Journalists found in contempt for interviewing juror in murder case
By The Associated Press
06.18.02
Editor's note: On June 20, Philadelphia Inquirer reporters George Anastasia, Joseph Gambardello, Emilie Lounsberry and Dwight Ott were fined $1,000 each. Anastasia was also ordered to perform five days of community service, while Ott and Lounsberry were each given 10 days. Gambardello was only fined because there was no evidence he contacted a juror. Lawyers for the reporters indicated they would appeal.
CAMDEN, N.J. — Four Philadelphia Inquirer reporters could be sentenced to up to six months in jail for writing a story that included an interview with one juror and the name of another in the sensational murder trial of a rabbi.
Superior Court Judge Theodore Z. Davis ruled that George Anastasia, Emilie Lounsberry and Dwight Ott contacted jurors after the trial in violation of an order from Superior Court Judge Linda G. Baxter.
Baxter presided over the case of Rabbi Fred J. Neulander, who was accused of arranging his wife's killing. The case ended in a mistrial in November after the jury deadlocked.
The three reporters were also held in contempt of court yesterday along with a fourth, Joseph Gambardello, for publishing the name of a juror after the trial. The jurors' identities were supposed to be secret.
Besides facing jail time, the reporters could be fined up to $1,000 at their sentencing June 20.
The four were listed as co-authors of a story exploring whether the jury forewoman lived in Pennsylvania rather than New Jersey.
The reporters' conduct "strongly suggests an arrogance which should not and must not be judicially digested," Davis wrote. "For to do so would be an abdication of the court's constitutional responsibility to maintain a viable, fair and operational judicial system."
Inquirer deputy managing editor Hank Klibanoff said there was no immediate decision on whether to appeal.
"The testimony I heard in this case showed that Inquirer reporters acted courteously, honestly and in the highest journalistic traditions in their reporting following the Neulander trial," he said.
Before the trial began, Baxter banned reporters from contacting jurors during or after the trial.
After the article at issue was published, the New Jersey Supreme Court in April ruled that Baxter had the authority to bar reporters from contacting jurors, but said the order should expire when the jury reaches a verdict in Neulander's retrial, which is scheduled for September. The high court threw out the ban on publishing or broadcasting the names or images of the jurors.
New Jersey Deputy Attorney General Eric Schweiker had argued that the reporters should be held in contempt because the order was in effect at the time they violated it.
First Amendment experts said Baxter's order and Davis' decision yesterday were rare and troubling restrictions of news media freedom.
"It's unusual to the point of being bizarre," said Jonathan Kotler, director of graduate and professional programs at the University of Southern California and a lawyer who frequently represents news organizations in First Amendment cases. "Normally, what happens is the jurors are told not to talk to the press."
Yesterday's ruling brought to five the number of reporters held in contempt for their reporting on the Neulander case. Carol Saline, a writer for Philadelphia Magazine, was fined $1,000 for approaching a juror before deliberations ended.