WASHINGTON

FIVE REPORTERS HELD IN CONTEMPT IN WEN HO LEE CASE

A federal judge held five reporters in contempt yesterday for refusing to identify their sources for stories about Wen Ho Lee, a former nuclear weapons scientist once suspected of spying, a lawyer said yesterday.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson imposed a fine of $500 a day for Associated Press reporter H. Josef Hebert, James Risen and Jeff Gerth of The New York Times, Robert Drogin of the Los Angeles Times, and Pierre Thomas of ABC, who was at CNN when the stories were done.

The fines are to continue until the reporters comply with Judge Jackson’s order to reveal the information, but Nathan Siegel, the AP’s lawyer, said the fines will be delayed pending an appeal. The reporters contend they provided all the relevant information they could without breaking a commitment to protect their sources.

Mr. Lee is seeking the identity of the sources for his lawsuit against the departments of Energy and Justice. He alleges the agencies gave reporters private information on him and suggested he was a suspect in an investigation into possible theft of secrets from Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.

In the order, Judge Jackson rejected the reporters’ arguments that Mr. Lee could obtain the information he seeks elsewhere. He said he was holding the five in contempt because they violated his explicit order.

– Associated Press

NORTHEAST

JUDGE BACKS LAW BARRING GAY MARRIAGE FOR OUT-OF-STATE COUPLES

BOSTON – A state judge yesterday rejected a challenge of a 1913 law that effectively bars out-of-state gay couples from marrying in Massachusetts, where residents have had that first-in-the-nation right since May.

Superior Court Judge Carol Ball denied a request by eight gay couples from other states for a preliminary injunction blocking Massachusetts from enforcing the law, which prohibits marriages that would not be legal in couples’ home states.

An attorney for the plaintiffs said they are considering several avenues of appeal, and believe the case ultimately will be decided by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. “We always knew this was really just round one, and round two will be at the appellate court,” said Michele Granda, an attorney with Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders.

Since a November ruling by the state’s high court paved the way for residents to have same-sex weddings beginning May 17, gay rights advocates have made out-of-state couples their next legal frontier. Governor Romney cited the 1913 law in directing city and town clerks to turn away nonresident couples seeking licenses. The eight couples who sued – from Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, and New York – claimed the law was inherently discriminatory.

– Associated Press

WEST

WASHINGTON HOMES EVACUATED DUE TO FIRE THREAT

DRYDEN, Wash. – A wind-blown wildfire that had forced hundreds to flee their homes grew to more than 11,000 acres early yesterday as it moved into dry brush and grass in central Washington. “The fire has potential to move quicker in those flashy fuels,” a fire information officer, Robin DeMario, said.

The blaze 20 miles northwest of Wenatchee had destroyed one home and damaged another house and an outbuilding, fire information officer Robin DeMario said yesterday. No one was injured.

Mr. DeMario said smoke from the fire forced crews to temporarily close U.S. 2 between Cashmere and Dryden.

The fire has forced hundreds from their homes, and residents had been told to leave two more canyons threatened by the fire. More than 1,500 firefighters were assigned to the human-caused blaze, which has been burning since August 8.

A series of lightning storms elsewhere in central Washington ignited 18 fires Tuesday in the Okanogan and Wenatchee national forests. One of the largest, northwest of Twisp, grew to 600 acres. Washington’s largest blaze, a complex or group of three fires, had blackened a total of 47,390 acres near Lake Chelan. They were 85% contained.

Elsewhere, the northern California wildfire that destroyed 22 homes and two businesses in the town of French Gulch during the weekend had grown to nearly 10,000 acres. Officials reported the fire, which swept through French Gulf on Saturday, was 25% contained.

– Associated Press

JUDGE IN PETERSON MURDER TRIAL CITES ‘POTENTIAL DEVELOPMENT’

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – In a surprise move yesterday, the judge in Scott Peterson’s murder trial postponed the cross-examination of Mr. Peterson’s former mistress and sent the jury home early because of a “potential development.”

Judge Alfred Delucchi emerged from a 45-minute closed-door meeting with attorneys and apologized for the delay. “There’s been a potential development in this case that has to be checked out before we can go any further,” he told the jury.

Mr. Peterson’s defense attorneys were preparing to cross-examine Mr. Peterson’s former mistress, Amber Frey, and had even set up a big screen with a digital presentation before the lawyers went behind closed doors.

The judge didn’t say what the development was. Lawyers are barred by a gag order from discussing it. Ms. Frey is scheduled to return to the stand Monday. Three other witnesses will testify today, the judge said.

– Associated Press