[JURIST] US District Judge Reggie B. Walton [official profile] has indicated that he may offer a compromise over requests by I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby [defense profile; JURIST news archive] for access to classified information in his trial on perjury charges [PDF indictment; JURIST report]. Walton issued an order Monday that reduced the number of intelligence briefings that he might order to be turned over the case, and instead suggested that general summaries of specific briefings could be sufficient for Libby's defense [defense website].

Libby's defense team has requested access to CIA briefings [JURIST report] that Libby, as chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney, received between May 2003 and March 2004, the volume of which defense lawyers say can explain how Libby may have forgotten what he told reporters in the CIA leak case [JURIST news archive] arising out of the disclosure of the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame. Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald [official website] has challenged the request as classified information and has accused the defense of attempting to "graymail" [Wikipedia backgrounder] the prosecution. AP has more.