Reporters exempt from testifying in grand jury probe
Confidential: Shield Law protects them from being forced to reveal sources.

By Martha Raffaele
Of The Associated Press
July 18, 2008


A judge threw out subpoenas issued to 15 Pennsylvania journalists who were summoned to testify at a hearing on whether a special prosecutor should be appointed to investigate alleged violations of grand jury secrecy.

Dauphin County Judge Todd Hoover on Thursday quashed the subpoenas that lawyers for Mount Airy Casino Resort owner Louis DeNaples had issued to reporters for The Associated Press and five other news organizations, including The Morning Call.

Hoover is examining allegations by DeNaples' lawyers of leaks in the investigation that led to perjury charges against DeNaples in January.

The reporters' lawyers asked Hoover to quash the subpoenas, which were issued last month and sought the reporters' testimony and documents related to the probe, such as notes, calendars, e-mail messages and telephone records.

The lawyers argued that Pennsylvania's Shield Law protects journalists from being forced to reveal the identities of confidential sources in legal proceedings.

''We're pleased that the court has determined that there was no need to seek the reporters' testimony in this matter,'' Gayle Sproul, a lawyer for The AP and The Morning Call, said in a statement. Morning Call reporters Christina Gostomski and Matt Birkbeck were among those subpoenaed.

Ted Chylack, a member of DeNaples' legal team, said he had not seen Hoover's order and declined to comment Thursday.

DeNaples' attorneys have argued that news stories about the grand jury investigation circulated for months while the secret panel was meeting.

Grand jury proceedings are secret and state law bars prosecutors, court officials or jurors from discussing a grand jury investigation. Witnesses, however, are not barred from discussing their testimony outside the courtroom.

Besides The AP and The Morning Call, subpoenas were served on reporters from The Philadelphia Inquirer; the Philadelphia Daily News; The Citizens' Voice in Wilkes-Barre; and Roxbury News, an Internet broadcast news site based in Harrisburg.

The state Supreme Court ordered Hoover to hold a hearing to determine whether a special prosecutor should be appointed. He has until Aug. 2 to decide.

On June 26, Hoover quashed parts of the subpoenas concerning the documents that the journalists were directed to provide, but did not immediately address the portions seeking their testimony.

Hoover called Roxbury News operator James Roxbury to testify earlier this month at the closed hearing. Roxbury's lawyer has said his client cooperated without compromising his rights under either the Constitution or the Shield Law.

DeNaples, a wealthy Scranton area businessman, faces four perjury counts. He is accused of lying to investigators for the state Gaming Control Board about his relationships with four men to win a $50 million slot-machine gambling license. Two are reputed mobsters and the other two were at the center of a political corruption scandal in Philadelphia.

DeNaples has been suspended from exercising any control over the Poconos casino pending the outcome of the criminal case. The $412 million casino, which opened last fall in Paradise Township, is being run by a state-appointed trustee.

One of DeNaples' longtime friends, the Rev. Joseph Sica, also faces a perjury charge for allegedly lying in his grand jury testimony about his relationship with a mobster.

Also Thursday, lawyers for The Morning Call and The AP asked Hoover to:

Direct DeNaples' legal team to tell Hoover whether it has attempted to obtain reporters' telephone records in a way different from the subpoenas he quashed.

Make public legal documents and transcripts in the case that contain material not covered by grand jury secrecy rules. Now all paperwork is under court seal.

Source: The Morning Call