Judge Bars ‘Emotional Appeals’ in Navy Slaying Trial : Military: No testimony about future that gay victim could have had will be allowed, confessed killer’s attorneys are assured.

The mother of a gay American sailor killed by a shipmate will be barred from “making emotional appeals” when she testifies in a trial scheduled to begin here next week, Judge David P. Holcombe ruled Friday.

Holcombe, a Navy commander, also assured defense attorneys for the confessed killer, Airman Apprentice Terry M. Helvey, 21, that he would not allow testimony about the future that his shipmate, Seaman Allen R. Schindler, 22, might have had if he had not been slain. The two sailors served aboard the Belleau Wood, an amphibious assault ship.

The rulings came in a final pretrial hearing in which defense attorneys sought to restrict testimony that Dorothy Hajdys, of Chicago Heights, Ill., Schindler’s mother, and his sister might give.

“Mrs. Hajdys has embarked on a new career as a spokesman for sexual rights . . . and has often gone into emotional appeals,” Air Force Maj. Bernard Doyle, a defense attorney, argued in asking the judge to instruct witnesses not to make emotional appeals.

Holcombe turned down the request to instruct witnesses in advance about what they could say in testimony but declared, “I won’t allow excessive emotional appeals.”

Hajdys has participated in rallies staged by gay rights advocates in the United States who have taken up the case as an example of a violation of homosexuals’ human rights. So far, however, no information about Helvey’s motive in the brutal beating of Schindler has been released officially.

Schindler admitted his homosexuality to his commander and was awaiting discharge from the Navy when he was killed.

An autopsy showed that Schindler’s skull was crushed, all but two of his ribs were broken, and his genitals were lacerated. Hajdys said she could identify her son’s body only by tattoos.

Helvey’s attorneys also sought to bar photographs taken of Schindler’s body before the autopsy as well as pictures of a blood-splattered toilet that the prosecutor, Marine Capt. Stephen Marchioro, submitted for admission as evidence. The judge accepted one of the photographs and said he would consider four others.

In a hearing May 3, Helvey, of Eloise, Mich., admitted that he killed Schindler in a public toilet in a park outside the U.S. Navy base at Sasebo, Japan, last Oct. 27, but denied the charge of premeditated murder that prosecutors filed against him. If found guilty as charged, Helvey could face the death penalty. Unpremeditated manslaughter is punishable by a sentence of up to life in prison.

Holcombe, who neither accepted nor rejected Helvey’s lesser plea May 3, made no reference to it Friday.

Although the judge in April set June 1 as the trial date, Holcombe said Friday that the trial would begin as soon as jurors are seated. At least five jurors must be selected from among U.S. Marines and sailors serving in Japan. The selection begins Monday, and Navy spokesmen said the trial could begin that day.

Holcombe gave no reason for changing the trial date.

Pretrial hearings have been open to the press, but Navy officials have refused to disclose or explain decisions made out of court. Both prosecution and defense attorneys have refused to meet reporters or answer questions.

In Friday’s hearings, Marchioro told the judge that his assistant prosecutor, Navy Lt. Stuart Belt, had been removed from the case but offered no explanation. Similarly, Holcombe has not explained his decision to change the date for starting the trial.