Federal Jury Entering Third Day of Deliberations in Iran-Contra Trial

A federal jury deliberated for seven hours Friday without reaching a verdict in the criminal trial of Clair E. George, the former CIA spy chief who is charged with covering up the Iran-Contra affair.

The eight-woman, four-man jury, which is being sequestered, is scheduled to enter its third day of deliberations today.

George, the former chief of CIA overseas spy operations, pleaded not guilty to three counts of obstructing Congress and a federal grand jury and six counts of perjury and false statements.

George is accused of lying when he told a Senate committee on Dec. 3, 1986, that he had never met Richard V. Secord and did not know of his role in secret U.S. arms sales to Iran. The former spy chief admits he had met Secord 11 months earlier but insists that his testimony was a mistake, not a lie.

He also is accused of lying when he told congressional committees he did not know who was involved in dispatching a military supply plane that was shot down over Nicaragua on Oct. 5, 1986. Prosecutors said that George knew it was part of White House aide Oliver L. North’s supply network for the Nicaraguan rebels.

George is accused of ordering a subordinate, Alan D. Fiers, not to give lawmakers details about the Contra supply network.