TV Reporter May Be Jailed for Refusing to Disclose Source
By PAM BELLUCK
Published: November 18, 2004
 ROVIDENCE,
R.I., Nov. 18 - A television reporter here was convicted of criminal
contempt today for refusing to disclose who leaked him a Federal Bureau
of Investigation videotape concerning an investigation of government
corruption in Providence.
Jim Taricani, a longtime investigative
reporter for WJAR, the NBC affiliate in Providence, faces the
possibility of up to six months in prison when he is sentenced on Dec.
9. | Advertisement
| |
Mr. Taricani would be one of only a handful of journalists to go to
prison for refusing to identify the source of a news report. And his
case is considered a bellwether because he is one of several reporters
currently being investigated in connection with leaks of confidential
information. The other cases involve, among others, a Central
Intelligence Agency operative, Valerie Plame, and a government nuclear
physicist, Wen Ho Lee. Mr. Taricani's case is the first of those
cases to go to trial on criminal contempt charges. In the aftermath of
his conviction, Senator Christopher Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut, is
hoping in the next few days to introduce a bill that will call for a
national shield law, according to a spokesman for the senator, Marvin
Fast. Shield laws, which are on the books in 31 states, protect
journalists from having to disclose their confidential sources.
"When I became a reporter 30 years ago, I never imagined that I would
be put on trial and face the prospect of going to jail simply for doing
my job," Mr. Taricani said outside the courthouse after Judge Ernest C.
Torres, chief judge in the federal district court in Providence,
pronounced him guilty. Mr. Taricani, a gray-haired 55-year-old
who has won several awards, including four Emmy awards, added: "I wish
all my sources could be on the record, but when people are afraid, a
promise of confidentiality may be the only way to get the information
to the public, and in some cases, to protect the well-being of the
source. I made a promise to my source, which I intend to keep."
Mr. Taricani, who had two heart attacks 18 years ago and received a
heart transplant in 1996, said his major concern about the possibility
of going to jail was whether his health could withstand imprisonment.
But Judge Torres exhibited little sympathy for Mr. Taricani's condition.
The judge said that while he was aware that Mr. Taricani "requires
special care," he said that he was also aware that Mr. Taricani "has
continued to live a very active life" and had "traveled abroad
recently." Judge Torres said that there were prison hospitals that had
"successfully managed the needs of heart transplant patients."
Mr. Taricani was convicted in connection with a long-running federal
investigation called Operation Plunderdome, which resulted in the
conviction of at least nine city officials, including Mayor Vincent A.
Cianci Jr., who was sentenced to 64 months for racketeering conspiracy
and is currently in prison in Fort Dix, N.J. Mr. Cianci's top
aide, Frank E. Corrente, was also convicted on corruption and
racketeering charges, in part for taking a $1,000 bribe from a
businessman who was acting as an F.B.I. informant and was secretly
videotaping his transaction with Mr. Corrente. Someone gave Mr.
Taricani a copy of that videotape, and his station broadcast it in
February 2001, prompting Judge Torres to appoint a special prosecutor
to investigate who leaked the tape to Mr. Taricani. After the
prosecutor interviewed a number of people, all of whom denied they were
the source, Judge Torres found Mr. Taricani in civil contempt in March.
When that finding was upheld by an appeals court, Mr. Taricani was
fined $1,000 for each day he continued to refuse to name his source.
Two weeks ago, after Mr. Taricani had paid $85,000, for which he was
reimbursed by his employer, Judge Torres said he was changing the civil
contempt case into a criminal contempt case. Today, Judge Torres was stern and declarative. "The evidence," he said "is clear and overwhelming and undisputed."
|
