His office also reviewed a draft friend-of-the-court brief offered by the chemical giant.

But the draft was used for reference only, said administration spokeswoman Lara Ramsburg, and the brief Manchin ultimately filed urging the state Supreme Court to hear DuPont's appeal was his own.

"Here, the proposed draft was provided, we politely reviewed it, said 'Thanks, but no thanks,' and ultimately decided to go another way," she said.

The court is in summer recess and has not yet decided whether to take the case.

The revelation about communication between the governor's office and the chemical giant is the latest twist in a complex class-action lawsuit involving nearly 8,000 people exposed to toxic chemicals that spewed for decades from a zinc-smelting plant in Spelter.

While the case centered on medical and liability issues, the plaintiffs also argued that close ties to DuPont made environmental regulators and other state officials complicit in allowing a 112-acre waste pile tainted with arsenic, cadmium and lead to sit in the center of town until 2001.

After a five-week trial in county circuit court last fall, jurors convicted DuPont of wanton, willful and reckless conduct and ordered it to pay punitive damages to deter future misconduct. Total damages were $382 million.

Former Mississippi Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, who is running for the seat vacated by Republican Trent Lott, has not been charged and says he did nothing wrong, but Republicans quickly seized the opportunity to slam him for taking the money.

Robert Moultrie and Nixon Cawood Jr., executives with The Facility Group of Smyrna, Ga., pleaded guilty to giving Musgrove an illegal $25,000 "gratuity" during his 2003 gubernatorial re-election campaign. Musgrove lost the race to Republican Haley Barbour.

The Facility Group managed construction of Mississippi Beef Processors LLC, a cattle plant that closed just three months after it opened in 2004, costing 400 jobs and sticking Mississippi taxpayers with $55 million in state-backed loans.

The appeals court issued the ruling Thursday, saying the Saudi defendants are protected by sovereign immunity. It also agreed with a lower court that a Saudi banker and a charitable organization cannot be held liable.

The Saudi defendants were among hundreds of other defendants sued by victims of the attacks, including the families of those who died.

Other defendants in the case include foreign governments, charities and individuals alleged to have provided financial and logistical support to al-Qaida.

Twenty-year-old Spencer Taylor entered the plea Wednesday in St. Joseph County District Court.

A judge ordered him to serve one day in jail, perform 16 hours of community service and pay $685 in fines.

Charges of attempted larceny in a building and using a mask to conceal his identity during the commission of a crime were dismissed as part of Taylor's plea agreement.

Three Rivers police say he was wearing a purple suit, green wig and face paint when they arrested him on July 27.

The appeals court said Wednesday that a judge made a mistake when he ruled the works belonged to the son, Thomas Steinbeck, and granddaughter Blake Smyle (SMILE'-ee).

A lawyer for the two didn't return a telephone message seeking comment Wednesday.

The two had won rights previously held by various individuals and organizations, including Penguin Group Inc. and the heirs of John Steinbeck's widow, Elaine.

The appeals court ordered the lower court judge to rule in favor of Penguin and the heirs of Elaine Steinbeck. Steinbeck's widow died in April 2003.

In a brief order, the court said the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in San Francisco, should decide the matter of interest arising from punitive damages for victims in the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster.

Stanford University law professor Jeffrey Fisher, an attorney who represents commercial fishermen, Native Alaskans, landowners, businesses and local governments in the case, said justices rejected Exxon Mobil's bold attempt to take away interest.

"It's nice to see the court refusing to do the outlandish thing Exxon wanted," Fisher said.

The issue is whether interest accrued since 1994, when a federal jury first awarded punitive damages for the supertanker's spill of 11 million gallons of crude oil into Alaska's Prince William Sound.

The company contends that if interest is paid, it should be calculated from the date the punitive damages were awarded by the Supreme Court, not all the way back to 1994, said Exxon Mobil spokesman Alan Jeffers. The company will pursue that contention with the 9th Circuit.

Ria Ramkissoon wore a purple jumpsuit and a blank expression during her appearance Tuesday at the city's booking center, answering only, "Yes," when asked whether she had read the charges against her.

Her attorney, Steven D. Silverman, argued for bail to be set, but District Court Judge Theodore B. Oshrine decided that holding Ramkissoon without bail was appropriate because of the seriousness of the allegations.

"This is not a black-and-white case," Silverman told the judge. "I'm convinced from talking to her that she's been grossly overcharged."

Silverman said after the hearing that his client, a petite native of Trinidad who moved to Maryland with her mother at the age of 8 and has no criminal record, was manipulated by cult members.