Judge stays secret docs order in US terror case

A federal judge says she won't immediately implement her ruling that gives lawyers for a Chicago terrorism suspect access to documents showing the US government's legal justification for spying on the man.

During a status hearing today in Chicago, US District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman granted a government motion to stay her ruling as its appeal on the matter is decided.

Lawyers for the US government filed the appeal late yesterday in the case of 20-year-old Adel Daoud. He denies trying to detonate a car bomb outside a Chicago bar in 2012.

In her January ruling, Coleman said giving Daoud's attorneys that level of access would help ensure a fair trial. She said her ruling last month was the first time a defence attorney had ever been granted such access.