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Northeast
State of Connecticut v. Golder, Case No. FST-CR07- 161593 (Conn. Super. Ct. Stamford/Norwalk 2008). LSKS successfully opposed a motion seeking issuance of a subpoena for the testimony and notes of an Associated Press reporter who had conducted a jail house interview with the criminal defendant. In the first test of Connecticut’s recently enacted shield law, Superior Court Judge John F. Kavanewsky Jr. held that the law, which allows prosecutors to use reporters’ notes or testimony only as a last resort, applied and denied the state’s motion to compel the reporter to testify at trial, finding that the state had failed to make the required showing.
In re Subpoena Directed to CBS News (United Auto Group, Inc. v. Ewing), 34 Media L. Rep. (BNA) 1801 (S.D.N.Y. 2006). LSKS represented CBS News in resisting a subpoena calling for all outtakes from a 60 Minutes broadcast concerning pricing practices in the auto industry. The court (then-Judge, and later United States Attorney General, Michael Mukasey) denied the plaintiff’s motion to compel, holding that the non-confidential information sought was protected by New York’s shield law.
Cumia v. Cumia, 730 N.Y.S.2d 513 (N.Y. App. Div. 2001). LSKS successfully represented Infinity Broadcasting Corporation in its motion to quash a subpoena seeking the testimony of four Infinity executives in a divorce action.
In re Trump (Subpoenas to Sulzberger and Keller), Index. No. 103939/08 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 2008). LSKS represented the publisher and executive editor of The New York Times when subpoenas were issued to them by Donald Trump in connection with a libel lawsuit Trump was pursuing in New Jersey against a Times reporter who had written a biography of Trump for Warner Books. The firm convinced the New York court to quash entirely the subpoena to executive editor Bill Keller and to severely limit the questioning of Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger, even though the New Jersey court had previously reviewed the scope of the discovery and authorized the depositions to go forward.
In re Subpoena to Huddy, 32 Media L. Rep. (BNA) 1994 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 2004). LSKS represented Good Housekeeping and one of its editors in resisting a subpoena issued in a products liability action for testimony, notes and records about the magazine’s investigation into the flammability of children’s sleepwear. The court quashed the subpoena, holding that the unpublished materials sought were protected by New York’s shield law.
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Mid-Atlantic
Judith Miller v. United States, 545 U.S. 1150 (2005). LSKS represented a coalition of media organizations, including ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, The Associated Press, Gannett, Hearst Corporation and the Washington Post, among many others, in urging the Supreme Court to accept review of contempt citations issued against reporters for The New York Times and Time magazine. The reporters faced incarceration for refusing to disclose the identities of confidential sources to a grand jury investigating whether Bush Administration officials unlawfully revealed the identity of a CIA operative as retaliation against her husband, Ambassador Joseph Wilson.
Lee v. United States Department of Justice, 413 F.3d 53 (D.C. Cir.), reh’g en banc denied 428 F.3d 299 (D.C. Cir. 2005), cert. denied, 126 S. Ct. 2351 (2006); 287 F. Supp. 2d 15 (D.D.C. 2003); 327 F. Supp. 2d 26 (D.D.C. 2004). LSKS represented Bob Drogin of the Los Angeles Times and Josef Hebert of The Associated Press in their effort to resist compelled disclosure of confidential sources of information concerning Dr. Wen Ho Lee, a scientist who was once suspected of allegedly spying for China while employed at the Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory in New Mexico. Both journalists were held in contempt for declining to reveal their sources.
United States v. Whitmore, 359 F.3d 609 (D.C. Cir. 2004), aff’g 32 Media L. Rep. (BNA) 1402 (D.D.C. 2002). LSKS represented a Washington City Paper reporter when a criminal defendant subpoenaed him to testify at trial concerning his reporting about a police officer who was a government witness. The District of Columbia Circuit affirmed an order quashing the subpoena.
United States v. Libby, 475 F. Supp. 2d 73 (D.D.C. 2007); 432 F. Supp. 2d 26 (D.D.C. 2006). LSKS represented several journalists who were subpoenaed in the prosecution of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Vice President Cheney’s former chief of staff. The court quashed the defendant’s subpoenas for documents and issued rulings during the trial restricting the defendant’s ability to elicit testimony from those journalists.
Wheeler v. Goulart, 593 A.2d 173 (D.C. 1991). LSKS attorneys argued on behalf of a coalition of news organizations as amicus curiae that a First Amendment privilege protected a newspaper reporter from being compelled to testify about a confidential source. The case led to the passage of D.C.’s shield law.
Bilaal v. Abell, No. 04-7225 (D.C. Super. Ct. July 27, 2005). LSKS represented CBS in a civil case in which the defendants sought outtakes of a CBS Evening News interview with some of the plaintiffs. The court denied the defendants’ motion to compel CBS’s compliance with the subpoena.
