Skating Star to Testify for Both Sides at Harassment Trial

A federal judge agreed Monday that internationally known ice-skating star Katarina Witt should testify at the upcoming trial of a Westminster man accused of sending her obscene and threatening letters.

U.S. District Judge Gary L. Taylor ruled that Witt, who won a gold medal for figure skating in the 1984 and 1988 Winter Olympics, would be allowed to testify for both the prosecution and the defense March 10. Assistant U.S. Atty. Wayne Gross said that Witt will appear voluntarily at his request.

According to a memorandum released Monday by the prosecution, defendant Harry Veltman, 47, stalked Witt in her native East Germany and in San Francisco and Denver when she visited the United States on a North American ice-skating tour. Prosecutors charge that Veltman sent Witt more than 60 obscene and threatening letters between November, 1990, and July, 1991.

Veltman, who is representing himself during the trial, scheduled to begin March 10, told Taylor on Monday that the 26-year-old Witt is the only witness he will call.

“Katarina Witt is the only relevant witness. Testimony by anybody but her is irrelevant, because I have confirmed in court that I mailed the letters, photos and brochures described in the indictment . . . and testimony by anybody but her to determine whether or not the material . . . is obscene or threatening is irrelevant, because they are not the alleged victim,” he said.

Veltman argued that the victim alone should decide whether the material he sent through the mail was obscene or threatening.

Prosecutors, however, said they will not ask Witt’s opinion on the obscenity of the material, because obscenity standards are measured by the community, not an individual. But Gross said that Witt is qualified to testify about whether she felt threatened by the letters.