Indy dealt blow in photo case

BY COLBY FRAZIER
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

The California Court of Appeal for the 2nd District in Ventura has ruled that it will not hear a case involving the Santa Barbara Independent and its decision to withhold from the Superior Court hundreds of photographs taken of a March crime scene.
The weekly newspaper was ordered by Judge Brian Hill to turn the photos over on Nov. 29, 2007. When it did not, Hill held the paper and its photographer, Paul Wellman in contempt of court.


Michael Cooney, the Independent’s attorney, said the paper plans to appeal Hill’s ruling to the California Supreme Court.
“If you don’t look under every rock you’ll always wonder whether the Supreme Court would have considered this was an appropriate case for review,” he said. “So we’ll at least get an answer to that question.”
Cooney said the court issued a “jacket denial” and did not write an opinion outlining their reasons for rejecting the case. He said three judges signed the document.
The photographs were subpoenaed last October by Deputy Public Defender Karen Atkins, who said the nearly 400 pictures “are likely” to show people and circumstances that are materially relevant to the preparation of the defense for Ricardo Juarez, 14, who has been charged with murdering a 15-year-old boy during a downtown gang brawl on March 14.
Atkins has left few stones unturned in her search for photographs taken on that day. In addition to the Independent, she subpoenaed the Daily Sound’s photographs last summer and those taken by the Santa Barbara News-Press last fall.
Daily Sound Editor and Publisher Jeramy Gordon fought the subpoena until Hill threatened contempt and ordered the paper to hand over the photos. Gordon opted not to appeal he ruling and complied. The News-Press turned its photos over without legal discussion.
Cooney, who also represented the Daily Sound, argued for both papers that turning over unpublished material has possible First Amendment implications that should not be dealt with lightly.
He said there are narrow circumstances when unpublished material can be ordered turned over, but in this case he said Atkins has failed to provide justification for her request.
Independent Executive Editor Nick Welsh said before Atkins is allowed to sift through the paper’s photo files, she’ll have to comply with the law.
“We don’t think that they’re applying the law the way the law is written,” Welsh said. “If they want to go fishing in our photo files we think they need to meet the full letter of the law and the haven’t done it yet.”
Cooney has said he believes the Independent is protected by California’s Journalist Shield Law, which protects journalists from being held in contempt of court for disobeying a subpoena.
Atkins said yesterday that she hopes the Independent will turn the photos over sooner than later.
“I’m trying to get the case ready for trial. I don’t want to have to wait any longer for the pictures and I’m hoping they turn them over,” Atkins said. “It’s time to just do it and let’s move on.”