New York Daily News Complies with Judge Order, Discloses Confidential Source
The New York Daily News revealed information about a confidential source earlier this month to comply with a trial judge’s order.
The Daily News disclosed the confidential source information to avoid the risk of adverse appellate court ruling that could broadly affect New York’s shield law, the First Amendment Center reported.
Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Mark Dwyer ruled Jan. 11 that the newspaper had to disclose in chambers whether the source was one of two arresting officers at the scene of an attempted murder.
The Daily News’ legal woes began when it published an article on an attempted murder that differed from the official narrative, the First Amendment Center reported. Prosecutors believe that Angelo Diaz, who is charged with attempted second-degree murder, shouted “shoot the cop” as a police officer and Angel Rivera fought to possess control of a gun; in its article, the Daily News quoted “authorities” saying that Rivera’s mother, not Diaz, was the one who shouted “shoot the cop,” the First Amendment Center reported.
Diaz’s attorneys subpoenaed the Daily News to reveal its source, but the newspaper, citing the state’s shield law, did not succumb to the legal pressure. Dwyer, in mid-January, held that Diaz’s constitutional right to a fair trial outweighs the Daily News’ privilege claims, according to the First Amendment Center.
When “a criminal defendant seeks press information that (1) is highly material, (2) is critical to the defendant’s claim, and (3) is not otherwise available, then the press privilege must give way in the face of the Sixth Amendment. And that is true even if the information is confidential,” Dwyer wrote in his ruling.
The Daily News opted not to appeal the ruling and has revealed the source to Dwyer, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press reported.
