DETROIT —  A Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter did not appear at a deposition Thursday to answer questions about unidentified sources, and a lawyer wanting his testimony said he would probably seek a contempt citation.

A federal judge in August said David Ashenfelter of the Detroit Free Press could not cite a reporter's privilege to protect him from a deposition. At issue is material used in a 2004 story about an ethics investigation of a terrorism prosecutor.

"We waited over an hour for Mr. Ashenfelter to show up. My assumption is we'll move to a contempt process," said Stephen Kohn, attorney for the former prosecutor, Richard Convertino.

Convertino wants to know who in the U.S. Justice Department supplied information to the newspaper. He has a lawsuit pending against the government, claiming his privacy rights were violated.

Convertino handled the first major terrorism trial after 9/11, a case stemming from a raid on a Detroit apartment less than a week after the attacks.

Prosecutors said evidence was found suggesting another terrorism plot, but the convictions were eventually thrown out at the government's request because evidence was withheld. Convertino resigned in 2005.

Ashenfelter's lawyer, Herschel Fink, said the other side knew the reporter would not appear. Fink this week asked two judges to intervene, but there have been no rulings so far.

"I told Mr. Kohn in writing twice _ three times _ we would not appear until and unless a judge specifically ordered us to," Fink said. He said Kohn was "playing games."

But Kohn disputed that argument, saying there was no court order relieving him of the obligation to testify.

If Ashenfelter does show up for a deposition, he will refuse to reveal his sources, Fink said.

Kohn said Justice Department employees leaked unflattering information to the Free Press in retaliation for Convertino's complaints to Congress about the government's anti-terrorism efforts.

"We hope that Mr. Ashenfelter and the Detroit Free Press understand that this deposition testimony is serving the public interest and they will reconsider," Kohn said.

When Ashenfelter was at The Detroit News, he was the co-author of a series on the deaths of U.S. Navy seamen that won the newspaper the Pulitzer Prize for public service in 1982.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.