 When the judge learned that "Hard Copy" and "Star" tabloids paid a future witness an estimated $100,000 to be interviewed, she eliminated the witness from the trial, potentially affecting the outcome of the case.The hounding of witnesses by the media led California Governor Pete Wilson to immediately sign a bill which henceforth made it illegal for witnesses and jurors in criminal trials to sell their stories until the case is finished.Howard Kurtz is among many journalists who states that paying for news stories, which he says was "essentially invented by the London tabloids," raises questions about their credibility.