Judge says he won’t pursue plan to have gay marriage trial recorded for Internet broadcast
By APThursday, January 14, 2010
Gay marriage judge abandons Web broadcast attempt
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge hearing a challenge to California’s gay marriage ban says he’s abandoning his push to have the trial broadcast on the Internet.
Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn R. Walker said Thursday he’s withdrawing his application to have the landmark case video-recorded under a pilot program approved last month by the governing body for federal courts in the West.
Walker says he doesn’t want the issue to distract from the trial itself.
He made the announcement a day after the U.S. Supreme Court indefinitely blocked his plan to record the trial so it could be transmitted to other federal courthouses.
Walker rejected a defense lawyer’s request to destroy any videotapes produced during the first days of the trials He says he wants the option to review them first.
