Evening star., 1949-04-25
CONTINUED From First Page. !,

fContinued from First PdgeJ
wearing a black suit and q white
lace trimmed blouse.
She smiled engagingly and will
ingly permitted picture-taktng
She was arraigned first before
Judge Richmond B. Keech. before
whom she had previously pleaded
not guilty TO the espionage
charges. Mr.. Palmer Immediately
moved for dismissal Of the in
dictment.
Judge Keech said the motion
had not been filed within the
fye-day period allowed after ar
raignment and therefore could
not be considered. Mr.. Palmer
said there were exceptional cir
cumstances TO account for the
delay and asked that he be al
lowed to present arguments.
Visiting Jurist Presides.
Judge Keech then said the
trial would be conducted by Judge
Albert Reeves. a visiting jurist
from the District Court in Kan
sas City. Mo-. who Is holding
court on the third floor Of the
Municipal Court building.
Judge Reeves, a tall. white
haired man with rimless glasses,
offered no objection when Mr..
Palmer offered his belated motion.
Mr.. Palmer quoted at length
from a recent dissenting opinion
by Judge Edgerton Of the Court
of Appeals to support his conten-
tion that Government employees
serving on jury might be fearful
of losing their Jobs for disloyalty
If they voted against the Govern
ment in a case In which q Gov
ernment worker was accused Of
disloyalty.
1885 Law Cited.
Fred Strine, special assistant to
the Attorney General, said; how
ever. that Congress enacted law
in 1885 authorizing Government
employees to serve on juries in the
District and this law has been up
held consistently In subsequent
court decisions.
Mr.. Palmer then called James
Menendez, deputy clerk of the
Criminal Court, to the stand and
questioned him for one hour as
to the occupations of the members
of the Grand Jury that indicted
Miss Coplon and the manner in
which jurors are selected in the
District. Following this interroga-
ton, the court recessed until this
afternoon.
Mr.. Palmer, throughout his
argument, referred to his attrac-
tive brunette client as this young
girl" and told Judge Reeves she
had been a loyal. hard-working
employe Of the Justice Depart
ment.
Cites Girls Work.
'dn the almost five years she
worked for the Government she
received encomiums galore" Mr.
Palmer said. "She was considered
AN outstanding employe and she
carried O heavy load of work. on
her shoulders which forced her to
work long hours at night, This
may come as surprise to the
court. but her job required her 10
read the Daily Worker and Com
munist papers from all over the
world every day."
Mr.. Palmer denounced the JUS
tice Department for failing to give
Miss Coplon q hearing when her
loyalty was first questioned.
EE Face Trial in New York. 4
Both Miss Coplon and Gubit-
chev face trial in New York on
charges of conspiring to violate
the espionage laws after compile
ton of her trial here.
In Miss Coplon's purse when she
was arrested were several secret
Justice Department documents and
penciled summaries of other high
Iy confidential reports. The Gov
ernment charges that on at least
two other occasions. in January
and February this year, Miss Cop
lon filched confidential papers
from Justice Department files and
took them to New York for meet
ings with Gubitchev.
According to the indictment,
the documents she took were
certain extracts and summaries
of reports of the FBI. known as
data slips. containing intelligence
reports relating to espionage and
counterespionage activities in the
United States"
Top Prosecutors Assigned.
The Justice Department has as
signed two of its top prosecutors
to the case. They are John M.
Kelley, jr., who served as chief
prosecutor at the treason trial Of
Mildred E. (Axis Sally Gillars
and Raymond p. Whearty, assist
ant chief of the departments
criminal division.
Originally, the Justice Depart
ment planned to prosecute Miss
Coplon and Gubitchev in New
ing the meetings Of the repre-
sentatives Of the various States.
MFR. Scott said that the Argicul-