Sometimes help comes from the most unlikely of places. Over the past weekend, the Justice Dept. belatedly handed over to Microsoft Corp. several documents that its attorney, John L. Warden, put to good use on Oct. 26. Warden used them to level new charges against Microsoft's chief accusers, Netscape Communications Corp. and its CEO, James Barksdale.

Warden accused Netscape of orchestrating a June 21, 1995, meeting with Microsoft as a "set-up" to manufacture evidence that Justice could use against Microsoft. Prosecutors contend that Microsoft at this meeting proposed to Netscape that the two companies "divide" the Internet browser market -- an action that, if true, would violate antitrust laws. Among the new documents released by Justice: a civil subpoena that Justice issued to Netscape one day after the meeting.

The documents also included laptop notes taken during the meeting by Netcape founder Marc Andreessen that he sent to Barksdale and in-house attorneys the day of the meeting. The notes said that Microsoft issued a "threat" that "Netscape should stay away" from the Windows browser market. Though the government had already released the notes, it was not clear until this past weekend that Andreessen had sent his notes to the attorneys. He also sent a memo to the company's outside attorneys at 2:30 a.m. after the meeting.

Another new document was a four-page, single-space letter from Netscape's outside attorney, Gary L. Reback, to the Justice Dept. on June 23, 1995, in response to the civil subpeona. Reback's letter, which attaches Andreessen's notes, accused Microsoft of refusing to provide coding information to Netscape, but it didn't mention any market-division proposal. Warden said the timing of the civil subpoena and Reback's letter suggested that Netscape was in touch with Justice even before the meeting took place. "Isn't it a fact that the June 21, 1995, meeting was held for the purpose of creating something that could be called a record to be delivered to the Department of Justice to spur them on to action against Microsoft?," Warden growled in his baritone voice.

"That's absurd," Barksdale snapped.

Microsoft has asked the judge to impose court sanctions against the government for failing to provide the documents during discovery.

Warden also spent his last day cross-examining Barksdale by questioning him about Netscape's dealings with America Online and Intuit Corp., which produces accounting software. The government has accused Microsoft of using its marketplace clout to entice the two to use its Internet Explorer rather than Netscape's browser.

Warden produced internal E-mail from Netscape suggesting that the company wasn't able to meet the needs of Intuit and AOL as quickly as Microsoft was.

On Tuesday, Oct. 27, Justice is scheduled to question Barksdale. Soon we'll see if the government is able to resolve any of the doubts that Microsoft's Warden has managed to raise around one of Justice's star witnesses.

By Susan B. Garland in Washington