CNN logo Navigation Infoseek/Big Yellow Pathfinder/Warner Bros Tech banner Tivoli systems and network management: The power to manage. Anything. Anywhere. Click here. rule SUBPOENA ISSUED FOR DATA BEHIND NEWSPAPER'S WEB SITE website October 16, 1997 Web posted at: 8:40 p.m. EDT (0040 GMT) VENTURA, California (AP) -- In what could be a legal first, the Ventura County Star has been subpoenaed by attorneys in a murder case for information about people who have used the newspaper's Internet site. The defense wants to determine whether the jury pool has been contaminated. The subpoena, which asks for unpublished e-mail and demographics of people who participated in an online survey about the case, explores new territory between legal protections for the media and a defendant's right to a fair trial, said Terry Francke, a media attorney with the California First Amendment Coalition. "This is very new, and I suspect the courts will be grappling with more and more of these types of requests from attorneys as the medium grows," Francke said Wednesday. The Internet site detailed the Diana Haun murder trial. Haun was convicted September 28 of conspiracy, kidnapping and murder in the slaying of Sherri Dally, her lover's wife -- an act prosecutors said was a human sacrifice birthday present. The penalty phase of Haun's trial is scheduled to begin Monday. The subpoena was served this week by James Farley, the attorney for Haun's lover and alleged co-conspirator Michael Dally. His trial is set to begin November 24. Jurors will be bused to Ventura from adjoining Santa Barbara County. The Internet site stretches beyond the newspaper's circulation area in Ventura County, possibly contaminating jury pools in Santa Barbara County, said Len Newcomb, an investigator for Farley. "The media decided to make this a high-profile case and decided they wanted to reach a vast number of people," Newcomb said. "And the worst-case scenario is that we won't be able to find jurors who don't already have strong biases." Newcomb has filed subpoenas on 56 news organizations from Los Angeles to San Luis Obispo, requesting unpublished reader, listener and viewer response to the Haun coverage. The latest subpoena unquestionably invades legally protected discourse between readers and their newspapers, said Timothy J. Gallagher, the Ventura newspaper's editor. "I don't have a problem providing information to defense attorneys that has already appeared in the newspaper, or in this case online, but beyond that there's a privileged relationship between newspapers and readers," Gallagher said. Copyright 1997 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. rule Related sites: Note: Pages will open in a new browser window * Ventura County Star + Subpoena covers new legal ground + Coverage of the Haun murder trial External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive. _________________________________________________________________ Infoseek search ____________________ ____ ____ _________________________________________________________________ rule Watch these shows on CNN for more sci-tech stories: CNN Computer Connection | Future Watch | Science & Technology Week rule Message Boards Sound off on our message boards You said it... [INLINE] Tivoli systems and network management: The power to manage. Anything. Anywhere. Click here. rule To the top © 1997 Cable News Network, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you.