Federal appeals court opens jailed writer's hearing to public

By The Associated Press,
freedomforum.org staff

08.15.01

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Vanessa Leggett fights back tears during interview yesterday at federal detention center in Houston.

HOUSTON — Late yesterday afternoon, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed course and decided to allow the public access to today's oral arguments in the case of jailed writer Vanessa Leggett.

Leggett, 33, has spent nearly a month behind bars since a federal judge found her in contempt of court for refusing to give a federal grand jury interviews she conducted for a book on a Houston society murder.

Leggett cited the First Amendment as protection when she refused to turn over the interviews, which she said would compromise confidential sources as well as strip her of material needed to write a book about the death of Doris Angleton.

An emergency motion challenging the closing of the courtroom was filed Aug. 13 on behalf of ABC Inc., the Associated Press, Belo Corp., CBS News, National Broadcasting Co. Inc., the New York Times Co., the Society of Professional Journalists and Tribune Co. The motion said Leggett's right to a public hearing overrode the remote possibility that grand jury information might be disclosed during arguments.

The court, in agreeing to open the hearing, said it would take precautions to make sure secret grand jury matters were not discussed. The hearing before a three-judge panel of the court is scheduled for 3 p.m. CDT in Houston.

The appeals court's order last week denying requests by news organizations to argue on Leggett's behalf remained in effect.

"What is at stake here is a free and independent press," Leggett said in an interview yesterday at the federal detention center where she's been held since July 20.

"No one would know of my situation — because these proceedings have been closed and sealed — if not for the press," she said.

Leggett's attorney, Mike DeGuerin, criticized the government's efforts to secure his client's materials.

"They are annexing the press to become an investigative arm of the government. Her interest in writing a book to the public — an accurate account of this murder — is different from the government's interest of prosecuting somebody," DeGuerin said.

"The press should be a watchdog of the government, not its lapdog," he said.

"The government wants a monopoly on information and I think, I'm in their eyes in violation of possessing information with the intent to distribute it to the public," Leggett said. "That's not in line with the way they usually conduct their investigations."

The Justice Department declined to comment on the case because it is still being investigated, spokeswoman Norma Lacy said yesterday.

The Houston Chronicle reported yesterday that U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, is asking the Department of Justice and Attorney General John Ashcroft to review the case. According to the newspaper, Jackson Lee visited Leggett and questioned whether she had been denied due process by being held without bond.

Leggett said she had planned to finish her first-person book this summer, but has been delayed by her ongoing "fight with the government."

Robert Angleton and his brother, Roger, were charged with capital murder following Doris Angleton's death. State prosecutors alleged that Robert Angleton hired his brother to kill his wife to prevent her from getting millions of dollars in a divorce settlement.

Doris Angleton was found shot to death in her River Oaks home April 16, 1997. Roger Angleton committed suicide in the Harris County Jail in February 1998, before his trial. But he left behind notes confessing to shooting his sister-in-law. Roger Angleton wrote that he planned the murder and framed his brother to extort money from him. He also spoke with Leggett before his suicide.

Leggett said under the threat of arrest, she gave state investigators tapes of her interviews with Roger Angleton. The tapes now have been given to federal prosecutors, but Leggett says they still want more.

"What the subpoena presently is seeking is any and all interviews with anyone related to my book," she told the Associated Press yesterday. "It's limitless essentially. This is not just a handful of people we are talking about. This is research that I conducted over the last four years in six states."

Federal prosecutors contend Leggett is not a journalist and therefore does not fall under the First Amendment's protections.

Leggett has taught syntax to technical writers as well as criminology and police courses, but she has not published a book or news articles.

University of Kansas journalism professor Ted Frederickson said what Leggett has or hasn't published doesn't matter.

"Everybody falls under the First Amendment," he said. "The First Amendment protects the freedom of expression and the freedom of press for everyone. We don't license journalists."

Leggett isn't expecting to be released anytime soon. She says she's willing to stay as long it takes to make clear the importance of the First Amendment.

"I believe in what I'm doing," she said. "They can keep me incarcerated. They can put me wherever they want to put me, and they can change my environment, but they can't change my mind."

Update

Jailed writer presents First Amendment argument to appeals panel
‘You're swimming upstream,’ 5th Circuit judge tells Vanessa Leggett’s defense attorney.  08.16.01

Previous

News organizations appeal for public hearing for jailed writer
Motion contends constitutional interests override any possibility that grand jury information might be disclosed during oral arguments.  08.14.01

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Jailing of Texas writer sets journalists on dangerous path
Commentary Move by Justice Department against Vanessa Leggett threatens foundation of free press.  08.11.01