UPDATES

FLORIDA–Two reporters who were fired by Florida TODAY for allegedly trespassing in the home of a homicide suspect and removing documents filed a defamation suit against the newspaper in late April.

“We never got a chance to explain what happened, so now this suit is a way we can do that,” former TODAY columnist John McAleenan told the Associated Press.

In early February, a Brevard County circuit judge submitted to a grand jury documents that had been voluntarily turned over to the court by Florida TODAY. The documents were allegedly taken from the home of homicide suspect Anita Gonzales by McAleenan and police reporter Kathy Reakes in late January. (McAleenan v. Florida Today; Media Counsel: Richard Cowen, Melbourne)

OREGON–An Oregon state trial judge in early May refused to lift an order barring a sporting goods newsletter from publishing an article about Adidas’s product plans, after the Oregon Supreme Court in early April ordered the lower court to vacate the mid-March gag order or show cause in writing why it had not done so within two weeks.

In a one-sentence order, the trial judge stated only that she had made the correct decision in the underlying case.

The gag order was placed on the newsletter Sporting Goods Intelligence after Adidas America Inc., the sporting goods producer, filed a trade secret misappropriation suit against Sports Management News, Inc., the publisher of the newsletter. The suit was based on an item in the newsletter that briefly discussed new products Adidas would be releasing soon. (Adidas America v. Sports Management News)