Judge tells reporters they must testify

SAN FRANCISCO
A federal judge says two San Francisco Chronicle reporters must testify about their sources for leaked grand jury testimony on steroid use in sports.

Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams reported on the BALCO scandal in 2004. New grand juries are investigating leaks of testimony and whether Giants star Barry Bonds committed perjury.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White said at a hearing Friday that there are no federal precedents that would allow the two reporters to avoid testifying, the Chronicle reported.

Williams said he expects to win on appeal.

"If the court decides that they want to send us to jail for this, that's what happens," said Fainaru-Wada. "There's no other option."
*
Chronicle fights to not reveal BALCO sources - By DAVID KRAVETS-Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO - Lawyers for two San Francisco Chronicle reporters argued Friday that the First Amendment protects them from revealing their source for the secret testimony of Barry Bonds and other elite athletes ensnared in the government's steroids probe.