Richard W. Beckler, argued that Reagan’s testimony should not be taken until the prosecution completes its case. He maintained that defense lawyers have a right to tailor their questions to take account of evidence presented by the government.

Reagan’s lawyer, Theodore B. Olson, and Deputy Assistant Atty. Gen. Leslie Southwick, representing President Bush, both supported Beckler’s call for a delay even though Olson had originally suggested the Friday date. They maintained that by the time the prosecution had completed its case, the judge might decide that Reagan’s testimony was not needed. However, Dan K. Webb, who will lead the prosecution team on behalf of independent counsel Lawrence E. Walsh, opposed the postponement.

Greene was unmoved: “I don’t see any reason to change it at this juncture just because the defendant says at the last minute that he wants to postpone it.” He explained that he did not want to interrupt the flow of the trial with a recess of up to two weeks to take Reagan’s testimony.

The judge sided with Poindexter in deciding to take Reagan’s testimony in a courtroom instead of the former President’s Century City office, as Reagan had suggested. Beckler said it was important to his presentation “to simulate as much as possible the courtroom setting.”

Greene hinted that he will uphold Reagan’s claim of executive privilege covering the White House diaries. Although Beckler maintained that the diaries remained an important piece of evidence for the defense, the judge said that material protected by executive privilege can be introduced only if the information can be obtained in no other way.

Greene said it would be difficult for Poindexter’s attorneys to establish their need for the diaries “now that the (former) President has agreed to testify in person.” Nevertheless, he invited attorneys on all sides to submit additional briefs. He promised to rule on the matter sometime before the trial begins, but after the Friday taping.

The judge also implied that he would refuse to permit the press and the public to attend the taping. Seven news organizations, including The Times, argued that the press was entitled under the First Amendment to attend pretrial proceedings. However, the judge said earlier that he decided on the videotape format because the tape could be edited to eliminate any information that might damage national security. He said that opening the taping session would make it impossible to protect sensitive information.

He ordered attorneys to submit briefs on the secrecy issue and promised to issue an order before Friday. Although he said he will “keep an open mind,” he added it was doubtful he would decide to open the hearing.

However, Greene said he had no such strong opinion on the news organizations’ request that the edited videotape be made public as soon as possible rather than being kept secret until the defense played it for the jury.

In addition to The Times, the request was submitted by ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN networks, the New York Times and the Washington Post.

Prior to the March 5 start of the trial, Greene must rule on whether about 150 classified documents are necessary to Poindexter’s defense. However, lawyers on all sides said Monday that they expected questions about government secrets to be resolved.

Beckler complained that taping in Los Angeles would be needlessly costly to Poindexter, his lawyers, the independent counsel, the Justice Department and even Reagan’s attorneys, all of whom live in Washington. He said it would be far better for Reagan to come to the court than for the court to go to Reagan, and he even offered to pay the former President’s expenses. But Greene said that respect for the office of the presidency required the courts to inconvenience Reagan as little as possible.

Under the procedure approved by the judge, Poindexter’s lawyers will question Reagan and the prosecution will cross-examine him. Greene will preside over the case and will rule on objections raised by attorneys. Poindexter is likely to attend too.