http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=11&u=/ap/20031113/ap_on_re_us/jonathan_pollard_5 Convicted Spy Pollard Loses His Appeals
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By ANNE GEARAN, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - A federal judge on Thursday rejected convicted spy Jonathan Pollard's latest attempt to fight his life sentence for selling military secrets to Israel.
U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Hogan, who is chief judge of the court, also noted in a blunt order that Pollard seemed to have little hope of winning a presidential pardon.
Hogan's ruling means Pollard will remain in a federal prison and that his lawyers will not win access to sensitive government documents they hoped would help sway the White House to free their client.
Hogan dismissed Pollard's claim that previous lawyers did not do all they could to help him avoid or appeal his life sentence.
"Mr. Pollard has couched his claims in alleged violations of constitutional rights, such as ineffective assistance of counsel, but closer inquiry reveals these alleged violations to be merely procedural in nature," Hogan wrote.
The judge also denied the request of Pollard's new lawyers to see five classified documents they say influenced another federal judge to impose the surprise life term in 1987.
Among those documents is a declaration from then-Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger outlining the security damage from Pollard.
Pollard's new lawyers have argued they need to see the items to rebut government arguments against any new appeal or against a request for clemency.
"Mr. Pollard and his attorneys have offered no new justification for this court to determine that any of them have a 'need to know'," what the documents contain, Hogan wrote.
"He has presented no credible evidence that the current president is any more willing to grant him clemency than the previous three presidents who declined to do so."
During an unusual court appearance in September, Pollard looked on as government lawyers argued that another judge was right to reject Pollard's claims and he should not be allowed to press the case further.
Pollard 49, was a civilian intelligence analyst for the Navy when he copied and gave to his Israeli handlers enough classified documents to fill a walk-in closet. He was not paid when his spying began in 1984, but acknowledged that Israel later began paying him a few thousand dollars a month.
Pollard was caught in November 1985 and arrested after unsuccessfully seeking refuge at the Israeli Embassy. He initially denied he worked for Israel but later acknowledged it. He claims prosecutors reneged on a promise to seek a lesser sentence in return for his cooperation.
His case has been a sticking point in U.S.-Israeli relations. The Israeli government, which granted Pollard citizenship, repeatedly has pressed for his release.
A 1998 U.S.-brokered peace accord between Israel and the Palestinians nearly foundered when then-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (news - web sites) reportedly linked his agreement to the deal with clemency for Pollard.
