Quandary at 'Star-Ledger'

By: Allan Wolper Trapped in Jewell box,

Newark paper knows, but won't tell, names of suspects in tragic Jan. 19 fire in Seton Hall dormitory

Reporter Guy Sterling of The Star-Ledger in Newark, N.J., knows the names. He's spoken to their lawyers. He's told his editors. He's done background checks. But he's waiting. He doesn't want to create another Richard Jewell ? the security guard wrongly accused of setting off a lethal bomb at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.
But Sterling's frustration grows each day as he waits for Essex County prosecutors to formally identify, arrest, or indict one or more of the three Seton Hall University students being questioned in the Jan. 19 dormitory fire at Seton Hall in South Orange, N.J., that killed three freshman and injured 58 other students.
"We know the prosecutors have several suspects who they believe have information about the fire or may have set the fire," Sterling said slowly. "We know a lot about the kids. And we've mentioned that there are suspects, even though we haven't identified anyone."
Sterling's voice is confident, but wary. At times it seems he is debating himself, mulling the ethical roadblocks that convinced him and his editors to keep the identities of the suspects off their front page.
"We've done the research," he said. "And we still have to keep our readers informed. But what happens if we identify these kids and later on none of them are charged? Then they will have to carry that around for the rest of their lives. That's a pretty heavy burden for anyone to carry."
But the longer it takes, the less likely someone will be caught. Sterling discovered that arson investigations produce arrests and convictions only about 10% of the time. Which is why he continues to harangue himself.
"For the time being, we have to be prudent," he explained. "It certainly will change if there is an indictment. We talk about it all the time. I've never covered a case that has taken so long to conclude."
Looming just over Sterling's computer is the legacy of Richard Jewell.
"The Jewell case is a prime example of the kind of trouble you can get into," Sterling explained. "You have to watch your butt."
Sterling periodically writes a story on the Seton Hall fire investigation to keep it in the public eye, to let the prosecutors know his newspaper is watching them, even as Essex County investigators have declared a news blackout. And on April 19 ? the three-month anniversary of the fire ? Essex County Prosecutor Donald Campolo felt compelled to say something about his investigation.
"I can understand why people might feel frustration," Campolo told Sterling in a piece he co-wrote with fellow Star-Ledger reporter William Kleinknecht, "but we intend to do our job in a professional way and will not be making any pro-
nouncements that are improper or premature."
Charlotte Smith, the press spokeswoman for the Essex County prosecutor's office, was just as forthcoming as her boss. "We are not going to talk about any suspects," Smith told E&P. "I don't know what The Star-Ledger knows."
The Star-Ledger is as cautious as the prosecutor's office. James Willse, its editor, acknowledged that even though his reporters were aggressively covering the Seton Hall fire investigation, they were being careful in what they were reporting about it.
"We know the names of the suspects," he said, "and we continue to exercise what strikes us as prudent caution about what we
report."
Willse said he is reluctant to disclose internal discussions about The Star-Ledger's handling of the story. "We don't want to have people looking under our hood," he said, "but, yes, we do talk about it quite a bit."
He declined to speculate about what would prompt the paper to break its self-imposed silence on the prosecutor's investigation. "I'm sure that there are cases that take a long time to investigate and some that are never solved," he said. "What makes this a little bit different is the visibility of the original story and the complexity of the investigation. We understand it may be difficult to reconstruct what happened, much less who may have been involved."
Aly Colon, an ethics instructor at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla., endorsed Sterling's careful handling of the student suspects' identities. "You have to hold information until you have absolutely documented it," said Colon, former metro editor of The Seattle Times. "You must do that to make sure that you are interpreting the information accurately. It might be that someone is a suspect, but is not involved in the crime. They may find themselves lumped into the act, but are not charged with anything themselves. There is never a good time to publish anything that you are not sure of."
The Seton Hall campus ended its spring semester without any word on whether the person or persons who set the fire might be a matriculated student or students who could return in the fall.
Seton Hall officials said that prosecutors have promised to inform them if any of the school's present students were suspected of being involved in setting the dormitory fire.
"The prosecutors told our attorney's today [May 9] that they have not identified any suspects and have not targeted anyone," said Lisa Grider, assistant vice president of university relations. "We have been assured, and reassured, since the fire of Jan. 19 that if the prosecutors found anyone who posed a danger to our community, we would have been told about it. We have been given no names, and they have identified no one to us."
She sounded distressed by the notion that prosecutors might have leaked the names of the suspects to The Star-Ledger without informing the university as well. "If The Star-Ledger knows the names of the suspects, then they know more than we know," she said.
Jeff Cartwright, an assistant prosecutor who is overseeing the prosecution, denied to E&P that he told Seton Hall that his office had not targeted anyone. "I told them we have not made any public statements about the case," he explained.
In any event, there is no pressure on The Star-Ledger to publish the names of the suspects.
South Orange Village Township President William Calabrese, for example, believes a media drumbeat of stories that identifies possible suspects would drown out a single article that cleared someone.
"The Star-Ledger is right," said Calabrese. "If I ran that paper, I would not publish any names. You just can't trust someone who thinks someone [else] is guilty. People love to see their names in the newspaper. They are always looking for immortality."
Calabrese dismissed the idea that identifying suspects might generate additional witnesses in a case. "If people know anything, they'll tell the police," he said.
The attorneys representing the victims in the case also support a cautious media approach to the investigation and don't think that waiting out the prosecutor will affect anyone's lawsuit against either the university or the township of South Orange.
"I think the newspapers have put out as much as they have known," said Nicholas Grieco, a West Orange attorney representing three students who suffered assorted hurts in the fire. "I think the prosecutor should finish and then release the information. I don't know if it hurts or helps my case. But we don't want to deal with rumors and innuendoes. The important thing for us is that the reporters have respected the privacy of my clients. They have been through a lot and just want to get on with their lives."
Michael Testa, a civil attorney who represents the estate of John Giunta, one of the three students who was killed in the fire, has seen the damage that a quick, unsubstantiated accusation can have on a defendant's chance for a fair trial.
"Whether someone publishes the name of a suspect doesn't affect any of the lawsuits," Testa said. "It is not a fair or wise thing for a reporter to publish the names of suspects. That kind of publicity has a dramatic, negative impact on that person's future. I know. I have an active criminal practice as well as a civil one.
"When someone reads a story about someone, they form an opinion, and it is hard to overcome the negative impact of that.
He pointed out that police suspects often are designated "suspicious" characters and that this designation should not be taken as seriously as the one applied to a person who has been indicted by a grand jury.
"When someone is indicted, that indicates probable cause," Testa said. "Many times, when a story is published with someone labeled a suspect, it is based on false information. People like to talk, and they sometimes say things that are untrue. It is wrong to quote anonymous sources to identify someone in a newspaper who are not answerable to anyone. When these people appear before a grand jury, then they can be held accountable for what they say. You don't want to publish irresponsible statements. ?
"It is often important for reporters to use anonymous sources to investigate cases, but we need safeguards. Especially in a case like this."
Maria Zingaro, a reporter for the weekly News-Record of Maplewood & South Orange, has listened to the grinding of the rumor mill, but has no desire to drag someone through the mud, especially if it is confirmed that the suspects are students. And she worries, like the others, that premature publication of a name or names might hinder the investigation.
"I feel an obligation to be very careful because I don't want to take a risk without having a good reason for taking that risk," she said.

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