Judge says NYT reporter must testify, limits scope (AP)

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A federal judge ruled Friday that a New York Times reporter must testify at the trial of a former CIA officer charged with leaking classified information about Iran, but limited the scope of what the journalist could be asked about.

Prosecutors have subpoenaed Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter James Risen to testify at the September trial of Jeffrey Sterling, an ex-CIA officer from Missouri. Risen's lawyers had argued that the First Amendment should shield him from having to testify about his sources.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema said Risen must testify at the trial. But she ruled that his testimony be limited to four topics.

Those topics are that he wrote an article or book chapter; that they are accurate; that statements referred to in Risen's newspaper article or book chapter as being made by an unnamed source were in fact made to Risen by an unnamed source; and that statements referred to as being made by an identified source were in fact made by that identified source.

The government alleges Sterling was a key source for a chapter in Risen's 2006 book "State of War," which details a botched CIA effort during the Clinton administration, dubbed Operation Merlin, to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions by secretly giving the Iranians intentionally flawed blueprints through a Russian intermediary.

"This is an important victory for the First Amendment and investigative reporters everywhere," Risen's lawyer Joel Kurtzberg said Friday evening, referring to the limits on what Risen can be asked to testify about.

Last year, Brinkema quashed a similar subpoena issued to Risen when the case was in front of a grand jury. She ruled that the government simply didn't need Risen's testimony to obtain an indictment in light of other evidence possessed by the government, including phone records showing multiple calls between Risen and Sterling.

Prosecutors had argued that Risen's First Amendment rights paled in comparison to the government's need to prosecute criminals and obtain evidence to which juries are rightfully entitled.

A spokesman for the Justice Department did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

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Ex-cop to testify in post-Katrina shootings (AP)

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN and MARY FOSTER, Associated Press Michael Kunzelman And Mary Foster, Associated Press – Tue Jun 28, 3:25 am ET

NEW ORLEANS – A day after hearing a woman describe the shootings that cost her an arm and killed a family friend, jurors were expected Tuesday to hear from a former New Orleans police lieutenant who pleaded guilty to helping cover up the deadly shootings of unarmed civilians on the Danziger Bridge in Hurricane Katrina's aftermath.

Michael Lohman, a veteran of 21 years with the New Orleans Police Department, has pleaded guilty to participating in an alleged cover up of the shootings that left two people dead and four wounded on Sept. 4, 2005.

Federal prosecutors wrapped up the first day of testimony Monday by putting Susan Bartholomew on the stand. In frequently tearful testimony, she told jurors she felt bullets piercing her body as she huddled with her husband and teenage daughter behind a concrete barrier. She recalled that her daughter, lying on the ground next to her, tried to shield her body from the hail of gunfire.

"I prayed. I just called to the Lord because I didn't know what else to do," Bartholomew said.

Bartholomew said it wasn't until after the shooting stopped that she realized police officers had shot her, leaving her right arm hanging by just a strip of skin. She said the officers approached them as they lay on the bridge, threatened to kill them and yelled at them to hold up their hands.

"Of course I couldn't because my arm was shot off," she said. "I raised the only hand I had."

Opening arguments started Monday with prosecutors painting a picture of out of control police opening fire on unarmed civilians without following proper procedure. Defense attorneys countered with a portrait of stressed, tired, overworked officers reacting to what they thought was an attack on fellow officers.

"They cut loose with assault rifles and shotguns and they did so without ever identifying themselves," Justice Department attorney Bobbi Bernstein said of the officers. "The mistake they made was thinking anyone walking on the Danziger Bridge that day was a criminal."

Police Sgt. Kenneth Bowen, former officer Robert Faulcon, Sgt. Robert Gisevius and Officer Anthony Villavaso are charged in the shootings that killed 17-year-old James Brissette and 40-year-old Ronald Madison, who was severely mentally disabled. The men were indicted last year on federal civil rights charges. Retired Sgt. Arthur Kaufman is charged in the alleged cover-up.

Police are accused of plotting to plant a gun, fabricate witnesses and falsify reports to make the shootings appear justified. Five other former officers already have pleaded guilty to participating in a cover-up. They are cooperating with the government and are expected to testify during the trial, which could last up to eight weeks.

Defense attorneys said their clients had honored their oaths to protect and serve, quickly beginning rescue missions even though they too suffered from the hurricane's destruction. They saw death and suffering, worked in horrifying conditions and heard gunshots so frequently at night they had to stop rescue missions when the sun went down.

Holmes survived, but Brissette died on the east side of the bridge. On the west side, Faulcon allegedly shot Madison in the back with a shotgun as he and his brother, Lance Madison, were fleeing from the gunfire. Ronald Madison was lying on the ground when Bowen walked over and asked a fellow officer, "Is that one of them?" before he repeatedly stomped on the dying man, Bernstein said.

"This was a tragedy for everyone involved, police officers and victims," said attorney Lindsay Larson, who represents Faulcon. "It was a horrible, terrible mistake, but it was not a federal crime."

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Suspect's relatives testify in 11 Ohio slayings (AP)

By THOMAS J. SHEERAN, Associated Press Thomas J. Sheeran, Associated Press – 1 hr 3 mins ago

CLEVELAND – Relatives of a Cleveland man suspected of killing 11 women have testified that he eventually got control of the family house where the victims' remains were found in 2009.

Half-brothers Thomas and Allan Sowell (SOH'-wehl) testified Tuesday at the trial of 51-year-old Anthony Sowell. The mother of Anthony Sowell's stepmother also testified.

They say Anthony Sowell shared the house with his stepmother but she was in hospitals or nursing homes for years before her death. She died after the bodies were found.

Anthony Sowell avoided eye contact with one half-brother but chuckled and nodded when the other was describing their father as a "rolling stone" or womanizer.

Prosecution questions appear geared to placing the house under Anthony Sowell's control before presenting testimony on the killings. He has pleaded not guilty.

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