Incident Details
- Date of Incident
- October 5, 2023
- Targets
- KTVT
- Legal Orders
-
-
subpoena
for
communications or work product
- Oct. 5, 2023: Pending
- Oct. 19, 2023: Dropped
-
subpoena
for
communications or work product
- Oct. 5, 2023: Pending
- Oct. 20, 2023: Objected to
- Nov. 16, 2023: Quashed
-
subpoena
for
communications or work product
- Legal Order Target
- Institution
- Legal Order Venue
- State
Subpoena/Legal Order
A portion of Texas prosecutors’ Oct. 5, 2023, subpoena for Fort Worth television station KTVT to turn over video footage in connection with a murder case. The order was set aside in November.
Fort Worth, Texas, television station KTVT was subpoenaed to turn over video footage in connection with a murder case on Oct. 5, 2023, according to court filings. The order was set aside by a judge on Nov. 16.
The subpoena asked for video footage related to a news story, “I Team: A Dallas Murder Mystery…1 Year Later,” that aired in April 2017. The story examined the high-profile 2016 death of Dallas lawyer Ira Tobolowsky.
A separate subpoena, also issued Oct. 5, 2023, asked for a copy of all communications between reporter Ginger Allen and Steven Aubrey, who was arrested on murder charges in the case in 2022 and who pleaded not guilty. That subpoena was withdrawn by the state Oct. 19, Marc Fuller, an attorney for the station, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
The station argued in an Oct. 20 motion to set aside its subpoena that the video footage — which consisted of interviews with the victim’s family members and video of the property where he died, filmed a year later — was not essential to the prosecution’s case and therefore protected under the Texas reporter’s shield law.
Dallas County District Judge Hector Garza granted that motion on Nov. 16.
Texas prosecutors dropped the charges against Aubrey in January 2024; however, they left open the possibility of reinstating the case.
Dallas County prosecutors also issued subpoenas in connection with the case in July 2023 to D Magazine contributing editor Jamie Leigh Thompson, and in October 2023 to D Magazine. The outlet’s order was set aside in November, and the charges were dropped before a court could rule on the substance of Thompson’s challenge.
KTVT did not respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].
