Fox News Reporter Jana Winter Back to Court

By Chris Ariens 

FoxNews.com reporter Jana Winter will be back in court tomorrow asking New York State’s highest court to quash a subpoena filed by the lawyers for James Holmes, the Colorado man accused of killing 12 people and wounding 50 others at a movie theater last year.

Winter will ask the Court of Appeals to overturn a lower court ruling that says she can be compelled to testify about her sources.

Winter’s story revealed the existence of Holmes’ notebook that he reportedly gave to his psychiatrist before he went on his shooting spree.

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The Albany Times-Union’s legal affairs reporter Robert Gavin writes, “The high court’s ultimate decision could have drastic implications not only for Winter, but the rights of the news media to safeguard the identity of its sources. That right is protected in New York state, where the Shield Law protects reporters from revealing their sources regardless of how vital the information could be to an investigation.”

If the Court of Appeals lets the lower court ruling stand, and Winter does not reveal her sources, she could go to jail until she does. Fox News’s Judge Andrew Napolitano went on “Fox & Friends” this morning and talked about the case. “She has said to me she will simply never reveal who her sources are,” said Napolitano.

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