ShiningIce
3rd Level Green Feather
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2002
- Messages
- 4,702
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ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A former Air Force sergeant, charged in the first U.S. espionage trial in nearly 50 years that could end in a death sentence, calmly introduced himself Monday to prospective jurors.
"Good morning, I'm Brian Regan," he told nearly 100 candidates for the federal jury that will decide whether he is guilty of offering to sell military satellite secrets to Iraq, Libya and China for more than $13 million in Swiss currency.
Prospective jurors were instructed to fill out an 18-page survey asking their views on crime, the looming Iraqi conflict and the death penalty. One page carried the statement, in bold print, "This case has nothing to do with the events of September 11, 2001," and asked jury candidates whether they knew anyone killed or injured in those terrorist attacks.
The judge pledged to keep answers to the survey under seal. It asked members of the jury pool, for example, whether their beliefs about the death penalty have changed and whether those views are affected by religious, moral, ethical or philosophical beliefs.
The selection of Regan's jury was expected to take nearly two weeks, an unusually lengthy period for a U.S. courthouse with the reputation as the nation's "rocket docket." Court officials said the extra time was due to the consideration of the death penalty. If Regan is convicted and jurors decide against death, he faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Although spy trials are exceedingly rare, this case is even more unusual. No U.S. citizen has been executed in an espionage case since June 1953, when Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted of revealing nuclear bomb secrets to the Soviet Union.
Until Regan, no accused U.S. spy even has been threatened at trial with the death penalty since it was re-established in 1994 — after the CIA (news - web sites)'s Aldrich Ames admitted spying for Moscow — as a possible punishment for peacetime espionage.
The judge told potential jurors that the trial probably will last until the end of February or even later, with opening arguments tentatively set for Jan. 27. He promised that the court will "do our best to make sure the case moves efficiently and fairly."
Regan, 40, impassively looked around the courtroom from a table with his defense lawyers. He was wearing a gray coat and blue tie and did not react visibly when U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee cautioned jury candidates that Regan could face the death penalty if convicted.
Regan's brief remarks came after Lee urged him, defense lawyers and prosecutors to introduce themselves to ensure that no one from the jury pool knew any of them personally.
Regan, a father of four who was deeply in debt, retired as an Air Force master sergeant to work for a defense contractor at the super-secret National Reconnaissance Office, which designs and operates spy satellites.
Regan is accused of writing identical letters on his home computer to the leaders of Iraq, Libya and China offering satellite secrets in exchange for $13 million. He was arrested in August 2001 at Dulles International Airport while boarding a flight to Switzerland.
His lawyers have suggested that Regan never planned to turn over classified documents, calling those letters "the alleged rantings of a retired Air Force master sergeant prepared in what appears to be an effort to scam a foreign government out of $13 million." They have indicated they will introduce evidence about Regan's mental health during any penalty phase, to help him escape a death sentence.
Regan has pleaded innocent to three counts of attempted espionage and one additional count of illegally gathering national security information. Two of those charges — those alleging spying offers for Iraq and China — could carry the death penalty.
The judge explained Monday that prosecutors believe Regan deserves to die because his alleged offers could have endangered U.S. pilots. The FBI (news - web sites) said Regan was arrested carrying a spiral notebook with codes describing images of a missile launcher in the northern no-fly zone over Iraq and of another launcher in China.
"Good morning, I'm Brian Regan," he told nearly 100 candidates for the federal jury that will decide whether he is guilty of offering to sell military satellite secrets to Iraq, Libya and China for more than $13 million in Swiss currency.
Prospective jurors were instructed to fill out an 18-page survey asking their views on crime, the looming Iraqi conflict and the death penalty. One page carried the statement, in bold print, "This case has nothing to do with the events of September 11, 2001," and asked jury candidates whether they knew anyone killed or injured in those terrorist attacks.
The judge pledged to keep answers to the survey under seal. It asked members of the jury pool, for example, whether their beliefs about the death penalty have changed and whether those views are affected by religious, moral, ethical or philosophical beliefs.
The selection of Regan's jury was expected to take nearly two weeks, an unusually lengthy period for a U.S. courthouse with the reputation as the nation's "rocket docket." Court officials said the extra time was due to the consideration of the death penalty. If Regan is convicted and jurors decide against death, he faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Although spy trials are exceedingly rare, this case is even more unusual. No U.S. citizen has been executed in an espionage case since June 1953, when Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted of revealing nuclear bomb secrets to the Soviet Union.
Until Regan, no accused U.S. spy even has been threatened at trial with the death penalty since it was re-established in 1994 — after the CIA (news - web sites)'s Aldrich Ames admitted spying for Moscow — as a possible punishment for peacetime espionage.
The judge told potential jurors that the trial probably will last until the end of February or even later, with opening arguments tentatively set for Jan. 27. He promised that the court will "do our best to make sure the case moves efficiently and fairly."
Regan, 40, impassively looked around the courtroom from a table with his defense lawyers. He was wearing a gray coat and blue tie and did not react visibly when U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee cautioned jury candidates that Regan could face the death penalty if convicted.
Regan's brief remarks came after Lee urged him, defense lawyers and prosecutors to introduce themselves to ensure that no one from the jury pool knew any of them personally.
Regan, a father of four who was deeply in debt, retired as an Air Force master sergeant to work for a defense contractor at the super-secret National Reconnaissance Office, which designs and operates spy satellites.
Regan is accused of writing identical letters on his home computer to the leaders of Iraq, Libya and China offering satellite secrets in exchange for $13 million. He was arrested in August 2001 at Dulles International Airport while boarding a flight to Switzerland.
His lawyers have suggested that Regan never planned to turn over classified documents, calling those letters "the alleged rantings of a retired Air Force master sergeant prepared in what appears to be an effort to scam a foreign government out of $13 million." They have indicated they will introduce evidence about Regan's mental health during any penalty phase, to help him escape a death sentence.
Regan has pleaded innocent to three counts of attempted espionage and one additional count of illegally gathering national security information. Two of those charges — those alleging spying offers for Iraq and China — could carry the death penalty.
The judge explained Monday that prosecutors believe Regan deserves to die because his alleged offers could have endangered U.S. pilots. The FBI (news - web sites) said Regan was arrested carrying a spiral notebook with codes describing images of a missile launcher in the northern no-fly zone over Iraq and of another launcher in China.
