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In the motion, the newspaper’s attorney questioned the motives of Victoria District Attorney Stephen Tyler.
The motion calls the timing of the latest subpoena “pure intimidation, harassment and abuse of power by the Victoria District Attorney’s office.”
Newspapers typically fight when reporters or their notes are subpoenaed, said Timothy M. Kelly, editor of The Beaumont Enterprise and the president of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas.
“The reason newspapers don’t simply acquiesce to these requests is they’re not quasi-law enforcement agencies,” he said. “Were they to act that way, they would quickly lose credibility with anyone who has reason to question the way government operates.”
Asking if the reporter’s testimony would reveal important facts investigators can’t find elsewhere is a good way to determine if a subpoena is legitimate, Kelly said.
Often, authorities subpoena reporters to find out who confidential sources are, Kelly said. Semenza’s stories identified every source by name and included everything Semenza knew, said the Advocate’s attorney, Catherine Robb, with Sedgwick, Detert, Moran and Arnold of Austin.
Tyler declined to comment on the subpoena or the target of the grand jury. Grand juries are so veiled that he could be jailed for confirming he ordered a reporter to appear before one.
“It would be inappropriate for me to comment because I would like to keep my job, my money and my freedom,” Tyler said.
Investigator Randy Duke delivered a subpoena to Gabe Semenza in the Advocate’s newsroom shortly after 3 p.m. Wednesday. The subpoena ordered Semenza to testify before the grand jury at 11 a.m. Thursday. It’s the second time Semenza has been subpoenaed.
Semenza referred comment about the case to the Advocate’s attorney.
“There’s no evidence his testimony is necessary,” Robb said.
Semenza was asked to testify before the same grand jury after he co-wrote a story in which then-city attorney David Smith accused Tyler of a cover-up in the investigation of his former chief of staff, Michael Ratcliff, according to the motion.
Tyler issued the second subpoena soon after the Advocate reported its staff is analyzing records from Tyler’s office regarding the disposition of criminal cases. The box of documents was delivered after a nine-month public records skirmish, ending just short of a May 12 courtroom hearing.
In that hearing, the District Attorney’s office planned to challenge a Texas Attorney General’s order to give the documents to the Advocate.
Visiting San Antonio Judge Mark Luitjen will hear the motion to quash at 11 a.m. today. Luitjen also is presiding over the sexual assault trial of Ratcliff.
Leslie Wilber is a reporter for the Victoria Advocate. Contact her at 361-580-6521 or e-mail her at lwilber@vicad.com.