Superior Court judge holds The Californian in contempt of court for refusing to turn over unpublished notes

May 24—A Kern County Superior Court judge held The Californian in contempt of court Wednesday after the newspaper didn't turn over unpublished notes of a jailhouse interview, a ruling that now allows it to appeal an order granting a public defender access to subpoenaed documents.

Deputy Public Defender Lexi Blythe served a subpoena to The Californian in March seeking the "complete recording, both audio and video," a copy of "complete notes" and a "list of all questions" asked to defendant Sebastian Parra, accused of killing a corrections counselor. This reporter conducted a jailhouse interview of Parra at the Lerdo Justice Facility and The Californian published a story in February.

Parra is defended by another attorney, and Blythe represents his co-defendant, Robert Roberts. Both men have pleaded not guilty to a first-degree murder charge in the death of Benny Alcala Jr., who was shot to death outside the Target store at The Shops at River Walk.

Blythe stated previously she seeks this reporter's notes because the notes may help exonerate her client. She contends Parra is lying about his involvement in the shooting, after Parra claimed he didn't shoot Alcala.

The Californian's counsel, Thomas R. Burke of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, maintains the First Amendment and the California Shield Law offer reporters protections against disclosure of unpublished materials, because it could undermine other defendants' confidence in the independent nature of a journalism organization.

"The Bakersfield Californian now looks to the Court of Appeal to prevent reporter Ishani Desai's unpublished jailhouse interview notes from being produced to the Kern County Public Defender," Burke wrote in an email to this reporter.

Several veteran reporters who previously worked at The Californian for decades starting in the 1980s could not recall an instance in which the newspaper was held in contempt of court for refusing to turn over unpublished material.

Kern County Superior Court Judge Elizabet Rodriguez initially denied Blythe's motion on April 4 to seek requested materials, saying the defense attorney couldn't meet a threshold created by Delaney v. Superior Court, a California Supreme Court case. This case created a test weighing the rights of defendants and reporters in regard to accessing unpublished material.

However, Blythe refiled her motion and Rodriguez granted her request to obtain unpublished material on May 10. Rodriguez determined that the balancing test created by Delaney v. Superior Court weighed in favor of disclosure.

There are four factors a judge must weigh, according to a guidebook created by The First Amendment Coalition about the California Shield Law. They include the confidential nature of the unpublished material, if a journalist's mission is thwarted by disclosure, the importance of the information to the criminal defendant and if there's an alternative source for the information.

Rodriguez ruled in favor of Blythe after finding Parra wasn't a confidential source because he was named in the article, there isn't another source for the information contained within the notes, disclosure wouldn't hurt the newspaper's mission and the notes are important to Blythe's defense because the notes could exonerate Roberts.

Burke argued other sources of information aside from the unpublished notes do exist, such as police officers interviewing Parra to establish any alleged inconsistencies in his statements. It's also speculation to assume this reporter's documents contain notes to bolster Roberts' defense, Burke has said.

"The Bakersfield Californian continues to believe that the notes don't contain anything that will materially assist Mr. Roberts's defense and that forcing the notes to be disclosed may cause others not to speak with reporters or to issue their own subpoenas — both options being contrary to the purpose of California's Shield Law and the First Amendment," Burke wrote in a email.

After this second ruling by Rodriguez, The Californian filed papers requesting the state's 5th District Court of Appeal vacate Rodriguez's decision.

However, the 5th District said The Californian's request was filed prematurely and the newspaper must first be held in contempt of court before it requests the appeals court's intervention.

So, Kern County Superior Court Judge Tiffany Organ-Bowles held The Californian in contempt Wednesday after a deadline to turn over the documents passed. She withheld any sanction against the newspaper for 10 days while a request to the appeals court is filed.

The trial for Roberts and Parra was postponed Wednesday until May 31.

You can reach Ishani Desai at 661-395-7417. You can also follow her at @_ishanidesai on Twitter.