Post Reporter's Notes Subpoenaed By Air Force

Denver Post ^ | November 28, 2004 | Mike McPhee

[Former Military Chick]

The notes taken by a Denver Post reporter while reporting the alleged gang rape of an 18-year-old woman at a U.S. Air Force base in north Texas have been subpoenaed by one of the four men accused of the rape.

The Post has refused the request, citing protection under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. A hearing in Texas is scheduled tentatively for later this week.

Reporter Miles Moffeit wrote in March that Leah Kaelin said she was gang-raped in June 2003 by four fellow airmen stationed at Sheppard Air Force Base.

The story focused on the alleged rape, the eight months that military investigators took to analyze the evidence, and the fear Kaelin lived with after reporting the incident.

In February, Moffeit disclosed a string of sexual assaults at the base. It wasn't until after he questioned Sheppard officials about their handling of sexual assaults that Sheppard contacted Kaelin to say the base was prosecuting her case.

Airman Matthew Monroe was charged in connection with the rape and faces a general court-martial at Sheppard. On Nov. 17, a judge advocate for the Air Force demanded that all "notes, memoranda, videotapes, audiotapes and any other information and documents" gathered by Moffeit be turned over to the Air Force by last Tuesday.

This is believed to be one of only a handful of cases in which the military has sought the unpublished materials of a reporter. In most of the cases, the military courts have ruled such materials are protected from disclosure.

Attorneys Tom Kelley and Steve Zansberg, representing The Post, filed a motion Tuesday calling the request a "blatant fishing expedition." They argued that the airman's defense counsel were looking for unpublished material in Moffeit's files that might exonerate Monroe or cast doubt on the prosecution's case.

Any unpublished information that Kaelin gave the reporter is protected by the First Amendment, the lawyers wrote.

"The trust that is essential to establishing and maintaining relationships with such sources is compromised if the source believes she may be speaking to a witness in a court proceeding," they wrote.

They also argued that the defense was merely guessing what information is in the notes, hence the "fishing expedition."

[Former Military Chick]

I wonder who will prevail in the end?

[muawiyah]

Someone on trial has the constitutional right to compel witnesses. The "posties" will fight it and their reporter will have to go to jail for contempt.

What it is ~ "posties" don't care for justice ~ not just "about justice", "for justice". Their owners, editors, reporters and circulation personnel would just as soon this guy be tossed into a dungeon for life.

The judge should make sure this female reporter gets to mix with the general population in the jail. I'm sure she'd be real popular when it comes out that she's hiding information that might free a prisoner.

[Wings-n-Wind]

Presumption of innocence will prevail....

Discovery is important... and if these materials are not given to the defense... they will have grounds for dismissal...

Perp will likely go free unless the press cooperates...

[SteveMcKing]

O.S.I. don't play.

[Gunrunner2]

>> They argued that the airman's defense counsel were looking for unpublished material in Moffeit's files that might exonerate Monroe or cast doubt on the prosecution's case. <<

Heaven forbid there might be something in those notes that would exonerate the Airman.