EL CAJON : Ruling Against Lawyer Upheld

A federal appeals court Wednesday upheld contempt-of-court rulings against an anti-abortion lawyer who repeatedly defied a San Diego County judge’s order not to use terms like “baby killer” in defending abortion protesters.

Attorney Cyrus Zal said he deliberately violated the judge’s order in order to obey a “higher law” and encourage the jury to acquit his clients, regardless of whether they had broken the law against trespassing.

In a ruling that produced three separate opinions, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld most of Zal’s convictions, 3 to 0, and the rest on a 2-1 vote. The majority said Zal had no constitutional right to make statements or offer evidence explaining the reasons for his clients’ actions.

Zal, former general counsel of the militant group Operation Rescue, was sentenced to 290 days in jail by El Cajon Municipal Judge Larrie Brainard, who found him in contempt 20 times at the January, 1990, trial.

Zal served his jail sentence after his appeals were denied by state courts.