Evening star., 1955-05-13
BY MARY McGRORY


witness Mrs. Marie Natvig lied
at the Lamb hearings. Her per-
jury trial before Judge Alexander
Holtzoff in the U. S. District
Court for the District of Column
bia was in recess today after the
defense completed its case.
Mrs. Natvig says she lied last
October when she told Federal
Communications minis sion
hearing on renewal of the TV
license Of publisher Edward o.
Lamb that she had associated
with him as a Communist in
the 30s. The government, how
ever, contends that Mrs. Natvig
was a false witness in February
when she retracted her testi-
mony.
Mrs. Natvig at that time
charged that she had been
"coerced" into telling her orig
inal story by former FEC At
torney Walter R. Powell, jr. Mr..
Powell was excused from teSti-
flying at the trial because Of ill
ness, and the Government
dropped the charge.
; Charges Remain
Mrs. Natvig faces conviction
on three counts, all relating to
whether or not she told FBI and
FEC representatives that she was
Communist in the 30s. The
question as to whether or not
she actually was a Communist
and the truth of her allegations
against Mr.. Lamb are not an
issue in the trial. The maximum
penalty in a perjury case is S
years and a fine of $4,000 on
each count.
The defense rested after bring
ing to the stand orly 13 of the
"a witnesses originally sched-
uled to testify. Of these. six
made very brief appearances. as
Judge Holtzof ruled out as ir-
relevant most of the questions
put to them.
The husband-and-wife team
of Jean F. and John J. Dwyer,
who are defending Mrs. Nativg,
based their case on the theory
that if she did commit perjury
she did not know what she was
doing at the time. In her open
ing statement to the jury Mrs.
Dwyer said she hoped to prove
that Mrs. Natvig was in mo con-
dition, mental or physical" will
fully to make false statements.
Didn't Take Stand
The 51-year-old Florida di-
vorcee, who said February that
"only an idiot would have put
any credence in what I said,"
did not take the stand in her
own defense.
She testified briefly and tear
fully once while the jury was
out of the room. At that time,
she described the circumstances
of a retraction which four Gov
ernment lawyers said she made
to them of her own accord. She
said she was penniless and
drugged at the time, and had
been told by an FEC attorney
that her turnabout testimony
at the Lamb hearings might
cause Mr.. Powell's death.
Government witnesses from
the Justice Department and the
FEC said that she told them
she had gone back on her first
story for fear of further cross
examination by Mr.. Lambs
counsel Russell Morton Brown.
Mr.. Brown was called to the
stand by the defense yesterday.
He described Mrs. Natvig's con-
varsation during her second ap-
pearance at the Lamb hearings
as "at times incoherent."
Pressed for an example of pat
emily improbable stories." he de-
scribed how Mrs. Natvig told him
on one occasion that a mysteri-
Gus stranger materialized in her
room at the Woodner and offered
her a glass of Scotch. She didn't
know who he was, Mr.. Brown
said, nor who had sent him.
Questions Sanity
Asked if he thought Mrs. Nat
Wig was rational at the time she
took back her charges against
Mr. Lamb, Mr.. Brown said, Il
don't believe she was ever ra-
tional. After a few minutes Of
her original testimony, said she
was non compos mentis."
Judge Holtzoff asked him why,
If he never thought her rational,
Mr.. Brown had called her back
for examination in Feb
ruary.
II had no choice" Mr.. Brown
replied. "She was profered as a
witness by the Government"
He explained that the Lamb
side had paid her hotel bills at
the Woodner upon her reap
pearance in Washington with
the understanding that she would
pay the money back if and when
she received witness fees from
the FEC, which still held her
under subpoena.
Former Attorney General j.
Howard McGrath, Mr.. Lambs
chief counsel, described a visit
Mrs. Natvig made to his Florida
home last February. She told