The Supreme Court refused Monday to review Marine Sgt. Clayton Lonetree's conviction for spying for the Soviet Union while serving as an embassy guard in Moscow.
The court, without comment, turned away Lonetree's argument that his confessions should not have been used as evidence in his court-martial.The justices also rejected Lonetree's claim that an intelligence agent should not have been allowed, because of security concerns, to testify against him anonymously.
In other cases, the justices:
- Let stand a Louisiana federal judge's conviction and prison sentence for accepting a $100,000 bribe. The court turned down U.S. District Judge Robert F. Collins' argument that his trial was tainted because prosecutors excluded some blacks from the jury.
- Ruled in a Texas food-stamp dispute that the federal government may collect interest on some debts owed to it by states, even though no law specifically required interest payments.
- Kept alive a lawsuit alleging that officers of the Argentina military junta that seized power in 1976 tortured a man and seized his family's business because he is Jewish.