Judge:Jackson Reporter Won’t Have To Tesify in Bank Robber Trial

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Federal prosecutors have dropped their request to force a Wyoming newspaper reporter to testify about her interview with a bank robbery suspect.

Prosecutors had subpoenaed Jackson Hole News & Guide reporter Emma Breysse (BRY'-see) to testify about her interview with Corey Allan Donaldson.

Trial starts Monday for Donaldson, a 39-year-old Australian accused of taking $140,000 from a bank in Jackson on New Year's Eve. Breysse reported Donaldson told her he robbed the bank to give money to the poor.

The newspaper had asked U.S. District Judge Alan B. Johnson of Cheyenne to void the subpoena. Prosecutor Todd Shugart told Johnson Thursday he no longer wanted to call Breysse as a witness.

Johnson ruled Thursday he won't allow Donaldson to argue at trial that he was justified in robbing the bank.