Plaintiff subpoenas Idaho reporter for materials in defamation case

Kaitlyn Hart, a reporter for EastIdahoNews.com, was subpoenaed by an Idaho business owner on Oct. 18, 2023, ordering that she turn over materials related to her reporting in connection with a defamation case he filed in state court in Pocatello, Idaho.

In the underlying case, the business owner, Kris Taylor, sued Pocatello lawyer Patrick Davis for defamation in August 2023. The suit, ultimately resolved in favor of Davis, was based on comments he had made about an embezzlement trial for a 2022 story written by Hart.

After Taylor sued Davis over the comments, Davis subpoenaed Hart in September 2023, demanding that she turn over recordings of her interview with him, along with all notes and drafts related to the 2022 story.

Taylor then subpoenaed Hart in October seeking the same information, as well as a broad range of other communications related to her reporting for the story.

EastIdahoNews.com editor Nate Sunderland, who wrote about the trial, recounted that, “In both cases, I firmly but politely refused, telling them that ‘as a news agency, it is against our policy to release confidential information between reporters and their sources.’”

Sunderland explained that the outlet was then advised by its attorney, Steve Wright, that it had little chance of successfully challenging the legal orders “due to circumstances specific to this case, and a specific loophole in the law.”

Idaho also did not have a reporter’s shield law in place at the time that would protect journalists from being forced to turn over newsgathering materials.

As a result, EastIdahoNews.com reached an agreement with the two attorneys under which Davis — the original source — would request a copy of the recording of his interview from Hart, which the outlet would turn over to him. Taylor could then subpoena Davis for the recording.

Sunderland told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the outlet turned over the recording to Davis in October 2023. The on-the-record recording of Hart’s interview with Davis was then played at the December 2024 defamation trial.

The outlet received two more legal orders in the case in late 2024, and Sunderland testified in the trial about the size of EastIdahoNews.com in relation to other outlets in Idaho and the number of people who read and commented on Hart’s 2022 article.

“The bottom line is that we pushed back on any request for information regarding the newsgathering or publication of this story,” Wright told the Tracker.

Idaho Press Club President Melissa Davlin told EastIdahoNews.com in December 2024 that the organization has seen an increase in subpoenas of journalists in the state.

“Subpoenas have a chilling effect on sources and whistleblowers, and fighting subpoenas take up time and resources that should be spent reporting the news. Getting a shield law in Idaho is a priority for us,” she said.

At the time, Idaho was one of 10 states that did not have a law protecting journalists or outlets from turning over their sources. That changed in March 2025, when Gov. Brad Little signed Idaho’s reporter’s shield bill into law.