Federal judge halts Globe investigation

By: Jim Moscou Denver dailies split over decision

Attorneys for one of the country's largest supermarket tabloids put the breaks on a Colorado criminal investigation into the news-gathering tactics of one of its top editors with the help of a federal judge and some slick timing.
The Boca Raton, Fla.-based Globe was awarded a temporary restraining order Oct. 4 by U.S. District Judge Walker Miller. The order prohibits the Jefferson County, Colo., district attorney from continuing a three-month, grand-jury criminal investigation of Craig Lewis, the Globe's news editor. The judge's ruling marked an extremely rare intervention by a federal court into a case that was still under investigation by a local grand jury.
Assistant District Attorney Dennis Hall, Jefferson County's point man on the Globe case, said the move caught him and District Attorney Dave Thomas off guard and out of town. Hall eyed the timing of the Globe's court filing with suspicion since he and Thomas ? the only two prosecutors familiar with the facts of the case ? were participating in a widely publicized state prosecutors' conference near Aspen, Colo.
"Anybody who practices law in the state of Colorado knows this," Hall said, noting the three-day conference effectively shut down local courthouses. "There was no reason to file this week. They could have filed next week when everyone was back."
Hall said the county was forced to send a prosecutor unfamiliar with the case to argue on behalf of the district attorney.
The grand jury was examining whether Lewis violated state commercial bribery and extortion laws while reporting on the widely covered JonBenet Ramsey murder in Boulder, Colo.
The former charge ? commercial bribery ? stemmed from a $30,000 offer made by Lewis to a Ramsey family investigator in an effort to purchase the JonBenet ransom note three months after the girl's December 1996 murder. The extortion charge was born from questionable tactics used by Lewis to convince a former Boulder police detective to cooperate in an interview with the tabloid.
Globe attorneys argued that in both instances the tabloid's news gathering was protected by the First Amendment and the Colorado laws were unconstitutional.
Tom Kelley, a prominent media attorney in Denver and counsel for the Globe and Lewis, would not comment, but issued a press release that said the charges and district attorney's efforts "substantially chill freedom of the press." Kelley noted, regarding Lewis' $30,000 offer, that the Colorado commercial bribery statute was "unconstitutionally overbroad if it can be applied to criminalize conduct that is a common news-gathering technique. Journalists frequently offer to pay for a news source's lunch or travel expenses, and such conduct could constitute commercial bribery under this law."
Kelley's press release didn't comment on the extortion allegation, but did claim the district attorney's investigation was "initiated by the Ramsey defense team."
Michael Kahane, senior vice president and general counsel for the Globe, said he believed Colorado's extortion statute was overbroad and unconstitutional as well.
Kahane, a member of a small team spearheading Lewis' defense, said he would not discuss the details of the case until after the federal court determines whether to make the injunction permanent. A hearing is set for Oct. 18 in Denver.
Meanwhile, the federal court's intervention has riled the Mile High City's dailies ? The Denver Post and Denver Rocky Mountain News ? with each publishing opposing editorials on the allegations against the Globe and Lewis.
In an Oct. 7 editorial, the Post wrote, "We don't like the prospect of a journalist escaping charges simply by the virtue of his occupation. Decent newsmen and
women don't break the law in order to break a story. And we don't respect or support those who do."
Yet, the same day, the News took a stance diametrically opposed to that of the Post. In its editorial, the paper followed the Globe argument regarding the unconstitutionality of the state's commercial bribery statute, noting the law "covers far more than crude cash offerings.
"'Benefit' isn't defined and therefore isn't necessarily cash. Theoretically, the benefit offered by a reporter or news organization could be nothing more than a free cup of coffee ? or just the promise of anonymity." That makes this case an assault on news gathering in general, the News said, adding the case against Lewis should be abandoned.
Addressing the extortion charge, the News questioned what proof the district attorney may have of Lewis' intentions. "Prosecutors should confine their attention to cut-and-dried crimes," the News wrote, "and leave mind-reading to the sort of people who work in fairway booths at the circus."
"I don't think the Rocky Mountain News knows all the facts," prosecutor Hall said. "And opinions are only as good as the facts they are based upon."
Should the federal judge rule against the Globe, Hall said the grand jury's investigation will pick up where it left off. "We certainly intend to proceed with our investigation," Hall said. "And if the evidence warrants it, we will present an indictment to the grand jury."

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(copyright: Editor & Publisher October 9, 1999) [Caption]