Three Seven Days journalists are being subpoenaed by Franklin County prosecutors to collect information they gathered in covering Sen. Norm McAllister’s sex abuse scandal, according to the weekly paper.
Political editor Paul Heintz, reporter Mark Davis and news editor Matthew Roy were subpoenaed on Nov. 19, according to Seven Days. Deputy Franklin County State’s Attorney Diane Wheeler directed them to appear in court with notes and recordings collected during their reporting.
McAllister, who was arrested in May, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of sexual assault and three counts of prohibited acts.
Davis interviewed McAllister at his Highgate farm, and Heintz interviewed an alleged victim whose contact information was accidently released by the court in Franklin County.
Seven Days is fighting the subpoenas. The company’s attorney says previous court rulings require lawyers to prove the information being sought is not available from other sources before it can subpoena journalists. The information the reporters collected can be obtained from the sources they interviewed, according to the paper’s lawyer.
McAllister’s attorney Brooks McArthur told Seven Days that he plans to join the prosecution’s call for the journalists to appear in court. Particularly, he said, he’s interested in Heintz’s interview with the alleged victim. The victim told Heintz the sexual assaults began when she was 15 or 16, contradicting what she told police, which was that the assaults started when she was 18.
“From my perspective, that undermines her credibility,” McArthur told Seven Days. If McArthur questions the victim and she denies making those statements to Heintz, then testimony from Heintz could be important to McAllister’s defense, he said.
The jury draw in McAllister’s case is scheduled for February. McAllister has said he would like to participate in the upcoming legislative session, which starts in January, but it appears likely his fellow lawmakers will act to suspend him.
