government offered to release Abel if the Soviet Union released a captured AmericanĪfter his appeal failed, it looked like Abel might spend decades in prison. But on March 28, 1960, the Court ruled 5 to 4 against Abel. Donovan believed this violated Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure, and he filed an appeal to that effect.Įven though Abel was a foreign national, Donovan - and the courts - believed he deserved full constitutional protection, and eventually the Supreme Court agreed to consider the case. Abel had been arrested and held by Immigration and Naturalization Service officers, but FBI agents had questioned him and searched his hotel room without obtaining a warrant themselves. While Abel headed to prison, Donovan continued to work on his client's behalf. Donovan now had to fight for his client’s life.įortunately, the lawyer was prescient enough to argue that it might be a good idea to keep a spy around: "It is possible that in the foreseeable future an American of equivalent rank will be captured by Soviet Russia or an ally at such time an exchange of prisoners through diplomatic channels could be considered in the best national interest of the United States." Donovan had to fight for Abel's lifeĪfter his conviction, Abel faced more than prison: transmitting strategic information to a foreign country carried a potential death sentence. (In 1953, a newsboy had found the nickel and the microfilm it contained.)ĭespite Donovan’s attempts to explain away or downplay this evidence - he mentioned that many magic acts used hollow coins - and an effort to discredit Hayhanen, Abel was convicted on all three counts on October 25, 1957.
Another piece of evidence was a hollow nickel that Hayhanen had lost soon after his arrival in New York. defense areas and numerous hollowed-out containers (such as a shaving brush, cufflinks and a pencil). It included shortwave radios, maps of U.S. Abel faced charges of 1) conspiracy to transmit military and nuclear information to the Soviet Union 2) conspiracy to gather this information and 3) being in the United States without registering as a foreign agent.Įvidence against Abel had been found in his hotel room and studio. Donovan, supported by two other lawyers, scrambled to get ready for Abel's trial, which began in October 1957.
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