Prosecutors tried to show they have evidence other than the tapes to make their case. The tapes were the main evidence used in the Starr report to Congress that led to the impeachment of Clinton. One of the women, bridge club member Katherine Manweller, testified she saw the tape-recording equipment in a visit to Tripp's home. At Wednesday's hearing, Tripp attorneys Joseph Murtha and David Irwin got the women to concede that their grand jury testimony about what Tripp said may have been influenced by news media accounts of the Starr investigation and the impeachment proceedings before Congress. The telephone conversations, taped by Tripp at her home in Maryland without Lewinsky's knowledge or consent, detail the former White House intern's illicit relationship with the president.
State law prohibits such wiretapping unless both parties consent.
Maryland Judge Diane Leasure ruled Tuesday that Tripp's immunity deal with Starr was not approved by a judge until a month after the agreement was reached, in February 1998, and did not cover the playing of the tapes for Newsweek magazine in January after the deal was struck. This means state prosecutors can use these tapes as evidence against Tripp. But he said in addition the testimony from Tripp's bridge club friends, a Radio Shack manager and sales clerk both told the grand jury they warned Tripp about Maryland's wiretapping law when they sold her the tape recording equipment. The hearing is to determine if the state evidence against Tripp has been tainted by any connection with immunized sources. The Associated Press contributed to this report.