Honolulu: A former B-2 stealth bomber engineer accused of spying for China suffers from narcissistic personality disorder, expert witnesses for the prosecution and the defence testified in federal court.
But the forensic psychologists who evaluated Noshir Gowadia of Maui disagreed during the hearing over whether he is competent to stand trial and assist in his defence.
Gowadia, who worked for years on highly classified military systems, has been held without bail since his 2005 arrest on suspicion of selling cruise missile secrets. He has pleaded not guilty to 21 counts of conspiracy, money-laundering and falsifying tax returns.
The charges against Gowadia also assert that he offered to sell classified stealth technology to foreign business people in Israel, Germany and Switzerland.
With Gowadia seated in white prison overalls alongside his attorneys, prosecution witness Lisa Hope testified yesterday that she and a postdoctoral psychology intern evaluated the defendant at a federal prison in Los Angeles last spring.
Hope, a clinical and forensic psychologist for the federal Bureau of Prisons, told US Magistrate Judge Kevin SC Chang that Gowadia has a high IQ, appears very knowledgeable about export, espionage and secrecy laws, and has been lauded
for his previous work on a range of military projects.
PTI
First Published: Friday, November 20, 2009, 14:15