Posted on Thu, Nov. 05, 2009

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Dodge City reporter fights subpoena

By Associated Press

DODGE CITY — The Dodge City Daily Globe is challenging a county attorney's efforts to obtain a reporter's notes and testimony about a jailhouse interview she conducted with a man charged in a fatal shooting.

Ford County Attorney Terry Malone issued a subpoena to the Globe and reporter Claire O'Brien, seeking details about an Oct. 7 interview with shooting suspect Samuel Bonilla. An Oct. 13 story in the Globe, based mostly on that interview, included a few statements attributed to anonymous sources.

Bonilla is charged in the shooting over Labor Day weekend of two Dodge City residents, which left one man dead and another wounded. In the interview, Bonilla told O'Brien he acted in self-defense.

Attorney William Hurst, who is representing the Globe and O'Brien, filed a motion this week to quash the subpoena. O'Brien was scheduled to appear at an inquisition this week, but it was postponed to give Malone time to respond to O'Brien's motion.

Hurst's motion contends that Malone is trying to force O'Brien to become an investigative agent for the government, rather than an independent reporter.

Malone said he subpoenaed O'Brien because he needs more information for an investigation of Bonilla's version of events. He also wants her to identify a source who spoke to the Globe on condition of anonymity.

In his motion, Hurst argues that courts have protected journalists from having to testify when the information sought is not essential to the government's case and when it could easily be obtained from other sources.

A hearing on the motion is scheduled for Nov. 20.

Malone said he and Hurst may be able to find a way to allow him to obtain the information he wants without requiring O'Brien to turn over her notes and testify.

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