Judge denies witness chance to view eclipse
A crowd wears protective glasses as they watch the beginning of the solar eclipse from Salem, Ore., Monday, Aug. 21, 2017.
The moon is seen as it starts passing in front of the sun during a solar eclipse from Ross Lake, Northern Cascades National Park, in Washington on Monday, Aug. 21, 2017.
Mike Newchurch, left, professor of atmospheric chemistry at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, and graduate student Paula Tucker prepare a weather balloon before releasing it to perform research during the solar eclipse Monday, Aug. 21, 2017, on the Orchard Dale historical farm near Hopkinsville, Ky. The location, which is in the path of totality, is also at the point of greatest intensity.
A family sets up a tent at their campsite at sunrise for the solar eclipse Monday, Aug. 21, 2017, on the Orchard Dale historical farm near Hopkinsville, Ky. The location, which is in the path of totality, is also at the point of greatest intensity.
Catalina Gaitan, from Portland, Ore., tries to shoot a photo of the rising sun through her eclipse glasses at a gathering of eclipse viewers in Salem, Ore., Monday, Aug. 21, 2017.
Ashley Ann Sander hawks solar eclipse glasses on the side of the road to tourists approaching town for $10 a pair Sunday, Aug. 20, 2017, near Clayton, Ga., a city in the path of totality in North Georgia. (Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
Kyle Hodges
Raymond Harper, from Greensburg, poses at the Delmont Public Library on Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017, with glasses that make it safe to watch the upcoming total solar eclipse.
St. Vincent College
St. Vincent College physics associate professor John Smetanka invites area residents to witness the Aug. 21 partial solar eclipse in front of the Sis and Herman Dupre Science Pavilion on campus.
This is a photo of full solar eclipse.
Tribune-Review reoprter Aaron Aupperlee demonstrating the wonder of solar glasses on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017, in front of the Allegheny Obervatory at Riverview Park. This is a screen capture from a video the Tribune-Review made to share information about the upcoming eclipse.
Getty Images
A visitor puts a pin on map to show where she is visiting from during the Wyoming Eclipse Festival on August 20, 2017 in Casper, Wyoming. Thouands of people have descended on Casper, Wyoming to see the solar eclipse in the path of totality as it passes over the state on August 21.
Ashley Ann Sander, left, and Alexandra Dowling hawk solar eclipse glasses for $10 a pair on the side of the road to tourists approaching Clayton, Ga., Sunday, Aug. 20, 2017. Clayton is in the path of totality in North Georgia.
TAMPA, Fla. — A federal judge in Florida ruled a trial couldn't be postponed just because one of the key witnesses — a federal agent — had travel plans to see the solar eclipse.
In a three-page ruling issued Friday, Judge Steven Merryday denied the motion filed by an assistant U.S. attorney.
Prosecutors wanted Monday's trial postponed because an Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agent had booked a trip to see the eclipse on a day when defendant Joseph Bishop was to stand trial for unlawfully transporting firearms.
Merryday called it a “cruel fate” that allowed the trial and the eclipse to happen on the same day.
He quoted from singer Carly Simon's “You're So Vain,” which contains a line about flying to witness an eclipse.
