Reporter Jana Winter refused to give up the names of sources after the July 20, 2012, mass shooting at a Colorado movie theater. Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court handed victory to Winter, saying she couldn’t be forced to name names.
Doug Pensinger / Getty Images
Winter has faced the threat of incarceration since 2012, when she reported on a notebook alleged Aurora, Colo., shooter James Holmes sent to a University of Colorado psychologist. The notebook included drawings and "details about how he was going to kill people."
Holmes' attorneys believed that whoever leaked the notebook to Winter broke a judge's gag order, and therefore robbed Holmes of his right to a fair trial.
James Holmes and his defense attorney Daniel King sit in court.
Pool / Reuters
In her story, Winter cited unnamed law enforcement officials. Holmes' attorneys were unable to find those sources, and wanted to get names from Winter.
As a result, they went after her, obtaining a subpoena from a Colorado judge that would have required her to identify her source. The subpoena meant that if Winter continued to keep her source's identity a secret, then she could have faced jail time.
She scored a victory in December, however, when the highest court in New York — where Winter is based — ruled that she could not be compelled to name her source.
At the time, Winter told BuzzFeed the case had made her life "hell," resulting in everything from death threats to a logistical nightmares over housing and her personal life. She essentially had to plan everything around the possibility of going to jail.
from BuzzFeed - Breaking http://ift.tt/1whKhwm
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