Accused U.S. Spy's Appeal Rejected

experts to determine whether documents he received were top secret â€” as prosecutors allege. <br><br>Defense lawyer Pavel Astakhov said the two experts the court has already allowed cannot judge evidence

Monday, November 13th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

experts to determine whether documents he received were top secret â€” as prosecutors allege.

Defense lawyer Pavel Astakhov said the two experts the court has already allowed cannot judge evidence impartially because they have worked closely with the material in question, which focuses on a high-tech submarine torpedo. The defense wants to call three more experts.

``We think that if we're going to get really comprehensive expertise on what's secret and what's not, the experts need to be more independent,'' Astakhov said.

Astakhov's client, Edmond Pope, was arrested in April and charged with trying to illegally obtain plans for the torpedo. Pope denies the charges, saying the information already had been sold abroad and isn't classified.

Astakhov said the court rejected several other defense appeals Monday, including a protest that the torpedo-related documents introduced in court were different from ones Pope obtained from Russian professor Anatoly Babkin, whose statements were used to incriminate Pope.

Pope, 54, of State College, Pa., is a retired U.S. Navy officer who founded CERF Technologies International, a company specializing in studying foreign maritime equipment.

The United States has said the authorities have failed to show Pope did anything illegal and have called on Russia to release him.