Idaho outlet subpoenaed for communications in defamation case

Idaho Falls’ Post Register was subpoenaed by the plaintiff in a Pocatello, Idaho, defamation case on April 19, 2024, seeking the outlet’s communications with the suit’s defendants and another news outlet.

In the underlying state court case, business owner Kris Taylor named lawyer Patrick Davis in a lawsuit in August 2023 accusing him of defamation. The suit, ultimately resolved in favor of Davis, was based on comments he had made about an embezzlement trial for a 2022 story published in EastIdahoNews.com.

After the defamation suit was filed, both Taylor and Davis subpoenaed EastIdahoNews.com reporter Kaitlyn Hart, who had interviewed Davis in connection with the case; Hart later turned over her recording of the interview to Davis at his request.

Separately, EastIdahoNews.com editor Nate Sunderland was deposed and testified in court in 2024 about how widely the story was distributed.

The April 2024 subpoena to the Post Register sought written communications that could relate to the defamation case, according to court documents reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. These included communications between the outlet’s employees and Davis and Kevin Ball, another defendant.

It also asked for written communications between staff at the Post Register and the Idaho State Journal — another outlet that received a subpoena the same day — related to Ball or Taylor, as well as other materials related to reporting on the plaintiff and defendants in the defamation case.

Vaughn Fisher, Taylor’s attorney, told the Tracker that the subpoenas were issued to learn if Davis had made allegedly defamatory comments to the Post Register and the Idaho State Journal. The attorney said Davis denied making such comments, and that Davis gave the outlets permission to turn over his communications with them.

Fisher said he did not recall that the Post Register had anything to provide, but that an editor at the Idaho State Journal, Shelbie Harris, turned over email exchanges with Davis, after Davis gave him permission to do so.

The Post Register did not respond to a request for comment.