U.S. JUDGE BACKS LENIENCY DEALS FOR TESTIMONY

DENVER (Reuters) - A prominent federal judge Wednesday handed prosecutors a
victory by ruling as legal the common practice of offering leniency to
defendants in exchange for testimony in criminal cases.

The ruling by a lower court judge was at odds with a controversial appeals
court decision made July 1, when the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in
Denver ruled that leniency offers to cooperative witnesses amounted to
bribery.

That rejection of leniency deals shocked federal prosecutors throughout the
country who depend on using criminals to testify against their cohorts.
Often the best way to get them to testify is by offering leniency.

The Justice Department quickly said the appeals court decision would throw
the criminal justice system into chaos, particularly if U.S. appeals courts
in other parts of the country adopted it.

The effect of the decision by the Denver-based appeals court officially was
limited to six western states that make up the 10th Circuit.

In Wednesday's ruling, U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch, who presided
over the trials of the two men charged with the Oklahoma City bombing, said
leniency deals are specifically authorized by law.

"He's picking a fight with the 10th Circuit," a veteran federal prosecutor,
speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters. "He's jabbing them (the
appeals court judges who reached the opposite conclusion)."

Matsch's 10-page ruling came in the case of three men accused of robbing a
bank in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

"It would be wholly inconsistent with this congressionally authorized
practice of plea agreements that provide leniency to defendants in exchange
for cooperation to hold that Congress intended to criminalize such
agreements," he wrote.

On July 11, the appeals court agreed to review the controversial decision
made by a three-judge panel. All 12 appellate judges will reconsider it in
November, after they hear new arguments from the Justice Department and
from defense attorneys.

Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited.

Checked-by: Richard Lake