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MISSOULA - Tuesday's hearing on the fate of protection for gray wolves had problems both inside and outside the courtroom.

The scheduled two-hour hearing was to give attorneys time to present their oral arguments on the debate over whether wolves should be taken off the Endangered Species List in Montana and Idaho, but still protected in Wyoming.

But the stuffy courtroom packed with observers proved to be much for one attorney, who actually collapsed.

Molly Knobler, a Stanford legal student, was presenting arguments for the Greater Yellowstone Coalition when she paused to remove her jacket and then fainted as she moved to get a glass of water. Judge Donald Molloy evacuated the courtroom so paramedics could help Knobler. She recovered but had an associate finish her presentation after the 25-minute recess.

Reporters, attorneys and others headed into the hearing were thrown another curve when Molloy suddenly placed a ban on any laptops being allowed in his courtroom, contrary to the policy used in the past. In fact, computers weren't even being allowed in the lobby, or overflow courtroom where people gathered to watch the proceedings outside the actual hearing.

Baliffs gave no reason for the extraordinary step, simply saying Molloy had placed the ban in place "for today".

The move raised some media eyebrows because it goes far beyond the traditional ban on recording equipment and cell phones in federal courtroom. It also happened in a case where there was no need to "protect" a jury from real-time reporting of the hearing.