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Judge in Ohio orders reporter's arrest in leak

The Associated Press

A judge has ordered a newspaper reporter arrested over a leaked psychiatric evaluation on a Cleveland man accused of killing 11 women.

Cuyahoga (ky-uh-HOH'-guh) County Common Pleas Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold ordered the arrest of Gabriel Baird of The Plain Dealer on Tuesday after he failed to appear at a hastily scheduled hearing. The newspaper said he was out on assignment and that he and a newspaper attorney would appear before the judge on Wednesday.

The hearing concerns Baird's Nov. 6 story on an evaluation of Anthony Sowell that concluded he was unlikely to assault women after he finished a prison term for attempted rape.

Sowell wants to know how Baird got the confidential report.

The newspaper says Ohio's shield law protects Baird from having to reveal his source.

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