Wednesday, November 2, 2005 · Last updated 7:27 p.m. PT

Idaho lawyers reach deal in murder case

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho -- Prosecutors agreed Wednesday to withhold graphic videos from the trial of a suspected killer, resolving a dispute with the defense.

The videos were found after the capture of Joseph Edward Duncan III, who is charged with killing three members of an Idaho family in May so he could abduct Shasta Groene, 8, and her brother, Dylan Groene, 9, for sex.

The defense had demanded copies of the tapes, but prosecutors had refused, saying the tapes had "vile" images made during the seven-week period when Duncan allegedly held the children captive in Montana.

District Judge Fred Gibler last month ordered prosecutors to make copies after Duncan's public defender, John Adams, insisted they were necessary to mount an adequate defense for his client.

But Prosecutor Bill Douglas asked the judge to reconsider and the attorneys reached a deal Wednesday.

Duncan faces the death penalty if convicted of three counts of murder. His trial is set to start in January.