Hearing Set on Times Motion to Unseal Documents

Acting in response to a request by lawyers for The Times, a federal magistrate Friday set a hearing for next Friday on a motion by the newspaper to unseal government papers that could further shed light on the massive Pentagon procurement fraud scandal.

Targets of the motion, according to Times staff counsel Glen Smith, were search warrants and supporting affidavits served last month on Woodland Hills aerospace consultant Fred H. Lackner and warrants and affidavits served on Teledyne Inc.’s Electronics unit and a Northrop Corp. unit, both in Newbury Park, and Litton Industries’ Data Systems subsidiary in Van Nuys.

Lackner’s home and the three companies were searched by federal authorities last month as part of the nationwide investigation into possible Defense Department procurement fraud. A San Diego firm, Cubic Corp., also was searched and Rex Heinke, a lawyer with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, which prepared Friday’s request for The Times, said the newspaper would go to court there next week in a bid to unseal the papers in that case.

Although some of the affidavits have been made public around the country, the majority of the material submitted to courts in support of the search warrants remains sealed.

Arguing for disclosure, The Times said in its motion that the information “is relevant to allegations concerning widespread corruption in the military procurement system. . . . This type of information goes to the very core of matters of public concern and even a brief delay in reporting of such matters adversely affects the public’s right of access to information of tremendous national importance.”

Assistant U.S. Atty. Caroline Turchin objected to The Times’ motion at a separate hearing before U.S. Magistrate Joseph Reichmann, declaring government attorneys needed more time to study the newspaper’s request, according to a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office, Mary McMenimen.

A similar motion was filed here Friday by the Copley Press Inc., publisher of the Daily Breeze in Torrance, the Outlook in Santa Monica and the News-Pilot in San Pedro. Several other U.S. newspapers have gone to court in bids to have affidavits unsealed.