Reporter fights subpoenas to reveal sources in drug case

An Ohio newspaper is fighting two subpoenas requiring one of its reporters to testify in the trials of seven defendants accused of drug trafficking.

The Mount Vernon News filed two motions on Friday in support of its reporter, Anton Hepler. The first asks the court to require the prosecutor to show why Helper needs to testify and the other responds to the prosecutor’s threat to get a court order to ban Helper from watching the trial.

The subpoenas are in response to an article Hepler wrote on Jan. 4 about the Mount Vernon police using informants to make drug busts. The first trial begins today.