FOURTH TRIAL FOR GORDON NOVEL

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06816165
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: March 8, 2023
• Document Release Date: October 29, 2019
• Case Number: F-2013-00862
• Publication Date: January 13, 1981

Approved for Release: 2019/10/22 C06816165
N0,2,81
13 January 1981
MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD
SUBJECT: Fourth Trial for Gordon Novel
1. The attached newsclipping describes the circumstances
of a fourth trial being ordered for Gordon Novel (0), who was
convicted in a third trial in December 1978 of conspiring to
firebomb a building in the central business district of New
Orleans during Mardi Gras of 1976. During the first trial of
Novel in November 1976, as a defense, Novel attempted to show
that he was acting on behalf of the Agency, but this allegation
was rebutted by the then New Orleans Resident Officer (NORO)
Peter Houck, who appeared for the prosecution. Novel's second
trial ended in a mistrial when the presiding judge ordered a
sanity hearing for Novel. At the third trial, Novel, who
represented himself, told the local press that Houck had been
subpoenaed along with about 40 other persons to appear for the
defense. Houck, nor most of the others named, never received
subpoenas and did not appear at the third trial.
2. On 5 January 1981, a confidential informant of the
U.S. Bureau of Customs was referred to the current NORO
Ronald M. Farris by a liaison contact in Customs. The inform-
ant
volunteered to Farris that he was
a casual acquaintance of Novel and that Novel had told him that
he planned to subpoena Houck and former agency Director of
Security Howard Osborne if a fourth trial for Novel was ordered.
also stated that Novel was aware that was going to
e in touch with the Agency and had asked him to convey this
message. At this point, Farris responded that the Agency had
no interest in the Novel case and that any subpoenas should be
referred to the General Counsel's office and would es-)onded
to in accordance with any valid legal obligations, also
volunteered that Novel's reason for issuing a subpoena to
Osborne was derived from documents which Novel had obtained
n Act which. bore Osbrnsig-
under the Freedom of Inf
nature. Novel had shown these documents, but had
not believed them relevant to Novel's defense on the 1976 con-
spiracy charges as they related to Novel's involvement in the
investigation of the Kennedy assassination by former New Orleans
District Attorney James Garrison (0),
3. In addition to the above, on 19 December 1980, Novel
called the NORO and without identifying himself, asked for one
"John Caty," whom he said was the regional director of the
(b)(1)
(b)(3)
(b)(1)
(b)(3)
(b)(1)
(b)(3)
(b)(1)
(b)(3)
WARNING NOTICE-INTELLIGENCE RVW 13 JAN 01 EXT 3D3
SnlIPUS AND mETT-In-Ds INVOLVE')
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CONFIDENTIAL
NO-2-81 '
13 January 1981
"Domestic Contact Service" for the Atlanta region. He was
informed that there was no one present by that name and asked
-to identify himself. He responded by saying that he would
refer the matter to the General Counsel's office in Washington,
but then he changed his mind and identified himself. He said
that "Caty" and Treasury (ATF) Agent Lloyd Grafton (0) (the key
witness against him on the conspiracy charge) were trying to
"get" him again. At this point, NORO terminated the conversa-
tion, suggesting that the appropriate point of contact for him
would indeed be the General Counsel's office. During the
conversation, Novel referred to the present RO by name, a fact
that had previously been unknown to him.
4. Farris later related this call to the ATF Special
Agent in Charge (SAC) who indicated that ATF had no active
interest in Novel other than supporting the state prosecution
of him on the 1976 charges. The SAC also stated that ATF knew
of no one by the name of "John Caty". Farris and the SAC both
speculated that Novel's call was prompted by the extensive
publicity which had been given to another ATF case only three
days earlier in which Grafton had penetrated a Nicaraguan exile
group which had lotted to assassinate Fidel Castro and members
of the Sandinist junta. Novel has occasionally made cryptic
calls before, and they usually coincided with developments in
his case or press stories regarding the Agency or other
intelligence activities.
