By: (AP) A group of news organizations filed a motion Monday seeking access to a hearing in the case of a writer jailed for refusing to give a federal grand jury her notes and tapes of interviews with a man accused of a 1997 society murder.
The closed hearing is set for Wednesday. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week denied requests by news organizations to argue on Vanessa Leggett's behalf.
An emergency motion to intervene to challenge the closing of the courtroom was filed by ABC Inc., The Associated Press, Belo, CBS News, National Broadcasting Co. Inc., The New York Times Co., the Society of Professional Journalists, and Tribune Co.
The motion said constitutional interests override any speculative or remote possibility that grand jury information might be disclosed during oral arguments. It said Leggett is entitled to a public hearing.
Leggett, 33, was found in contempt of court by a federal judge in Houston on July 20 and ordered jailed without bond for refusing to turn over her records of interviews with Roger Angleton. She could be held in jail for up to 18 months if the court ruling isn't overturned.
Angleton was charged in the 1997 shooting death of his sister-in-law, 46-year-old Doris Angleton, the wife of his brother, millionaire former bookie Robert Angleton. Roger Angleton has since committed suicide.
Leggett cited the First Amendment as protection when she refused to turn over her interview records, which she said would compromise confidential sources as well as strip her of material needed to write a book about the Angleton case.
Federal prosecutors say Leggett is not a journalist.
Leggett said the FBI wanted records of interviews with Roger Angleton as part of an investigation into his brother.
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