Seattle Police Murder Suspect Seeking Journalist's Notes

Posted July 27, 2010

In what will be one of the first tests of Washington State's Reporter's Shield Law, the lawyer for accused cop-killer Christopher Monfort is asking the courts to give the defense council the notes of a Seattle Times interview with the suspect.

    
The Shield Law protects reporters from being forced to identify sources or surrender their notes in most court proceedings. It was enacted by the Washington State Legislature in 2007, a year after it was first proposed by State Attorney General Rob McKenna.

    
A report on Seattle P-I.com says defense attorney Julie Lawry wants to subpoena the notes of Jonathan Martin, a Seattle Times reporter who interviewed Monfort for an as yet unpublished story. She told a King County Superior Court judge she suspects Martin will be called by the prosecution during Monfort's eventual trial, and that the defense has a right to see his evidence.

    
According to the P-I.com story, Lawry says that at the time of the interviews, Monfort was also being interviewed by mental health experts "to investigate Mr. Monfort's obvious mental health issues."

    
Monfort is accused of the first degree murder of Seattle police officer Timothy Brenton and wounding his partner, Officer Britt Sweeney, in an ambush October 31, 2009 in Seattle's Leschi neighborhood. Monford is also accused of using explosives to destroy police vehicles parked in a city compound on October 22, 2009.

    
If convicted of the first degree murder charge, Monfort could face the death penalty. 

AFTRA supported the passage of Washington's Reporter's Shield Law to better protect the work of the union's broadcast journalists from the chilling effects of government intrusion in the exercise of their First Amendment rights.

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