6 06-15-87 04:33 ped (1grafld; picksup2ndgraf: u.s. district _ rewording) By ROBERT STRAND

   6 06-15-87 04:33 ped

   (1grafld; picksup2ndgraf: u.s. district _ rewording) By ROBERT
STRAND

   SAN  FRANCISCO (UPI) _ A federal judge Monday revoked $250,000
bail for Peoples Temple cult survivor  Larry  Layton  because  he
perjured himself and ordered him to begin serving a life sentence
for conspiracy to commit murder.

   U.S.  District  Judge Robert F. Peckham issued the ruling on a
motion to revoke bail filed by U.S. Attorney  Joseph  Russoniello
after  Peckham  ruled  recently that Layton perjured himself at a
post-conviction hearing.

   "We do not  take  lightly  willful  perjury  in  this  court,"
Peckham said.

   Layton  quietly handed over his keys and wallet to his lawyer,
Robert Bryan, and left the courtroom with a U.S. marshal.   Bryan
said  he  was  not surprised by the ruling and had advised Layton
that revocation was likely.

   Layton, 41, had been free on bail pending  an  appeal  of  his
Dec. 1  conviction  on  charges  of  conspiring to kill Rep.  Leo
Ryan, D-Calif., and diplomat Richard Dwyer on Nov. 18, 1978, at a
Guyana airstrip near the Jonestown cult settlement  in  northeast
South America.

   Ryan  was  fatally  shot,  Dwyer  was wounded and within hours
Peoples Temple leader Jim Jones and 912 of his followers died  in
a mass-suicide-murder.

   Layton  was  convicted  on two counts of murder conspiracy and
two counts of aiding and abetting the attacks on Ryan and Dwyer.

   Layton was tried twice on the charges.  The first one ended in
a mistrial with a hung jury voting 11-1 for acquittal.

   Layton argued he should be given a  third  trial  because  his
attorneys  during  the  second  trial  did not realize Layton was
facing a mandatory life sentence and  did  not  so  advise  their
client.   As  a  result, Layton argued he could not make informed
decisions about defense strategy.

   Layton did not testify during the trials,  but  he  did  at  a
post-conviction hearing  in  April.    Peckham later denied a new
trial and ruled that Layton's testimony  was  "unbelievable"  and
that he "made several untruthful statements."

   In revoking bail, Peckham found the perjury was probable cause
to  believe  Layton  had  committed a crime _ a violation of bail
conditions, and that Layton  showed  himself  to  be  "a  man  of
desperation" who now presents a flight risk.

   The  perjury  involved  statements  on  the witness stand that
contradicted statements he had given psychiatrists in  interviews
not presented  at  the  trial.  Those statements suggested Layton
was more of an instigator  than  a  passive  participant  in  the
planning of the airstrip shooting.

   Layton's  assertion  that  he did not know he was subject to a
mandatory life sentence was contradicted by  two  paralegals  who
reported on conversations they had with Layton during the trial.

   When  Peckham  sentenced  Layton to life, he recommended he be
considered for parole  after  four  years.    The  recommendation
considered  the  bizarre psychological atmosphere in which Layton
was operating  and  numerous  letters  from  family  friends  and
jurors.   The  subsequent  perjury  development  likely  will  be
considered at any future parole board proceeding.

   Layton's attorney denied  his  client  committed  perjury  but
presented little argument to support the denial.

   Layton was free on bail for five years before his second trial
and was  again  free  on  bail since March.  During those periods
Bryan said Layton never  was  a  threat  to  society.    He  kept
thrice-weekly  appointments with a probation officer, worked as a
real estate agent and, if  successful  on  appeal,  has  marriage
plans.