NATION IN BRIEF : WASHINGTON, D.C. : Poindexter’s Request for Inquiry Rejected

The judge in the Iran-Contra trial of John M. Poindexter rejected a renewed defense request to conduct a further examination of whether the former national security adviser’s prosecution was improperly influenced by his immunized congressional testimony. U.S. District Judge Harold H. Greene held that Poindexter’s lawyers had again failed to demonstrate that independent counsel Lawrence E. Walsh had relied on any of Poindexter’s immunized testimony. Walsh was prohibited by law from using evidence derived from Poindexter’s testimony to the select House and Senate Iran-Contra panels. Poindexter was convicted on all five felony charges lodged against him.