Reporter Won’t Name Sources
By Kevin Amerman, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Times Leader
May 24–WILKES-BARRE — A Citizens’ Voice reporter being sued in a defamation lawsuit took the stand on Tuesday and refused to reveal the sources he used in stories in 2001 that linked a local businessman with gun and drug dealing, a prostitution ring and money laundering.
James Conmy said he used two sources, and neither of them were law enforcement officers or prosecuting attorneys.
Conmy, fellow reporter Edward Lewis and several corporate officials of Shamrock Communications, which owns the Citizens’ Voice, have been sued by Thomas A. Joseph of Mountain Top and his son, Thomas J. Joseph. The Josephs say the newspaper cited unidentified sources who made false and “poisoning” accusations about them in a series of stories which ran from June to October 2001.
“There’s no proof that they (the sources) exist. And if they do exist, I question their reliability,” said Philadelphia attorney George Croner, who represents the Josephs, after testimony concluded Tuesday.
A judge presiding over the non-jury case dismissed the son’s portion of the complaint on Monday, but claims made by the father and on behalf of his businesses remain.
Conmy, a 2000 graduate of Penn State who grew up in Wilkes-Barre, said he had been working full time for the paper for about a month when he wrote the first story about a search authorities performed at Acumark Inc., a direct mail marketing business owned by Joseph Sr.
Conmy, who interned with the paper in 1999 and worked part time before his full-time employment there, said he wrote one more article after the initial story and said Lewis then took the lead on the other stories that claimed searches at the business and at Joseph Sr.’s home were connected to an investigation into money laundering, prostitution and other crimes. The Josephs have not been charged with any crimes relating to the searches and say the Citizens’ Voice stories damaged their personal and professional lives.
Lewis, who hasn’t testified at the trial, used at least five sources, but he won’t reveal who they are, what their occupations are, or how they’re connected to the alleged investigation, according to excerpts of a deposition that were read in court Tuesday.
In the depositions, Lewis acknowledges he used the term “reliable sources” in some instances and “investigative source” in at least one other story, but he wouldn’t explain how they differ. Lewis said he doesn’t believe his editors asked to meet with the sources, according to the deposition transcripts.
Croner said the number of sources that Lewis has claimed he used “has varied throughout the case.”
Croner objected Tuesday in advance to any statement that might be made in trial regarding the credibility of the sources, saying it’s unfair for the defendants to hide the identities of the sources and still say they’re reliable.
Judge Mark Ciavarella did not grant the objection, but agreed with Croner’s line of thinking. The judge warned the Citizens’ Voice attorneys that testimony by a witness regarding the credibility of one of the unnamed sources could result in “consequences.”
“I may allow the plaintiff to question the reliability of the sources,” Ciavarella said.
Kevin Amerman, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7218.
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Copyright (c) 2006, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Times Leader
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