Federal judge orders Tribune reporter to turn over notes

Update (12/14/2011): U.S. Judge James Zagel has ruled that Chicago Tribune reporter Annie Sweeney will not be compelled to turn over her notes regarding a juror in the felony trial of William Cellini, the Tribune reports. Reconsidering the order issued on Monday requiring Sweeney's notes, Zagel stated that the juror did not discuss her prior felony convictions, which she failed to disclose before or during Cellini's trial, in any material way with Sweeney.

A federal judge has ordered that a reporter for the Chicago Tribune turn over her notes Wednesday morning regarding a juror in a high profile criminal trial who apparently concealed prior felony convictions, the Tribune reports.

U.S. District Judge James Zagel issued an order requiring reporter Annie Sweeney to "produce any and all notes, memoranda, tape recordings, documents, or other records" of conversations she had with Candy Chiles, a juror in the extortion case against William Cellini. Cellini, who is not a public official, was convicted last month on charges that sprang from the same investigation that led to the conviction of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

In court documents filed today, attorneys for the Tribune said that they intend to appear before Judge Zagel Wednesday morning to present an emergency motion to quash the subpoena. "Subpoenae to journalists should be a last resort in exceptional cases -- not an automatic first step."

In a statement posted to the Tribune's website, Sweeney recounted her interaction with Chiles. Sweeney reports that she approached Chiles at her home, saying "I am not here to judge, but we know about your convictions. And now there are questions about whether you were eligible to serve on the jury."

In response, Chiles "began repeating the word no and indicated that she did not want to be interviewed."

After speaking to Chiles for a brief time, during which "she kept asking [Sweeney] to leave," Sweeney left without getting a meaningful statement from Chiles.

In a prepared statement, Tribune editor Gerould Kern said, "Journalists must be free to ask questions and collect information secure in the knowledge that their notes will not be seized by the government or litigants in court and used for other purposes. Unfortunately, that security now is threatened by this ruling. . . . We argued in our court filing that there are other, more direct sources of information available to learn about the juror's record and actions. These include the court's jury selection records, the juror herself, her friends and family, and her fellow jurors. Public court records also are available to everyone in this case, as they were to us when we revealed the felony convictions in our Nov. 11 story. "