Three Counts to Go

Attacking a federal indictment charging him with perjury on seven counts, China Specialist Owen Lattimore last week won a partial victory in Washington. Lattimore's attorneys moved to throw out all seven counts; Federal Judge Luther W. Youngdahl threw out four and cast "serious doubt" on the validity of the remaining three.

Judge Youngdahl (Republican governor of Minnesota from 1947 to 1951, then member of the federal judiciary by appointment of Harry Truman) ruled that the dismissed counts were "fatally defective" because they infringed on an individual's constitutional right to free opinion and to clear accusation when standing trial. A broadside charge that Lattimore falsely denied being "a sympathizer or promoter of Communism or Communist interests" was, said the court, "so nebulous and indefinite that a jury would have to indulge in speculation in order to arrive at a verdict."

Youngdahl set trial on the three remaining charges for Oct. 6, but directed Government attorneys to be more specific about "overt acts" on which a jury must decide Lattimore's guilt or innocence.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.