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Prosecutors and defense surprised at swift trial date in spy case

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (CNN) -- A judge Monday set a trial date of June 3 for the case of a retired U.S. Air Force sergeant charged with spying. The move stunned prosecutors and defense lawyers who had agreed among themselves to start in November.

Brian Patrick Regan's chief defense counsel, Nina Ginsberg, objected strenuously. "This is un-doable and unfair," she told U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee. "It is virtually impossible for mitigation experts with whom we've talked to be ready in less than five to six months."

Such experts are attorneys who specialize in preparing for cases where a conviction could yield the death penalty.

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An expedited trial date such as the Regan case is referred to being on the "rocket docket," a phrase used in the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, where judges are disinclined to allow what they feel are prolonged delays.

Lee would not grant Regan's lawyers more than a two-week extension from the original tentative trial date of May 20, which had been set before prosecutors announced they would seek the death penalty.

Last Friday, in announcing his intent to seek the death penalty, U.S. Attorney Paul McNulty cited Regan's alleged attempt to provide satellite reconnaissance information to Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, which would pose, in McNulty's words, "a grave risk of death to U.S. pilots patrolling the no-fly zone over Iraq."

Regan faces the death penalty if convicted of attempting to sell highly classified documents to Iraq and Libya. The government says Regan had sought $13 million dollars from U.S. enemies for his secret information. He also faces prosecution on a charge of trying to peddle secrets to communist China.

Ginsberg, clearly upset, told the judge that in seeking the death penalty "the U.S. is trying to kill Mr. Regan, and he's entitled to every type of representation the Constitution allows."

The chief prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Bellows, would not comment to reporters about the trial date.

Regan was present, but did not speak during the 10-minute hearing. He appeared gaunt and did not look around the courtroom as he was led in and out wearing a green prison jumpsuit. It was not known whether his wife or any of his five children attended the hearing.

Regan, whose family lives in the Maryland suburbs near Washington, is a retired U.S. Air Force master sergeant who served 20 years in the military. He then took a job as a contract employee for TRW, working at the National Reconnaissance Office, which deals with U.S. spy satellites.

Lee set pre-trial hearings to discuss classified material involved in the case for May 6, 13 and possibly May 20. The government is concerned about the disclosure of secrets as part of the trial testimony