Judge grants motion to quash subpoena served to The Californian; defense attorney continues to seek materials

Ishani Desai, The Bakersfield Californian
Updated ·2 min read

Apr. 4—A Kern County Superior Court judge quashed a subpoena Tuesday filed by the Kern County Public Defender's Office seeking all video, audio and notes created by a Californian reporter who interviewed a murder defendant accused of killing a corrections counselor.

"Turning (unpublished materials) over in response to a subpoena like this makes the newsroom merely a tool of criminal and civil lawyers," The Californian's counsel, Thomas R. Burke of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP — who filed the motion to quash — wrote in an email to this reporter. "That is not the role of The Bakersfield Californian or any other respectable newspaper or journalist."

Deputy Public Defender Lexi Blythe, representing accused killer Robert Roberts, served the subpoena to The Californian last month wanting the "complete recording, both audio and video" and a "copy of the complete notes from the interview as well as a list of all questions asked" during a jailhouse interview with co-defendant Sebastian Parra.

Blythe noted in court Tuesday she plans to continue to seek these materials from The Californian and will serve a subpoena once again. A motions date has been set for May 10.

"It is important for our defense," Blythe said.

Parra and Roberts have both pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the shooting death of Benny Alcala Jr., 34, who was killed in August at The Shops at River Walk. Parra was arrested after testifying as a key witness in Roberts' preliminary hearing. This reporter interviewed Parra at the Lerdo Justice Facility in February and The Californian published a story soon after.

There is no audio recording of the interview. Blythe added staff at Lerdo found a video recording of the interview, but there was no sound.

Judge Elizabet Rodriguez granted The Californian's motion to quash after finding Blythe couldn't meet a threshold created by a California Supreme Court case, Delaney v. Superior Court, which weighs rights of news staff and defendants. The judge granted Blythe's request that The Californian not destroy any notes from the interview.