Gainesville Eight Get Hearing on FBI

Florida Federal Judge Winston E. Arnow yesterday scheduled a hearing to investigate charges of illicit FBI surveillance and eavesdropping in the Gainesville Eight case.

Also yesterday, the court completed selection of a jury of five men and seven women to hear the government's case against the Vietnam Veterans.

Two FBI agents, carrying telephone and electronic equipment, were apprehended Tuesday in a broom closet adjacent to the defense attorney offices. The men said they were making a "routine check of FBI lines to detect outside bugging of the FBI."

The hearing, scheduled for 2 p.m., August 4, had been twice denied earlier in the week by Arnow, who said the defendants were "making mountains out of molehills."

The eight defendants Wednesday night sent what they termed an "emergency plea" to Senator Sam J. Ervin (D.-N.C.) charging that Arnow "chose to ignore what could only be called Watergate II."

The message asked Congress to "intervene and halt any further hearings in this case until a full and immediate investigation into prosecutorial misconduct can be made."

Arnow said he was willing to make available transcripts of the hearing to the Ervin Committee.

The jury of two blacks and ten whiteshas an average age of 31.25. The jury selection process was expected to have taken at least several weeks.

Ventilation Duct

Peter Mahoney, a friend of the defendants, saw a black attache case in a ventilation duct in the defense attorney's Tuesday. Upon further investigation, FBI agents Carl Ekblad and Robert Romann were found surrounded by a telephone receiver with alligator clips, a small set of plastic screwdrivers, a battery pack, an output transmitter, several earphones and other electronic gear.

Frederick Buel, an FBI official in Jacksonville, Fla., said yesterday that the men were merely making a defense detection check and had no recording devices. When asked why the men happened to be in the closet while defense attorneys were advising their clients, Buel said, "Routine checks are not made on any schedule. That would destroy the effectiveness of the whole defense system against outside surveillance."

James Shields, district business manager of the Southern Bell Telephone Co. yesterday told The Crimson he "had no idea the FBI was using telephone equipment or what they were doing with the Southern Bell terminal in that building...There is absolutely no reason for the FBI to be involved in any of our telephone operations."

The FBI is presently searching for Robert Shaw, a Miami Herald reporter and Will Corbin, a Gainesville Sun reporter. The two allegedly held a news conference with Bob Savage, a Vietnam Veterans Against the War activist.

It is not known whether Arnow has authorized a warrant for the arrest of the reporters, who may have broken the judge's "gag rule."

The controversial ruling forbids communication between the press and defendants, defense attorneys, witnesses, potential witnesses, and whose who are in active concert with the defendants.

Arnow fined CBS Television $500 after one of its artists sketched the Gainesville courtroom from memory.

Arnow hinted yesterday he might modify the rule but he did not specify how it might be changed.

The seven Vietnam veterans and sole supporter who make up the Gainseville Eight were charged last summer with planning an assault on the Republican National Convention in Miami Beach.

They were allegedly preparing crossbows, rocket slingshots, incendiary and smoke bombs, fried marbles (heated to shatter on impact) and automatic weapons to attack the convention hall, police stations and police cruisers.

Most of the government's case is based on the testimony of two informers.

The VVAW charged that the informers are not telling the truth.

Jury selection began Monday under extremely tight security. Twenty-five federal marshals have been assigned to the Federal Office Building to assist local police and sheriff's deputies. Only five reporters at one time were permitted inside the courtroom.

Metal weapons detectors at the entrance to the building were set off by shrapnel still embedded in the bodies of three of the Vietnam war veterans.

About 200 demonstrators have pitched tents in a nearby park to provide moral support for the Gainesville Eight