Judge won't release ID in Libby CIA leak case

Washington, D.C.

Former White House aide I. Lewis ''Scooter" Libby, charged with perjury in the CIA leak case, cannot be told the identity of another government official who is said to have told reporters about an operative's identity, a federal judge ruled yesterday. At the same time, US District Judge Reggie B. Walton said Libby could have copies of notes he took in 2003 and 2004 while serving as chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney. (AP)

Virginia

ALEXANDRIA -- The boyfriend of the woman dubbed the ''cell phone bandit" was sentenced yesterday to 12 years in prison for his role in four bank robberies last year. Dave C. Williams of Fairfax appeared in US District Court and apologized for helping Candice R. Martinez rob four Wachovia Bank branches. He urged Judge Gerald Bruce Lee to give him community service. The judge refused; he also ordered Williams to pay thousands of dollars in restitution. (AP)

ALEXANDRIA -- A pool of 86 potential jurors was filled yesterday for the sentencing trial of Al Qaeda conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui as the judge tried to reassure defense lawyers that the panel was not stacked against their client. The group of 48 men and 38 women includes 16 chosen over defense objections and six over prosecutors' protests. Opening statements are set for March 6. The jury will recommend the death penalty or life in prison without possibility of release for Moussaoui. (AP)

Georgia

GAINESVILLE -- A 37-year-old woman who married her son's 15-year-old friend pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges of statutory rape, child molestation, and enticing a minor. Before the hearing, the boy's grandmother, Judy Hayles, told The Associated Press that he would seek a divorce. Lisa Lynnette Clark was arrested in November a few days after marrying the boy under a 1962 law that set the marrying age in Georgia at 16 but made an exception in the case of pregnancy. The woman's lawyer, Daniel Sammons, plans to argue that the couple's marriage is a shield that protects his client from the charges. (AP)

Alabama

ADGER -- Gas exploded yesterday in a coal mine that had recently undergone a court-ordered inspection, and all miners got out safely, a federal mine safety official said. The explosion occurred at the Shoal Creek Mine, operated by Drummond Co., said Dirk Filpott, spokesman for the Mine Safety and Health Administration. The company said the explosion was caused by ignition of methane gas near a rock face where a longwall machine mines coal. The statement did not say how many miners were underground. (AP)

South Carolina

LAURENS -- An elementary school teacher was arrested yesterday on charges she had sex with one of her 11-year-old students, authorities said. Wendie A. Schweikert, 36, was booked on two counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor. A parent of the boy had accused the teacher of having sex with him at school at least twice, Laurens Police Chief Robin Morse said. (AP)