Court Grants karan Two Week Breather

The drunkenness trial of Arthur Karuna-Karan, research fellow in Business Administration, was continued yesterday until November 4. Third District Criminal Court Judge M. Edward Viola granted the continuance to give Karuna-Karan time to find an attorney.

Karuna-Karan was arrested Saturday night at the Casablanca bar on Brattle Street and charged with drunkenness after he attempted to intervene in the arrest of Ronald A. Swift, a teacher at the Aveo Day Care Center in Roxbury. Karuna-Karan felt Swift was being unjustly arrested.

Karuna-Karan said last night he had retained Harvey A. Silverglate, a Boston attorney, as his counsel. He urged witnesses to Saturday night's incident to contact Silverglate's office at 148 State Street in Boston, or to call 742-6020.

Swift also received a continuance yesterday so he could obtain legal aid. He was released on $100 recognizance bond pending trial on October 29.

Karuna-Karan was told by a court clerk yesterday that he could end the case immediately by pleading guilty. But Karuna-Karan said last night, "I'm going to fight this all the way through." He has not yet entered a formal plea.

Ben-Haron, counselor of the Malaysian Embassy in Washington, D.C. accompanied Karuna-Karan at the time of the arrest. Karuna-Karan said Ben-Haron told him that he would write a letter to the Cambridge City Council protesting the arrest.

Swift, a black, said outside the courtroom yesterday that he would contact the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination and the Consumer Protection Division of the Massachusetts Attorney General's office about his case. He is charged with idle and disorderly conduct.