Friday, March 26, 1999
Ban asked on reporters' testimony
Promised anonymity, defendant argues
BY DAN HORN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A Salt Lake City attorney says two former Cincinnati Enquirer reporters will violate Ohio law if they name him in court as a source for their articles about Chiquita Brands International Inc.
The attorney, George Ventura, asked a judge Thursday to prevent the reporters from testifying at his trial next month.
In a motion filed in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court, Mr. Ventura's lawyers argue that he is protected by an Ohio law that allows reporters to “shield” the identity of confidential sources.
The motion states that any violation of the shield law would compromise the ability of newspapers and other media to gather important information.
“The reporters and/or the prosecution are barred from disclosing his name as a source in the course of this proceeding,” the motion states.
Mr. Ventura is accused of providing the reporters with access codes to Chiquita's computerized voice-mail system.
The reporters, Michael Gallagher and Cameron McWhirter, wrote articles about Chiquita that quoted from messages taken from the voice-mail boxes of company executives.
The newspaper later renounced the articles, apologized to the company and paid Chiquita more than $10 million. It also fired Mr. Gallagher, who has since pleaded guilty to two charges accusing him of accessing the voice-mail system.
Mr. McWhirter was not charged with a crime and now works for the Detroit News.
Although both reporters have signed cooperation agreements with prosecutors, only Mr. Gallagher's re quires him to identify sources.
“I'm not going to reveal any sources,” Mr. McWhirter said Thursday. “(My) agreement preserves the shield law.”
But Mr. Ventura's motion argues that the agreements put him at risk because, prior to the articles' publication, both reporters promised him they would never reveal his identity.
“Whatever information was provided to the Enquirer's reporters by Mr. Ventura ... was provided upon the strict condition and with the express agreement between the parties that Mr. Ventura would remain a confidential news source,” the motion states.
Judge Ann Marie Tracey is expected to rule on the request before Mr. Ventura's trial on April 19.
At a hearing before the judge Thursday, Mr. Ventura's lawyers also asked the judge to order prosecutors to hand over the names of any other sources Mr. Gallagher may have revealed to investigators.
“We believe the reporters had multiple sources for accessing the voice-mail accounts at Chiquita,” said John Feldmeier, one of Mr. Ventura's lawyers.
Prior to the hearing, Mr. Gallagher appeared before Judge Richard Niehaus to discuss the status of his plea deal with prosecutors. Since the deal requires Mr. Gallagher to aid prosecutors, his sentencing was delayed until after Mr. Ventura's trial.
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