Subpoena for podcast host testimony in murder case quashed

August 10, 2021
A San Luis Obispo County superior judge quashed a subpoena seeking testimony and reporting materials from freelance reporter and podcast host Chris Lambert during hearings around the 1996 disappearance and murder of a California Polytechnic State University student.Lambert’s 2019 podcast, “Your Own Backyard,” chronicled his independent investigation of the murder of Cal Poly student Kristin Smart. In the span of 10 episodes, he interviewed new witnesses whom law enforcement officers had cited as “valuable” in their decision to arrest Paul …

AP reporter subpoenaed for second time in Idaho criminal case

May 27, 2021
Associated Press reporter Keith Ridler was subpoenaed on May 27, 2021, by anti-government activist Ammon Bundy, who was seeking Ridler’s reporting materials and testimony in a criminal case against Bundy in Idaho, according to an AP spokesperson. A judge quashed the subpoena.The subpoena was filed two months after Ada County Magistrate Judge David Manweiler quashed a previous similar subpoena from Bundy.Bundy sought the information in a criminal case against him stemming from protests he led against COVID-19 measures at the …

Roanoke reporter subpoenaed in ongoing defamation suit from ‘Unite the Right’ rally

May 20, 2021
WSLS 10 News reporter Ashley Curtis was among multiple journalists and media outlets subpoenaed on May 20, 2021, for testimony in an ongoing lawsuit stemming from the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017.Hundreds of white nationalists who had flocked to Charlottesville to protest plans to remove a Confederate statue were met by crowds of counterprotesters, Time Magazine reported in 2017, and the resulting violence led Virginia's governor to declare a state of emergency.Plaintiff Brennan Gilmore alleged …

NBC-affiliate reporter in DC subpoenaed in ongoing defamation suit from ‘Unite the Right’ rally

May 20, 2021
NBC4 Washington reporter Julie Carey was among multiple journalists and media outlets subpoenaed on May 20, 2021, for testimony in an ongoing lawsuit stemming from the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017.Hundreds of white nationalists who had flocked to Charlottesville to protest plans to remove a Confederate statue were met by crowds of counter-protesters, Time Magazine reported in 2017, and the resulting violence led Virginia's governor to declare a state of emergency.Plaintiff Brennan Gilmore alleged that …

Judge quashes subpoena of AP reporter in Idaho criminal case

March 10, 2021
Associated Press reporter Keith Ridler was subpoenaed on March 10, 2021, by anti-government activist Ammon Bundy, who was seeking Ridler’s reporting materials and testimony in a criminal case against Bundy in Idaho, the AP reported. An Idaho judge quashed the subpoena on March 15.Bundy sought the information in a criminal case against him stemming from protests he led against COVID-19 measures at the Idaho Statehouse in August.Ridler reported on and photographed Bundy’s arrests, according to the AP. The journalist was …
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