BY JOHN NOLAN
The Associated Press
A reporter fired by The Cincinnati Enquirer, which renounced its series questioning the Chiquita company's business practices, asked a judge Tuesday to throw out a subpoena ordering him to appear before a grand jury.
The Hamilton County grand jury is investigating whether property was stolen from Chiquita Brands International Inc.
The lawyer for Mike Gallagher, the lead reporter on the Enquirer series, asked Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge John O'Connor to nullify the subpoena issued by special prosecutor Perry L. Ancona. A hearing was scheduled for July 8.
Neither Mr. Gallagher nor his attorney returned calls. Mr. Gallagher has said his attorney advised him not to comment. Mr. Ancona did not return a message.
In a front-page apology on Sunday, the Enquirer renounced its May 3 series, saying it had discovered the articles were based on illegally obtained voice mail messages. The newspaper also said it would pay more than $10 million to settle any claims by Chiquita, which has not sued.
The Enquirer said it had fired Mr. Gallagher because the paper's management believes he illegally obtained the tapes of Chiquita executives' voice mail messages. The newspaper also said it believes that Mr. Gallagher deceived his editors about how the information was obtained.
Chiquita has accused the Enquirer of stealing the tapes.
The Enquirer's 18-page report accused the company of improper land dealings overseas, involvement in a bribery scheme in Colombia and putting public health at risk with pesticide use on Central American banana farms.
Another former Enquirer reporter, Jeff Harrington, appeared before the grand jury Tuesday. His lawyer, H. Louis Sirkin, said he didn't know why his client had been called to testify. Mr. Harrington left the paper in February and is now a business reporter for the St. Petersburg Times. He was returning to Florida and could not be reached to comment.
Previous stories
Enquirer employees subpoenaed in probe June 30, 1998
Chiquita accepts apology, $10M from Enquirer June 29, 1998
An apology to Chiquita June 28, 1998
