Pair Charged With Stealing Documents to Stay Jailed

A former Army National Guard intelligence officer and his ex-wife should remain in jail on charges they stole top-secret military documents, a federal judge ruled Friday.

Rafael Davila, 52, and Deborah Davila, 40, are flight risks and pose a danger to national defense, U.S. District Judge Robert Whaley said.

“The government has proven these people present a clear and present danger to this country,” Whaley said.

Defense lawyers had asked for their release, arguing that the Davilas knew about the federal investigation for three years and had not fled or posed any danger. They also questioned whether the documents, which have not been recovered by the government, even exist.

“If he does not have the documents, he cannot present a danger to the government,” public defender Roger Peven argued on behalf of Rafael Davila.

Chris Phelps, lawyer for Deborah Davila, said his client brought the case to the government’s attention in 1999, when her marriage was crumbling.

“It’s clear she cooperated with the government,” he said.

Citing security concerns, prosecutors have not disclosed what documents were allegedly stolen. The FBI has said there were enough documents to fill 12 to 15 boxes.

Whaley postponed until March 10 a hearing on a government request to drop a curtain of secrecy on the case. Assistant U.S. Atty. Earl Hicks has asked the judge to invoke the Classified Information Procedures Act. The law is designed to prevent a form of legal blackmail in which espionage defendants press for the release of classified material to aid their defense, forcing the government to drop prosecution.

A temporary order preventing the disclosure of classified information remained in effect, the judge said.

Rafael Davila, a decorated Vietnam veteran, is charged with stealing secret documents during much of his 30-year military career, including a stint as an intelligence officer in Spokane and Tacoma for the Washington Army National Guard. His former wife is charged with trying to deliver some of the materials to an antigovernment group. Deborah Davila is also charged with lying to federal investigators.

Hicks said the government has not been able to find the documents, which means the Davilas would pose a danger to the nation if they were released and acquired them.

The Davilas were arrested last week, Rafael at his parents’ home in Ontario, Ore., and Deborah at her apartment in College Place, Wash.