San Diego

Cyrus Zal, a lawyer ordered to serve 90 days in jail for repeatedly ignoring a judge’s orders not to discuss abortion at a recent trial in which he defended anti-abortion demonstrators, won the right Monday to put off serving his sentence while he appeals.

In a brief order issued late Monday, the 4th District Court of Appeal in San Diego ordered the sentence postponed indefinitely while it considers Zal’s appeal of the sentence, imposed by El Cajon Municipal Judge Larrie R. Brainard Jr.

The judge, who cited Zal for contempt 20 times during a trial that concluded last week, sentenced him Friday to the 90-day term and ordered him to pay a $10,000 fine.

Brainard hit Zal with the contempt citations each time the lawyer ignored his order not to discuss abortion at the trial, where Zal’s clients were charged with trespass stemming from a blockade Oct. 21 at a medical clinic in La Mesa.

Six of Zal’s clients were found guilty of trespass and sentenced to jail or probation. Among those was James Holman, 43, the publisher of the Reader, a San Diego weekly newspaper, who was sent to jail for 30 days.

Zal, 42, a Folsom, Calif.-based lawyer, is known for making it clear he wishes to use the trials of anti-abortion demonstrators as a platform for debating and condemning abortion.