Emails central to Hamilton's appeal

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Emails used to help convict a former Virginia lawmaker of bribery and extortion are central to his appeal.

A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond hears oral arguments in Phillip Hamilton's case Wednesday.

Hamilton was convicted for securing $500,000 in state funds for a teacher training center at Old Dominion University while negotiating a job as the center's director. The Newport News Republican was vice chairman of the House Appropriations Committee at the time.

Hamilton claims emails in which he and his wife discussed their finances and his attempts to get the ODU job shouldn't have been allowed as evidence at his trial. He says they should have been kept private under a protection known as marital privilege.