The Michigan Daily Vol. LXXXVII, No. 1-S Ann Arbor, Michigan--Wednesday, May 4, 1977 Free Issue 24 pages plus supplement VA defense raps witnesses By KEITH RICHBURG Defense attorneys at the Veterans Administration (VA) Hospital murder trial yesterday blasted the prosecution for trying to introduce a list of new wit- nesses. During their oral arguments before Federal Judge Philip Pratt, the lawyers representing VA nurses Leonora Perez and Filipina Narciso claimed that the "last minute" witnesses were listed to testify to the presence of a mysterious man in a green operating gown. The unidentified "man in green" was supposedly seen lurking the corridors of the hospital at the time of the unexplained breathing failures during the sum- mer of 1975. Defense attorneys will no doubt contend that the unknown person may be responsible for the failures. "THE GOVERNMENT knew about the man in green when they prepared the (original) witness list," said attorney Michael Moran. He pointed out that none of the new witnesses could add anything to the case. "How can they testify to not having seen a man in green if they didn't see anybody else either?" Moran asked. Judge Pratt ordered that none of the potential wit- nesses be called until he reached a decision. The prosecution is attempting to prove that Narciso and Perez injected Pavulon, a powerful muscle relax- ant, into the intravenous feeding tubes of nine of their former patients. Two of the patients died following respiratory arrests. WHEN THE TRIAL opened last March, Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Yanko promised "there will be no smoking gun testimony." In his opening statement, Yanko oultined the prosecution strategy of building a web of circumstantial evidence. "And if you think y'ou'll be left with no doubts, you're in for a surprise," he said. Defense attorney Edward Stein, one of the four law- yers representing the two nurses, made reference to Yanko's comment in his own opening statement. "When it's all over, reasonable doubt will fill up the court- room, it will surround you, screaming at you," he said. - As testimony enters the sixth week of the complex trial, key issue in the case has become the very con- ditions of the VA Hospital itself during the summer of 1975, in a defense strategy of suggesting that under- staffing and incompetence could have caused the breathing failures. NINE PATIENTS suffered respiratory arrests that summer, two of them fatal. Narcisco and Perez, who were assigned to the Intensive Care Unit at the time, are being charged with two counts of murder, seven counts of poisoning, and one count of conspiracy. In their effort to show the adverse conditions at the VA could have contributed to the respiratory arrests, defense attorneys played on the fact that the two doctors in charge of patient Mark H. Hogan, who died had been practicing for only 29 days. On April 20, Dr. Roberta Kurtz testified that she was only an intern at the time of Hogan's breathing failure. Kurtz said that she was "surprised" by the See VA, Page 11 Viet U.S. PARIS (P)-Representatives of shook hands in an apparent re- It the United States and Vietnam flection of the warm atmosphere con opened formal negotiations yes- at the talks. Holbrooke said ern terday on the establishment of "we had a frank, friendly and fort diplomatic relations between very useful discussion." Hien, nat the two governments. An agree- standing besidethe America yea meat is expected quickly. delegate, added smilingly in retf The two delegations, headed English: "I have to agree with a by Richard Holbrooke, U.S. him." 'lei Assistant Secretary of State for A Vietnamese spokesman said Sa'theast Asian Affairs, and no details of the discussiV n Vietnam's Deputy Foreign Min- would be disclosed until the ' d use ister. Phan hien, met for three- of the talks, possibly wit.n two ami-a-half hours in the newly- weeks. The meetings ill re- If o"e-'ed Vietnamese embassy. sume it the Vietnamese em- ear They will meet again today. bassy today and the nc °t two ha meetings will be at the ab AT THE END of the meeting, can embassy, the spokesman by Holbrooke and tHen smilingly said. rai launch t t was the first high-level tact between the two gov- ments since Communist-led ces occupied the South Viet- mese capital of Saigon two vS ago and the country was fed the following year. It s also the first time the .aming white ,s:,gda-Shaped tnamese embassy 'ilding, ugur:: d by Pr - '.Pham F T.ng last week, hit, been d tOr business, NFORMFJD SOORCES said ter tha rite twvo governments .t oared the way toward es- lishing diplomatic relations abandoning the preconditions sed by each side. The United States had de- manded a full accounting for 2,500 Americans missing-in-ac- tion in the Vietnam war, while Hanoi had demanded the United States lift its trade embargo and pay more than $3 bililon in war reparations. During his official visit to France last week, Premier Dong said the two sides maintained these demands but no longer re- garded them as obstacles to the establishment of diplomatic te- lations between H a n o i and Washington. SOURCES HERE said the two governments w o u 1 d probably agree to set up diplomatic rela- tions at ambassadorial level fairly quickly. and would then use their respective embassies to pursue the search for the aiks MIA's and talks on possible American economic aid to Ha- noi. It was assumed that the U.S. trade embargo would be dropped or substantially eased soon after an agreement to es- tablish diplomatic relations. Earlier yesterday, however, Hanoi's official newspaper said an agreement to normalize re- lations might not be concluded until the United States agreed to give Vietnam the reconstruc- tion aid it has demanded. The Nhan Dan newspaper report, broadcast over Radio Hanoi and monitored in Bangkok, said three problems remained be- tween the two countries - the normalization of relations, the MTA question and U.S. reuara- tines. It described the three as inter-related. Magruder: Nixon to deny cover-up role COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) - Richard Nixon was lersonally involved in the cover-up that followed the Water- gate burglary, but probably will not admit It in an upcoming television interview, says convicted conspirator Jeb Stuart Ma- gruder. Former President Nixon's first interview since his resigna- tion will be televised Wednesday night. David Frost, ,a British television personality, reportedly paid Nixon $600,000 for more than two hours of taped interviews that have been reduced to four television shows. Magruder said he would not watch the shows. "I'M AFRAID WE'LL GET THE VIEW that he wasn't in- volved in the covej"-up," Magruder said when interviewed last week by the Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph. "But I know personally he was. Only a guilty person accepts a pardon; why would a person accept a pardon if he weren't guilty." The unreality of the Nixon White House and its preoccupa- tion with materialism were root causes of Watergate and Nixon's downfall, said Magruder. The former White House aide is now a vice president of Young Life, a non-denominational Christian organization based here that works with teen-agers. "If he admitted his involvement, it would be much easier for the American people to understand and forgive," Magruder said. "What made it easier for me is the fact that I did come clean." RICHARD HOLBROOKE, left, assistant secretary of state for South East Asian affairs shakes hands with Phan Hien, Vietnamese vice foreign minister on the steps of the Vietnamese Em- bassy in Paris, yesterday as other members of the American and Vietnamese negotiating teams look on The U.S. and Vietnam began talks yesterday in Paris amid expectations that diplomatic relations could be established between the two countries.