Incident Details
- Date of Incident
- August 20, 2021
- Targets
- Gladys Bautista (KRCG)
- Legal Orders
-
-
subpoena
for
other testimony
- Aug. 20, 2021: Pending
- Oct. 20, 2021: Carried out
-
subpoena
for
other testimony
- Legal Order Target
- Journalist
- Legal Order Venue
- State
Subpoena/Legal Order
A judge in Missouri has allowed a reporter to be subpoenaed to give evidence at a murder trial.
The prosecutors have subpoenaed Gladys Bautista, a former reporter for CBS affiliate KRCG 13 in Columbia, Missouri. Bautista, now a reporter for WLKY in Louisville, Kentucky, will be asked to return to Columbia to attend the trial, according to a report by KRCG.
The Boone County prosecutor’s office confirmed that the court had signed an order for the subpoena on Aug. 20, 2021.
Prosecutors charged Joseph Elledge with first-degree murder in the 2019 death of his wife, Mengqi Ji.
Prosecutors said exclusive interview footage with Bautista showed Elledge was lying when he said he didn’t know his wife’s whereabouts after reporting her missing.
The murder trial is scheduled to begin on Nov. 1, the report said.
Bautista and KRCG did not reply to requests from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker for a comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].
