Federal magistrate: Confidential source dispute should go to trial

By The Associated Press

08.06.02

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Editor's note: The Associated Press reported that U.S. District Judge Herman Weber on Feb. 11, 2003, dismissed the lawsuit by former Chiquita banana company lawyer George Ventura accusing The Cincinnati Enquirer of exposing him to prosecution by failing to protect his identity as a confidential source. Weber ruled that no reasonable jury could conclude that the newspaper breached a promise not to identify Ventura as the source for articles about Chiquita Brands International. The judge said that no documents supplied by the newspaper identified Ventura as a source and that the Enquirer wasn't responsible for the identification of Ventura to authorities by a reporter who had already been fired by the paper.

CINCINNATI — A magistrate has recommended a trial for some claims in a lawsuit accusing The Cincinnati Enquirer of revealing the identity of a confidential source.

The lawsuit was filed in 1999 by George Ventura, a former lawyer with Chiquita Brands International Inc.

Ventura said he provided information for articles the Enquirer published in 1998 that criticized Chiquita for alleged improper business practices in Central America. The newspaper later apologized to the company, renounced the stories and paid Chiquita $14 million.

Ventura said the newspaper broke a promise to protect his identity and exposed him to criminal prosecution. He pleaded no contest in 1999 to charges he tried to gain unauthorized access to computer systems and was sentenced to probation.

The newspaper's attorneys had asked U.S. District Magistrate Jack Sherman to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that Ventura became the target of a criminal investigation because of his own actions. The attorneys also have said the newspaper did not give prosecutors any information or notes that would reveal Ventura as a confidential source.

In a report released July 25, Sherman recommended an October trial on Ventura's claims that the newspaper broke promises of anonymity.

U.S. District Judge Herman J. Weber will make the final decision. The suit seeks unspecified damages.

Enquirer Publisher Harry Whipple said the newspaper's lawyers were reviewing the findings.

Ventura also had claimed that the newspaper violated an oral contract and was negligent in its hiring and supervision of the lead reporter on the articles.

Sherman said no such contract existed and that Ventura failed to show that the Enquirer could have foreseen the actions of its reporter. Marc Mezibov, Ventura's attorney, said he would file an objection to the ruling on the contract issue.

The Enquirer said it fired the lead reporter, Michael Gallagher, because it eventually learned that he had obtained unauthorized access to voice mailboxes of Chiquita executives, without the knowledge of Enquirer supervisors.

Gallagher pleaded guilty in 1999 to illegally gaining access to the voice mail system and was sentenced to five years' probation.

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Federal court: Ohio shield law protects journalists, not sources
Former Chiquita lawyer loses bid to force editor, reporter to identify him as source for renounced Cincinnati Enquirer exposé.  08.10.01