Court documents unsealed this week show that Steven Topazio, DiMasi's former law associate, testified that he consulted DiMasi's lawyer, Thomas Kiley, as soon as questions surfaced about Topazio's relationship with the software company whose multimillion dollar state contracts are at the center of the case against the former speaker.

Prosecutors say Topazio was the conduit for monthly $4,000 payments from the company to DiMasi. Topazio is now a government witness.

The Boston Globe reports that prosecutors argue that Kiley has a conflict of interest by representing "two adversely positioned clients."

A Miami federal judge on Friday set a change of plea hearing for Tuesday for "Don" Diego Montoya, the alleged chief of Colombia's North Valley Cartel. Montoya was extradited to face U.S. charges in December and initially pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors say in court papers that Montoya will plead guilty to charges from two separate cases: one in Miami and one in Washington, D.C. Both accuse Montoya of drug racketeering and conspiracy charges.

Montoya's attorney did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.

Three men are being retried for allegedly playing minor roles in Politkovskaya's 2006 slaying after the Supreme Court overturned their acquittal in June.

Politkovskaya's family had hoped the retrial, which started Wednesday, would spur a new inquiry to discover the masterminds of the killing. Prosecutors had backed the family's request for a new investigation.

But Friday's ruling dashed those hopes, and underpinned suspicion of official obstruction in the high-profile case.

Politkovskaya's daughter, Vera, said Friday's decision lessened the family's faith in the fairness of the proceedings.

A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued its unanimous ruling Friday. The panel rejected several claims by Muhammad, including that he never should have been allowed to act as his own lawyer for part of his 2003 trial because he was too mentally impaired.

The 2002 shootings by Muhammad and teenage accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo terrorized the Washington, D.C., area. In all, 10 people were killed in four states, including Alabama and Louisiana, before the pair moved on to Virginia, Maryland and D.C.

Muhammad's attorney, Jonathan Sheldon, said in an e-mail that he will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The men hired a lawyer who filed court papers Thursday arguing the Los Angeles judge relied on a flawed process to reach her decision.

Their case is one of several that claimed a pesticide made workers at Dole Food Co. banana farms sterile.

The men's nearly $1.6 million award was called into question this year after Superior Court Judge Victoria Chaney dismissed two separate cases against Dole. Chaney ruled that lawyers concocted phony claims to wring billions of dollars from the company.

Because of that ruling, the six men must now prove their case wasn't fraudulent.

The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals found Friday that The New York Times had not shown it has a First Amendment right to the material.

A lower court had ordered the release of the FBI documents, which could reveal details about the origins and scope of the investigation.

The Times said it is disappointed and is reviewing the decision. It said public access to such records would provide "a valuable check on law enforcement agencies and on the courts."

The documents named other clients of the Emperor's Club VIP prostitution service.

David Paterson became governor in March 2008 after Spitzer resigned in disgrace.