HARRISBURG — Two former state lawmakers and 10 current and former Pennsylvania government workers accused of misusing state resources to help win elections won't go to trial until well into next year — at the earliest.

Dauphin County Judge Richard A. Lewis on Friday issued a new timetable for the 12 people associated with the House Democratic caucus who have been charged with conflict of interest, theft and conspiracy.

The previous trial date had been Jan. 12. Under the new schedule, pretrial motions are not due until April 15, and a hearing on them is expected to take place in mid-June.

Lewis' status order said defense lawyers told him they face "'mountains' of documents that will need to be assembled, compiled and reviewed."

In July, the attorney general's office filed the charges as part of an ongoing investigation into the use of government workers and resources for electioneering and other illegal purposes.

HARRISBURG — Gov. Ed Rendell is backing away from a plan to let state agencies charge people extra for the cost of redacting nonpublic information from public records, a spokesman said Friday.Rendell recently issued a management directive allowing charges for the labor involved in retrieving and redacting records, but that conflicted with a new fee policy established by Terry Mutchler, director of the state Office of Open Records.Mutchler's policy limits photocopying fees to 25 cents per page under the expanded Right-to-Know Law that will take effect Jan. 1.Rendell spokesman Chuck Ardo said the governor's office decided to shelve the plan — at least until it can gather more information — in response to news stories about the conflicting rules.Mutchler said she might be willing to consider allowing additional charges in the future.

PITTSBURGH — Federal prosecutors said the retrial of celebrity pathologist Cyril Wecht must be held in Erie because the case's publicity makes it impossible to seat an unbiased jury in Pittsburgh.Wecht is accused of using his former Allegheny County coroner's staff and equipment to benefit his lucrative private practice.Wecht's first trial on 41 counts ended in a hung jury earlier this year.Prosecutors are now pursuing only 14 counts in hopes of simplifying the case. A trial date won't be set until a judge decides a defense motion to dismiss the case.The defense claims the government doesn't have enough evidence to take the theft and fraud charges to trial again.The renowned pathologist has consulted on high-profile deaths, including those of Elvis Presley and Jon Benet Ramsey.