Paper, TV Station seek to bar newsroom searches

Wednesday, Aug. 18, 1999 | 11:06 a.m.

The Reno Gazette-Journal and KTVN-TV asked Judge Peter Breen on Tuesday to curb the practice.

The issue stems from an attempt by District Attorney Richard Gammick to seize television footage and reporters' notes following interviews Jan. 6 of Christopher Lee Merritt.

Merritt allegedly closed down Interstate 80 west of Reno a few days earlier when he fired shots at cars on the highway.

Merritt gave jailhouse interviews to several reporters and Gammick sought to obtain documentation of those interviews. Merritt faces trial later this year on six counts of attempted murder and other charges.

"If you're going to go to a business engaged in First Amendment activities, you have to subpoena first, and then use a search warrant as a last resort," KTVN lawyer Bill Magrath told the judge.

Magrath and lawyer Phil Bartlett, representing the Gazette-Journal, told Breen a federal law specifically prohibits newsroom searches with a few exceptions, which did not apply in this case.

They asked Breen to enter an order requiring the district attorney's office to alert justices of the peace to the existence of the federal law if newsroom search warrants are sought again.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Thomas Barb said Breen has no jurisdiction over the case because the issue has been resolved. He said Gammick has pledged not to seek newsroom warrants in the future.