NATION IN BRIEF : FLORIDA : Secret Files Not Given to Noriega Defense

Prosecutors in the Miami drug trial of former Panamanian dictator Manuel A. Noriega acknowledged that they have not given secret Panamanian files to the defense, but blamed the failure on the enormous volume of documents, not interference by intelligence agencies. Michael O’Kane, an attorney for Noriega co-defendant Daniel Miranda, had charged that a “secret inventory” discovered by one of his investigators showed about 40 file cabinets seized during the U.S. invasion were missing from a U.S. military warehouse in Panama. Assistant U.S. Atty. Michael Sullivan promised to turn over any relevant files once they were examined.