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Thu Oct 16 23:25:26 PDT 1997

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             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     The subpoena, which asks for unpublished e-mail and demographics of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     Angeles to San Luis Obispo, requesting unpublished reader, listener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.

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     * Ventura County Star
          + Subpoena covers new legal ground
          + Coverage of the Haun murder trial

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