Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, December 1, 1993 TAG: 9312010062
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Short
Clifford, 86, praised the dismissal, which both prosecutors and the defense had sought.
"It was no surprise to us," Clifford said from Washington. "If there is a noncontroversial way of handling a decision, they take it, and that's what this was."
Clifford and Robert Altman, 46, were indicted in July 1992 on charges of fraud and receiving bribes. The Washington law partners were accused of helping BCCI illegally get control of First American Bankshares, Washington's largest bank holding company.
In August, Altman was acquitted after a four-month trial. Clifford's case had been postponed indefinitely after doctors testified that a courtroom ordeal would endanger his life.
State Supreme Court Justice John A.K. Bradley granted the prosecution's motion for dismissal, saying, "Clifford's age and ill health prevent his being brought to trial on this indictment and will likely always do so."
Clifford underwent heart surgery this summer and suffers other medical problems. His lawyer, Charles Stillman, had sought to have the charges dismissed after Altman's acquittal, saying Clifford had been acquitted "in absentia."
Clifford, an adviser to Democratic presidents since Harry Truman, was secretary of defense under Lyndon Johnson.
by CNB