The War on Information

[TemplarKormac]

Jana Winter was only doing her job when she began reporting on the Aurora, Colorado shooter, James Holmes. She obtained through protected sources a notebook Holmes used to lay out the details of his massacre that night, but as fate would have it, his defense attorneys claimed that Winter violated Holmes' 6th Amendment rights by obtaining this notebook. A judge ordered her to turn over her notes and reveal her sources. So far she is refusing to do so, as she relies on these protected sources for her livelihood. She maintains she has a constitutional right to do so, contrary to a 3-2 lower court ruling in New York stating that Holmes' right to a fair trial trumped her right to protect her sources.

Here we go again.

On Tuesday, Fox News reporter Jana Winter will be back in court, this time in Albany, continuing her fight to avoid jail and protect her confidential sources.

On that day, the New York State Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, will hear her plea to reverse a lower state court ruling which orders her to return to Aurora, Colorado to testify in the trial of James Holmes, the man charged with 166 felony charges, including 24 counts of first degree murder, in the movie theater massacre at a midnight showing of “Batman, The Dark Knight Rises.” Twelve died and over 55 were injured in the attack on July 20, 2012.

Five days after the shooting, Ms. Winter, citing unidentified “law enforcement sources,” reported that Holmes had sent a notebook "full of details about how he was going to kill people" to a University of Colorado psychiatrist before the attack.

The notebook, which may have sat unopened in the university mail room for up to a week before the shooting, she disclosed, contained “drawings of what he was going to do in it -- drawings and illustrations of the massacre," she quoted a law enforcement source as saying, as well as “gun-wielding stick figures blowing away other stick figures.”

While Ms. Winter’s report was a world class scoop, defense attorneys complained that her law enforcement sources had denied Holmes a fair trial by violating the judge’s gag order and leaking her potentially incriminating information.

Now is the time to support Jana Winter | Fox News

 

[Moonglow]

It's evidence.

 

[TemplarKormac]

It's evidence.

And? Is she supposed to be put in jail for doing her job?

 

[Moonglow]

If she refuses to cooperate, yes. Let them try the guy first, then she can do as she wants.

 

[JakeStarkey]

Does the accused's rights to a fair trial trump a reporter's privilege to protect sources?

 

[BlindBoo]

How does this particular violation of a gag order deny Holmes a fair trial?

Better yet why hasn't he been "swaying in the breeze"?

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ld_u-KVVnFQ]Queens of the Stone Age - Hangin' Tree (AOL Sessions, 2002) - YouTube[/ame]

 

[TemplarKormac]

If she refuses to cooperate, yes. Let them try the guy first, then she can do as she wants.

He has already been tried and convicted. The revelation of this notebook may or may not have contributed to the conviction of James Holmes. I mean, the dead bodies littered all over the theater floor that night should have proved enough to try him as well as DNA and fingerprinting done at the crime scene. He would have been convicted by pure forensics alone.

 

[BlindBoo]

If she refuses to cooperate, yes. Let them try the guy first, then she can do as she wants.

He has already been tried and convicted. The revelation of this notebook may or may not have contributed to the conviction of James Holmes. I mean, the dead bodies littered all over the theater floor that night should have proved enough to try him as well as DNA and fingerprinting done at the crime scene. He would have been convicted by pure forensics alone.

.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/01/james-holmes-1st-statemen_n_4196045

 

[HenryBHough]

Press freedom has been dead in America for decades.

I was there to see this one play out and was horrified at the time so recent "enhancements" come as no surprise:

In re Pappas | The Oyez Project at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law

 

[TemplarKormac]

If she refuses to cooperate, yes. Let them try the guy first, then she can do as she wants.

He has already been tried and convicted. The revelation of this notebook may or may not have contributed to the conviction of James Holmes. I mean, the dead bodies littered all over the theater floor that night should have proved enough to try him as well as DNA and fingerprinting done at the crime scene. He would have been convicted by pure forensics alone.

.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/01/james-holmes-1st-statemen_n_4196045

OOPS

Oh, Noes! A 404!

 

[JoeB131]

It's evidence.

And? Is she supposed to be put in jail for doing her job?

No, she's going to be put in jail for refusing to comply with a lawful ruling from a court.

Look, the last thing ANYONE wants is Holmes getting off on a technicality because this dumb bimbo screwed up evidence.

 

[TemplarKormac]

It's evidence.

And? Is she supposed to be put in jail for doing her job?

No, she's going to be put in jail for refusing to comply with a lawful ruling from a court.

Look, the last thing ANYONE wants is Holmes getting off on a technicality because this dumb bimbo screwed up evidence.

You lost me at 'dumb bimbo.'

 

[JoeB131]

Not my fault she is more interested in getting a story than doing the right thing.

 

[TemplarKormac]

Not my fault she is more interested in getting a story than doing the right thing.

Yeah, just like it's not my fault you like to censor the news.

 

[JoeB131]

Not my fault she is more interested in getting a story than doing the right thing.

Yeah, just like it's not my fault you like to censor the news.

What "News" did she actually discover here?

That Holmes was Crazy? We know that.

That he was able to get a gun much too easily. Oh, no, wait you guys don't want to discuss that.

What did she find that enhanced the public's understanding of this case one iota?

But polluting the jury pool, to the point where the guy can have years of appeals, yeah, she's totally all over that.

 

[TemplarKormac]

Not my fault she is more interested in getting a story than doing the right thing.

Yeah, just like it's not my fault you like to censor the news.

What "News" did she actually discover here?

That Holmes was Crazy? We know that.

That he was able to get a gun much too easily. Oh, no, wait you guys don't want to discuss that.

What did she find that enhanced the public's understanding of this case one iota?

But polluting the jury pool, to the point where the guy can have years of appeals, yeah, she's totally all over that.

Ole censor Joe. The right to free press be damned.

 

[NoTeaPartyPleez]

If she refuses to cooperate, yes. Let them try the guy first, then she can do as she wants.

He has already been tried and convicted. The revelation of this notebook may or may not have contributed to the conviction of James Holmes. I mean, the dead bodies littered all over the theater floor that night should have proved enough to try him as well as DNA and fingerprinting done at the crime scene. He would have been convicted by pure forensics alone.

Who has already been tried and convicted?

 

[velvtacheeze]

"When you control the mail, you control information." - Newman.

 

[NoTeaPartyPleez]

Yeah, just like it's not my fault you like to censor the news.

What "News" did she actually discover here?

That Holmes was Crazy? We know that.

That he was able to get a gun much too easily. Oh, no, wait you guys don't want to discuss that.

What did she find that enhanced the public's understanding of this case one iota?

But polluting the jury pool, to the point where the guy can have years of appeals, yeah, she's totally all over that.

Ole censor Joe. The right to free press be damned.

Who has already been tried and convicted?

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

It's evidence.

And? Is she supposed to be put in jail for doing her job?

Your ignorance of the law is no excuse.