Prosecutors Detail Trial Items Seized From Scientist’s Home

Computer code manuals, documents from Los Alamos National Laboratory and unspecified printouts are among the items prosecutors want to introduce as evidence in the trial of a fired lab scientist accused of security breaches.

So are a telephone list of the Los Alamos Chinese Cultural Assn., a logbook with newspaper clippings and a map of China, a letter in Chinese, travel photos that appear to be of China, alumni listings and business cards.

The material was seized in an April 1999 raid on the home of Wen Ho Lee, who is charged with 59 counts, most alleging that he transferred restricted information from secure to unsecured computers and computer tapes.

Last week, a federal judge rejected defense arguments that agents illegally searched Lee’s home with a broad search warrant that allowed them to seize virtually anything.

Prosecutors late Thursday listed more than two dozen items they intend to use at the trial of the 60-year-old scientist and told the court they would return the others.

The trial is scheduled to begin Nov. 6.

In the latest development in the case, Lee’s defense attorneys have filed another request for a new bail hearing.

Lee has been held without bail since December because of what the court has called national security concerns. Defense attorneys say that, since the first bail hearing, the prosecution has changed its theory that Lee intended to serve as a spy and that he sought the use of the material in question to enhance his job prospects.