Reporter does not have to turn over notes, judge rules
By The Associated Press
09.12.00
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| Rabbi Fred J. Neulander listens in the courtroom with
attorney Jeffrey Zucker during pre-trial motions Sept. 1 in Camden, N.J. A
state Superior Court judge ruled yesterday that a reporter for
The Philadelphia Inquirer isn't
required to turn over her notes from interviews with a man who said Neulander
hired him to kill his wife. |
MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. — A reporter's notes from interviews with a
man who said a prominent Cherry Hill rabbi hired him to kill his wife will
remain confidential.
A state Superior Court judge ruled yesterday that Rabbi Fred J.
Neulander's desire to obtain the notes of Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Nancy Phillips does
not outweigh the protection of those notes under New Jersey's Shield Law. The
law protects reporters from having to reveal confidential information or
sources.
Warren Faulk, lawyer for the Inquirer and Phillips, said the newspaper and
Phillips were pleased that the court "upheld the newsperson's privilege by
refusing to allow the defendant to rummage through a reporter's confidential
notes."
Neulander's lawyers, Dennis Wixted and Jeffrey C. Zucker, had argued
that Phillips should surrender her notes from all interviews she had with
private investigator Leonard Jenoff since the Nov. 1, 1994, killing of Carol
Neulander in her Cherry Hill home.
In hearings on the matter on Sept. 1, Faulk argued that the
information being sought was available by questioning Jenoff, who confessed to
his role in the killing.
In her ruling, Superior Court Judge Linda G. Rosenzweig said that
Neulander's need for the reporter's notes was "relatively slight when compared
to the arsenal of cross-examination material already at his disposal."
Neulander's lawyers argued that information in the notes could be
crucial to their defense of the rabbi in the capital murder trial.
The judge said one of the central questions likely to be foremost in
the minds of the jury is why Jenoff, who was not officially considered a
suspect, would come forward and give authorities an 89-page confession, unless
his contention that he was hired by Neulander was true.
The rabbi's lawyers maintained that Jenoff was overcome by Phillips'
"Svengalian presence and charm," and her assurances "that he would become a
hero by coming forth."
The judge acknowledged that it could be helpful to the rabbi's case to
learn if Jenoff confessed for some reason other than to clear his
conscience.
But, she wrote, "When it is remembered that there is no way to know if
she has even one single written note on the subject of Jenoff's motivation for
coming forward, the benefit, if any, to Neulander from compelled disclosure is
dwarfed by the enormity of the harm that would result to the freedom of the
press and to the policies underlying the Shield Law."
Phillips had interviewed Jenoff several times and was present at an
Audubon diner on April 28 when Jenoff told Camden County Prosecutor Lee A.
Solomon and a county detective that the rabbi hired him to kill his wife. The
Inquirer published her account of
Jenoff's confession.
Wixted and Zucker had argued that Phillips waived her right to
protection under the law by arranging the meeting, thus becoming "an agent" of
the prosecutor.
"Such arguments are only a theory, a theory not supported by any
evidence in the record," the judge wrote.
Wixted declined to comment on the ruling yesterday, saying he hadn't
reviewed it closely. He said he and Zucker would decide in the next several
days whether to appeal the decision.
Neulander, 59, has denied any involvement in his wife's death. He is
being held at the Camden County jail without bail.
No date has been set for his trial. His lawyers have requested that it
be held outside of Camden County.
Prosecutors say Neulander arranged the murder so he could pursue a
romance with Philadelphia radio personality Elaine Soncini.
Jenoff, 54, of Collingswood, has said the rabbi promised to pay him
$30,000 to carry out the plot. Jenoff and his alleged accomplice, Paul Daniels,
27, of Pennsauken, have both pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter and have
agreed to testify against Neulander.
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