SHORT TAKES : Judge Denies Manson Subpoena

A federal judge in Los Angeles said he didn’t have the authority to subpoena mass murderer Charles Manson to testify in a film maker’s copyright infringement suit against talk show host Geraldo Rivera. U.S. District Judge Ronald S. W. Lew said he had no authority to extend the 100-mile subpoena limit for witnesses and rejected Robert Hendrickson’s request to call Manson to the witness stand.

Hendrickson contends that Manson is the only available witness who can testify about Hendrickson’s 1972 documentary “Manson,” parts of which the film maker claims were used by Rivera without permission. The judge declined to issue the subpoena because Manson, 55, is in state prison in Corcoran, 190 miles north of Los Angeles and 90 miles outside the central federal judicial district of California.