CA: Prosecutors plan to appeal dismissal of FBI spy case (Katrina Leung)

Bakersfield Californian ^ | 4/20/05 | AP - Los Angeles

[NormsRevenge]

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Federal prosecutors are appealing a judge's dismissal of a Chinese-American business woman accused of copying classified intelligence documents.

Katrina Leung, 60, is accused of taking documents from the briefcase of her longtime FBI handler, James J. Smith, with whom she was having an affair.

Prosecutors accused Leung of secretly working for the Chinese government but never charged her with giving the documents to a foreign government.

In January, U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper dismissed the case, saying prosecutors engaged in misconduct by keeping Smith from communicating with Leung and her attorneys.

A notice of appeal was filed with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, said Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office.

Smith, 61, pleaded guilty to lying about his two-decade affair with Leung and had agreed to testify against her as part of a plea bargain. In exchange, the government dismissed more serious charges, allowing him to keep his government pension and avoid jail.

[NormsRevenge]

U.S. District Judge Florence Marie Cooper

Clinton appointee 1999

[maestro]

.....Prosecutors accused Leung of secretly working for the Chinese government but never charged her with giving the documents to a foreign government......

?.....Which Chinese government?

[maestro]

.....Prosecutors accused Leung of secretly working for the Chinese government but never charged her with giving the documents to a foreign government......

?.....Which Chinese government?

[muawiyah]

Guess the only question is if DOJ is going to add her to the list of defendants in this case.

What a time for a federal judge to start playing games with the Administration.