NEWS MEDIA UPDATE Michigan · April 30, 2009 · Reporter's privilege
Convertino turns to editors in bid to ID sources
Keywords: Confidential source issues
Attorneys for Richard Convertino, the former prosecutor who until last week was locked in a subpoena battle with a Detroit Free Press reporter over confidential sources, indicated in a court motion Wednesday they will now pursue editors at the paper for the sources' names.
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Their shift in attention comes days after reporter David Ashenfelter avoided having to reveal the names at a deposition, successfully invoking the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Convertino is suing the government under the Privacy Act; he claims its employees illegally leaked to Ashenfelter information about an investigation into Convertino's conduct in a high-profile terrorism trial. The former prosecutor wants Ashenfelter to identify the leakers to boost the lawsuit.
Ashenfelter first tried without success to invoke a First Amendment-based reporter's privilege in an attempt to keep his sources secret. He then turned to the Fifth Amendment.
Convertino's attorneys on Wednesday renewed a 2007 motion seeking the testimony of Ashenfelter's editors, as well as all relevant documents, records and phone logs held by the newspaper. They argued that neither a First Amendment-based privilege nor the Fifth Amendment should shield the editors.
— Kathleen Cullinan, 5:52 pm · Comments: 0
Copyright 2009 The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
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