Asheville reporters' trespass case: Trying case out of court? Venue change? Seized phone?
ASHEVILLE - Prosecutors in the high-profile trespass case of two local reporters have raised the possibility of moving the trial out of Buncombe County.
Meanwhile, Ben Scales, attorney for reporters Matilda Bliss and Veronica Coit, has claimed prosecutors under District Attorney Todd Williams are refusing to turn over evidence that may show violations of the press "shield law."
A Superior Court trial date for Bliss and Coit, reporters for the self-described leftist Asheville Blade, is set for June 12. They are appealing an April 19 District Court misdemeanor trespassing conviction that stems from what they said was their coverage of a Christmas 2021 homeless protest in a city park that was closed for the night. Press freedom groups and advocates including actor John Cusack have said charges should be dropped.
More: Actor John Cusack, dozens of media orgs protest Asheville reporters' criminal convictions
The reference to a venue change arose in a May 4 motion by Assistant District Attorney Robert McRight in which he asked a judge for a pretrial conference about Scales' out-of-court statements.
Scales has spoken to the media, including the Citizen Times, and appeared on a Facebook livestreamed program entitled "Why is Buncombe County DA Prosecuting Journalists," making statements such as his belief that Chief District Court Judge Calvin Hill's ruling against the reporters was "illegal."
Scales and Williams are past political rivals, with Scales challenging Williams twice unsuccessfully for top county prosecutor, most recently in the 2018 Democratic primary.
McRight in his "Notice of Extrajudicial Statement and Motion for Pretrial Conference" said Scales' out-of-court statements were "intended to materially prejudice an adjudicative proceeding," a violation of N.C. lawyers' ethics rules.
In an allusion to the possibility of moving the case, McRight said "the State is committed to trying this case on its merits in a Buncombe County forum before a Buncombe County panel of jurors."
Such a change could put the trial of the leftist reporters before jurors of a more conservative county.
The Citizen Times did not have a reporter at the May 11 pretrial conference on McRight's motion but got statements from Scales and Williams who both said Judge Jacqueline Grant gave no order and made no finding that Scales violated ethics rules.
Williams, though, said Grant "advised the parties to comply with Rule 3.6 of the N.C. Rules of Professional Conduct for lawyers," a State Bar regulation against using pretrial publicity to affect a case.
More: Asheville homeless count numbers released. How do they compare to pre-COVID levels?
Williams added that his office "will pledge to comply with the rules of professional conduct."
Scales, while emphasizing Grant made no finding against him, said he still felt his "words and actions" were "under heightened scrutiny" as a result of the filing.
But Scales did discuss with the Citizen Times his latest filing, a May 11 motion for discovery − the pretrial process where both sides in a legal dispute share information.
He said it took Bliss 74 days to get back a cellphone seized by police and that he only learned it was being held so it could be searched. On May 3, Bliss told the Citizen Times that police got the warrant not to look for evidence of trespassing but to gather evidence for another case, which she called a violation of federal law.
In addition to the trespassing charges, prosecutors are trying some Christmas night protesters for felony littering, though problems with how police handled evidence caused the case to be restarted and rescheduled.
Scales said he is calling for prosecutors to turn over the search warrant for Bliss' phone.
"We want to know what information was retrieved from the phone and how it was used," he said, adding, they wanted to know if any effort was made to comply with the press shield law.
The state's shield law protects any "confidential or nonconfidential information, document or item" reporters obtain while acting as newsgatherers. The one exception is eyewitness observations of crimes.
Police have said the pair's status as reporters was not relevant and they were arrested because the park was closed.
In bodycam video released after a civil action brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina, an officer can be heard repeatedly asking Coit to leave the park. Coit responded they were "covering a story."
In his May 11 motion, Scales said he attempted through prior motions to get such information, but said "the State has indicated orally to counsel for Defendants that the State has no intention of complying with that Request fordiscovery."
Williams told the Citizen Times prosecutors would "make all disclosures required by N.C. criminal discovery laws."
Joel Burgess has lived in WNC for more than 20 years, covering politics, government and other news. He's written award-winning stories on topics ranging from gerrymandering to police use of force. Got a tip? Contact Burgess at jburgess@citizentimes.com, 828-713-1095 or on Twitter @AVLreporter. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville Blade reporters' trespass case: Venue change? Seized phone?