5. NORO does not believe that Novel will actually follow
through on his threat to subpoena either Houck or Osborne as he
did not follow through on his publicized threats during the third
trial when he represented himself. In the fourth trial, he will
be represented by qualified counsel. If any attempt is made to
serve subpoenas on the resident office, they will be handled in
accordance with
6. bona fides were confirmed by the Customs agent
who considers him to be very reliable. considers Novel
paranoid and unstable,.a judgement with which we would not argue,
and he did not contact NORO specifically on Novel's behalf.
CC:
Deputy Chief, Field Operations/
General Counsel
Chief, Seattle Office
Information Control Branch
RONALD M. FARRIS
-2-
nntuinormi
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Section 4, Page 12
Thursday, January 8, 1981 2 The Times-Picayune/The States-Item
fac
�Ity P1:ERRE V. DEGRUY
The saga known as the Gordon Novel
� case will continue next month follow-
� ing a decision by the Orleans Parish
'District Attorney's Office to prosecute
Novel for the fourth time on a conspir-
acy to commit aggravated arson
charge.
Novel, convicted two years ago for
, conspiring to burn down the Federa-
tion of Churches Building, 330 St.
Charles Avenue, on Mardi Gras in
: 1976, was recently granted a new trial
by Criminal District Court Judge
Frank Mara� Jr.
�� � The decision by the district attor-
ney's office to go forward with a fourth
prosecution was made Tuesday,
according to Assistant District Attor-
' ney Joseph Meyer, who said his office
� will try Novel again and "let the chips
fall as they may."
-
s fourt
Trial has been set for Feb. 17, with
defense motions scheduled for argu
ment Feb. 13 before Martino...
'Only in this banana republic known
as the twilight zone of New Orleans
could this happen," Novel said.
Unlike the previous three trials in
which secretly recorded conversations
made by an undercover agent with the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms were a crucial part of the
state's case, the tapes will not be used
as evidence this time, Meyer said.
The recordings, made by ATF agent
W. Lloyd Grafton in Novel's office on
the 40th floor of the, former Plaza
Towers in 1976, are nowhighly suspect
in the wake of extensive scientific
analyses performed by internationally
respected electronics experts.
The experts, Professors Mark Weiss
and Ernest Aschkenasy, concluded the
tapes could not have possibly been
tn.
I. in ars se
made in the manner the agents swore
they were at earlier trials. .
The district, attorney's office will
apparently rely on the testimony of
Grafton and possibly real estate deve-
loper John Langford, who was accused
of being Novel's co-conspirator.
Langford was acouitted in the first
trial in 1977 by Judge Matthew Bran-
iff. A hung jury was declared in
Novel's case at the time.
Novel's second trial ended in a mis-
trial and a third trial, in 1978, resulted
in his conviction. fie was sentenced to
serve three years in jail and was con-
fined to Orleans Parish Prison more
than a year when, in 1979, he was
released on an appeal bond pending the
outcome of his motion for a new trial.
"I've never seen a non-capital case
where someone has been tried this
many times," said Novel's attorney,
Jack Usprich. "The bulk of the state's
evidence has been discredited and
whatever evidence the state presents
will certainly be contradicted by previ-
ous testimony. of state witnesses. The
credibility of the federal agents is
definitely questionable."
The decision to try Novel for a
fourth time coincides with a lengthy
document recently filed by Novel in his
pending $1 billion federal court suit
against Louisiana Expo Inc., the orga-
nization sponsoring the proposed 1984
, World's Fair in New Orleans.
The document seeks disclosure of
numerous items concerning the fair,
including finaneial arrangements, con-
tracts, counter letters and promissary
notes in possession of the fair's pro-
moters as well as government agen-
cies.
Novel had his own plans in the mak-
ing for a world's fair and was sche-
duled to meet with former Gov. Edwin
Edwards to obtain his backing on the
day of his arrest by ATF agents.
-^
CO
Approved for Release: 2019/10/22 C06816165