Local News in Brief : Bid to Bar Miniseries Fails

A federal judge in Los Angeles refused Wednesday to halt the airing of “The Billionaire Boys Club,” a television miniseries that NBC plans to show this weekend--during the “sweeps month” ratings period--although the murder trials of several members of the real-life club are still in progress or pending.

Rejecting club founder Joe Hunt’s request for a temporary restraining order or injunction, U.S. District Judge Francis Whelan said he was bound by U.S. Supreme Court decisions barring “prior restraint” and gave NBC the go-ahead.

Hunt’s attorney, Jeffrey Melczer, had argued that the heavily promoted “docudrama” would make it impossible for Hunt to have a fair trial in Northern California, where he and three followers are charged with murder, and could affect the appeal of his conviction in a separate murder case here.