Nation IN BRIEF : FLORIDA CNN Told to Share Noriega Transcripts

U.S. District Judge William M. Hoeveler, in Miami, ruled that transcripts of prison-taped conversations between Manuel A. Noriega and his lawyers, which led to a showdown in court between the defense attorneys and Cable News Network, are public property. Hoeveler’s decision answered other news organizations’ demands for access to the transcripts. The Miami Herald, Associated Press, Post-Newsweek station WPLG-TV of Miami and Gannett Co. Inc. and USA Today had claimed that the public has a right to the facts behind a case that tested 1st Amendment protection against restraint of the press. CNN lawyer Terry Bienstock said the network had not yet decided whether to appeal the ruling.