Published: March 20, 2008 04:44 pm         

Minnesota Supreme Court rebuffs effort to force disclosure of unpublished notes

MANKATO, Minn. -- — The Minnesota Supreme Court has rejected a local prosecutor's effort to force a newspaper to turn over its notes from a telephone interview with a man who took his own life during an armed standoff with police more than a year ago.

The court acted Wednesday by refusing to review an appeals court decision that said the Mankato Free Press did not have to comply with a subpoena to provide unpublished information because of the reporter's privilege granted by the Minnesota shield law.

District Judge Norbert Smith had ordered two reporters and the editor of the paper to relinquish notes from the interview to the Blue Earth County Attorney's Office. The paper appealed the order.

The legal battle challenged provisions of Minnesota's shield law that protects confidential news sources and information gathered from disclosure. Free Press Editor Joe Spear said the court appeals served to strengthen the law.

The case stemmed from a seven-hour standoff on Dec. 23, 2006, between police and Jeffrey Skjervold at his home in Amboy, Minn., following an argument with his wife. Attempts to disarm Skjervold went awry, and two officers were shot during an exchange of gunfire.

During the standoff, a reporter for the newspaper randomly phoned homes in the neighborhood to try to find out what was going on, and inadvertently connected with Skjervold. The conversation was brief, and some elements of it appeared in the next day's paper.

Police and the prosecutor's office refused to say why they wanted the unpublished portion of the interview. There was speculation, however, that the information might have been used to determine if any charges should be filed against police at the scene or the reporter who made the call to Skjervold.

National journalism organizations, including the Reporters Committee for a Free Press and the Society of Professional Journalists, joined the Mankato paper in protesting the subpoena and pressing the appeals court to overturn it.

"This was a clear-cut victory for the right of news organizations to determine what to publish and what not to publish," said William B. Ketter, vice president of news for Community Newspaper Holdings Inc., parent company of The Free Press. "It was also a rebuff to overzealous prosecutors who misuse the power of subpoena to make life difficult for the news media."



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