The State - News from April 16, 1986

A federal judge in San Francisco denied a defense request that testimony by confessed Navy spy John Walker be barred in the trial of Jerry Whitworth, 46, retired Navy radioman accused of selling code and communications secrets to a Soviet-controlled spy ring headed by Walker. But U.S. District Judge John Vukasin issued a tentative ruling that jurors may be told that Walker failed a lie detector test more than three months before he pleaded guilty. Walker agreed to testify against Whitworth in exchange for a reduced sentence for Walker’s son, Michael, who also pleaded guilty.