The Region - News from Feb. 19, 1986

A defense motion calling for dismissal of charges against three top officials of General Dynamics Corp. and James M. Beggs, director of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration now on leave, will be heard in Los Angeles federal court on April 7. Attorneys for the defendants complained to U.S. District Judge Ferdinand Fernandez that a federal order has blocked them from talking to Defense Department employees without first telling the government what they were going to discuss. Beggs, who worked for General Dynamics before joining NASA, and three others--Ralph E. Hawes Jr., 54, of Claremont; David L. McPherson, 45, of Alta Loma and James C. Hansen Jr., 53, of Upland--were indicted in December on charges of conspiring to defraud the Defense Department of $3.2 million in a government contract.