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Birmingham, Alabama- “60 Minutes” Reporter Subpoenaed in Fraud Trial
January 18, 2005
PEN USA’s First Amendment Action Committee is concerned that CBS reporter Mike Wallace has been subpoenaed for the trial of a man he interviewed in 2003.
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Richard Scrushy, former CEO of HealthSouth Corp. is on trial on a 58-count indictment including fraud, conspiracy, money laundering, obstruction of justice, perjury and violating a new corporate reporting law. He pleaded not guilty, claiming he had no knowledge that a group of executives had overstated the company’s earnings by more than $2.6 billion. If convicted, Scrushy could be sentenced to prison, and have to hand over almost $300 million.
In a “60 Minutes” segment that aired on October of 2003, Mike Wallace interviewed Scrushy about the allegations of fraud after the scandal broke. In the interview, Scrushy had told Wallace he didn’t have anything to do with overstating the earnings. Scrushy’s defense has subpoenaed Wallace and CBS producer Robert Anderson as witnesses to discuss the interview, since Scrushy’s lawyers plan to show the tape of the interview during the trial.
Wallace and Anderson asked U.S. District Judge Karon O. Bowdre to throw out the subpoena, citing their First Amendment rights and claming they have nothing to add to the case. The First Amendment protects journalists from having to testify when their only role in the case was to interview someone involved. Judge Bowdre has not yet ruled if they must appear in court.
“The privilege stems from the recognition that the routine compulsion of journalists’ testimony would in effect force journalists to become participants in the matters they report about and do serious harm to the journalists’ independence necessary to maintain the free flow of information to the press and the public,” lawyers for Wallace and Anderson said in court papers.
PEN USA agrees. Wallace’s only connection to the case is that he interviewed a man who would later be tried. Doing their jobs does not make journalists part of the subject matter on which they are reporting, and blurring that line is dangerous to the ideals of discourse and media. Mike Wallace and other reporters are shielded by the First Amendment from involvement in criminal cases of which they have no legal connection. It’s time the justice system remembered this.
Recommended Action:
Write Judge Bowdre, suggesting the subpoena be thrown out:
Honorable Judge Karon O. Bowdre
United States District Court
Hugo L. Black U.S. Courthouse
1729 Fifth Avenue North
Birmingham, AL 35203
Telephone (main): (205) 278-1700 (8:30 am – 4:30 pm)