Spock Trial to Begin on May 20; Federal Judge Upholds Indictment

Dr. Benjamin Spock and four co-defendants charged with conspiring in illegal activities against the draft will go to trial May 20.

Federal Judge Francis J. W. Ford yesterday set the trial date and at the same time denied defense motions to dismiss the indictments against the five men.

Ford also refused to grant separate trials to the two defendants requesting them--the Rev. William Sloan Coffin, chaplain of Yale University, and Marcus Raskin, co-director of the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, D.C. Ford denied both the dismissal motions and the separate trial motions without comment.

The other two defendants in the case are Michael K. Ferber 2G and Mitchell Goodman, a New York author.

In addition, Ford denied motions for bills of particulars--elaborations of the charges against the defendants. Although defense attorneys had argued in two days of hearings last week that the indictment was too vague, particularly in its allusion to a nationwide antidraft program, Ford said in a brief statement that the government had already furnished the defense with enough information to enable it to prepare its case.

Ford did, however, direct the government to make a variety of material available to the defendants, including written or recorded statements by any of the defendants, other recordings and films, and any books or documents the government might be planning to use at the trial. The material must be given to the defendants at least 10 days before the trial, Ford said.

In attempting to have the indictment thrown out, defense lawyers had argued that its language was too vague, that acts such as turning in draft cards to the Justice Department were not crimes under the Selective Service laws, and that the alleged conspiracy consisted of public statements, which the First Amendment protects.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Wall maintained that the defendants' actions had been performed with the intent to break the law, not to exercise free speech. He added that direct incitement to illegal acts was not covered by the First Amendment.

The five men will be tried before a jury.