Cooke v. Cooke, No. 98 Misc. 90 (D.C. Super. Ct. 1998). LSKS represented Vanity Fair and its reporter Judy Bachrach when executors of the estate of former Washington Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke sought to compel Ms. Bachrach to reveal confidential information she had obtained in the course of reporting on the estate’s dispute with the former Mrs. Cooke. The court denied the executors’ motion.
Castellani v. The Scranton Times, L.P., --- A.2d ----, 2008 WL 4351142 (Pa. Sept. 24, 2008). LSKS filed an amicus brief with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on behalf of a coalition of Pennsylvania and national media organizations in a case in which the Court ruled that the state’s Shield Law absolutely protects confidential sources in civil cases, even when the confidential source allegedly leaked secret grand jury information or committed a crime in providing information to a reporter.
Commonwealth v. Sica, DeNaples, and Mt. Airy # 1, LLC, Nos. CP-22-MD-22-2008, -165-2008, -166-2008 (Pa. Ct. Com. Pl. 2008). LSKS attorneys successfully defended The Associated Press, The Morning Call, and three of their reporters who were served with subpoenas in a high-profile inquiry into alleged grand jury leaks. The inquiry was ordered by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in a case in which three defendants were charged with perjury following an investigation into the first license granted to a freestanding casino in Pennsylvania. The judge presiding over the inquiry granted the reporters’ motion to quash the subpoenas, which had called for them to testify and produce extensive evidence about their sources and newsgathering.
Fledderman v. Glunk, August Term 2001, No. 3619 (Pa. Ct. Com. Pl. 2004). LSKS successfully defended against a motion to compel the production of outtakes after a television station in Philadelphia broadcast a report about this malpractice litigation.
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South
United States v. Julie Hyatt Steele, No. 99-9-A (E.D. Va. 1999). LSKS successfully represented CBS in its motion to quash defendant Julia Hyatt Steele’s subpoena to produce the outtakes of a 60 Minutes interview with prosecution witness Kathleen Willey.
Cooke v. Cooke, No. 97-101 (Va. Cir. Ct. 1998). LSKS represented freelance author Adrian Havill in his successful effort to resist a subpoena seeking to compel him to disclose confidential sources for his reporting related to the late Washington Redskins owner, Jack Kent Cooke.
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Midwest
Smith v. Advocate Health Care Network, No. 01 L 011814 (Ill. Cir. Ct. 2004). LSKS represented CBS when the defendant in a medical malpractice case subpoenaed its Chicago television station to produce outtakes of its investigative reporter’s interview with the plaintiff. The court quashed the subpoena.
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West
Donohue v. Hoey, No. 02-1405 (10th Cir. 2004), available at http://www.kscourts.org/ca10/cases/2004/09/02-1405.htm. LSKS attorneys represented The Associated Press and Grand Junction Sentinel reporters in quashing subpoenas to the reporters in a civil rights action.
United States v. Wuterich (W. Jud. Cir., N.M. Trial Jud. 2008). LSKS represented CBS News in its efforts to quash a subpoena by military prosecutors for outtakes of a 60 Minutes interview with a marine staff sergeant charged with killing innocent civilians in Haditha, Iraq. The court-martial quashed the subpoena.
Condit v. National Enquirer, Inc., 289 F. Supp. 2d 1175 (E.D. Cal. 2003). LSKS attorneys successfully defended against a motion by the plaintiff, the wife of former congressman Gary Condit, seeking to compel a reporter to divulge the name of his confidential source.
United States v. Martin, No. 98-5061 (C.D. Cal. 2000). LSKS represented CBS in a criminal case in which the defendant sought outtakes of a 60 Minutes interview with a prosecution witness. The court granted CBS’s motion to quash the defendant’s subpoena.
People v. O.J. Simpson, 23 Media L. Rep. (BNA) 2552 (Cal. Super. Ct. 1995). LSKS attorneys represented Penthouse reporter Joseph Bosco when O.J. Simpson subpoenaed him to testify at Mr. Simpson’s criminal trial concerning an article reporting a police officer’s misinformation about DNA evidence. The court permitted Mr. Bosco to invoke the reporter’s privilege and protect the identities of his confidential sources.
Artes-Roy v. City of Aspen, 20 Media L. Rep. (BNA) 1647 (D. Colo. 1992). LSKS attorneys represented a newspaper in obtaining an order quashing a subpoena issued to a reporter.
Gagnon v. District Court, 632 P.2d 567 (Colo. 1981). LSKS attorneys prepared an amicus brief on behalf of the Colorado Press Association in a case that gave limited recognition to a reporter’s privilege in Colorado.
Bizub v. Patterson (Colo. Dist. Ct., El Paso Cty. 2008). LSKS represented the Colorado Springs Gazette in a civil case in which the plaintiff sought the e-mail and IP addresses of anonymous posters to the newspaper’s website. The court quashed the subpoena.
Denver Post Corp. v. Colorado Civil Rights Division, 22 Media L. Rep. (BNA) 2478 (Colo. Dist. Ct., Denver Cty. 1994). LSKS attorneys represented a newspaper in quashing an administrative subpoena issued by a civil rights commission seeking the identity of the purchaser of a “black box” advertisement.
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