Evening star., 1954-10-29
Ldiiimore Attorneys
Seek Dismissal Of
Second Indictment
By Howord [. Dufkin

5s5z ( 4 = q
Attorneys for Owen baltimore
yesterday charged that the Sec
ond indictment against the for
mer State Department adviser Is
''even less defensible than its
predecessor" They asked that
the indictment be dismissed
mainly on grounds that the
charges are too vague to enable
the defendant to weave an ade-
quate defense.
The current indictm e n 1
charges Mr.. baltimore intention-
ally lied when he denied that he
was ever q follower Of the COM
munist line or q promoter Of
Communist interests. His state
ments were made in 1852 in tes-
timony before the Senate Inter-
nal Security subcommittee prob
ing subversive influences on our
Far Eastern policy.
An earlier Indictment had
charged him with perjury in
denying that he was ever a SYM
pathizer with communism or
"any other kind of promoter" of
Communist interests.
Dismissed by Youngdahl.
This count was dismissed by
Federal Judge Luther w. Young
dahl on the grounds that it was
too vague and an infringement
upon freedom of thought. The
judges ruling was upheld by an
8-to-1 vote of the u. S. Court of
Appeals for the District of CO.
lumbia. Five other minor
charges of PERJURY remain
against Mr.. baltimore in this
indictment.
The new indictment cited GER
tain of his writings as instances
of Mr.. Lattimore's alleged fol-
lowing of the Communist line.
The motion asserted that the
excerpts from Mr.. Lattimore's
writings as noted by the Gov
ernment "do not give a
balanced picture of Lattimore's
writings. since they consist of
some 125 pages, carefully culled
from the more than 5000 pages
he has published !"
Mr.. Lattimore's attorneys con-
tended Mr.. Lattimore's writings
in general were contrary to COM
muniSm.
Yesterdays defense motion
cited definition made by the
Government as to what consti-
tutes a follower of the Commu-
mist Party line.
The definition was contained
in the charge that when Mr..
baltimore said he never fol-
lowed the line he meant that |
he never knowingly and inten-
tionally followed in time, con- |
formed to, complied with and |
paralleled the positions taken, |
the policies expressed and
the propaganda issued on the |
same matters by the govern
ment of the Soviet Union :"
Definition Called Absurd.
The defense motion contended |
"this definition of following the |
Communist line is so violently |
absurd and such a complete de-
parture from the usual meaning
Of the words that the court must |
conclude that it would be
impossible for any rational man |
to have this definition in mind
in the setting and at the time
baltimore testified :"
The defense contended "any
Inquiry into whether baltimore
knowingly and Intentionally used |
the words in the sense given in |
the indictment could only result
IN ignorant and prejudiced spec
ulation ON the part of the jury
which the court condemned in
It's former opinion -"
The motion cited the recent
settlement in Indo-China as
patiently to Communist inter-
ests."
Under this indictment, the de-
tense argued, "any one who
opposed Intervention in Indo-
China could be forced to trial |
FOR perjury if he did not at the
same time admit he followed the
Communist line :"
Promoter" Charge Cited.
Defense counsel contended
hat under the current defini-
ion of Comniunist-line fol-
over. the latter is lone who
mas zigged, tagged and shifted
Is Communist policy shifted in
such way as to create the i'm
preston he is actually servile to
-SdooidI putty
Under this meaning, the de-
'enSe contended, "one may ad-
nire the Russian campaign
against illiteracy, their ability
% increase production, their ef-
'orts against the Nazis during
;he war without following the
ine."
When the appellate court
threw out the original Commu-
1ist-sympathizer count. the
Judges made it clear they were
not ruling on the promoter"
aspect Of the charge.
In yesterdays motion, speak,
Ing OF the present promoter"
charge, defense counsel declared
:. 1t Is an attempt to escape
the opinion of the Court Of APP
peals by leaving out the word !