A military appeals court has ruled against CBS in a battle over unaired portions of a "60 Minutes" interview with a key figure in the 2005 slaying of 24 Iraqis in the city of Haditha.

The U.S. Navy-Marine Corps Court of Appeals rejected the network's claim of reporter privilege in its battle with Marine Corps prosecutors who want access to the outtakes of Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich's interview.

Wuterich is charged with nine counts of voluntary manslaughter and related offenses in the incident that was triggered by a roadside bombing that killed one Marine and injured two others. His case has been on hold while the network and prosecutors battle over the interview's outtakes.

In a ruling issued Aug. 31, the court turned aside a CBS argument that the First Amendment provides reporter privilege that would allow the network to refuse to share the outtakes, which prosecutors contend could contain material that would help them prove their case.

A military judge at Camp Pendleton had ruled three of eight interview segments were relevant and said the judge's ruling that quashed a subpoena for that material was inappropriate.

The network can appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, which last year directed the military judge to review the outtakes in chambers before deciding if they were relevant. After doing so, the judge, now retired Lt. Col. Jeffrey Meeks, quashed the subpoena, prompting prosecutors to appeal.

Calls to CBS attorneys to see if they plan to fight the ruling were not immediately returned.

Wuterich's case is not expected to be back in court at Camp Pendleton until sometime late this year or early next year. A CBS appeal of this latest ruling could delay it even further.

Wuterich headed a 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment squad from Camp Pendleton that was attacked and stormed a series of homes adjacent to the bombing in a hunt for their attackers. Four men who emerged from a car immediately after the bombing and 19 others, including several women and children, were among those slain inside the homes the Marines assaulted.

Wuterich is the only man still facing criminal charges. Cases brought against three other enlisted men were dropped. Three officers accused of offenses related to failing to investigate the killings had charges dismissed and a fourth was exonerated at trial.

Call staff writer Mark Walker at 760-740-3529.