Sci-Sacramento, Inc. v. Superior Court of San Joaquin Cty.

Petitioners SCI-Sacramento, Inc., a Maryland Corporation doing business as KOVR-TV, and Jim Saunders (KOVR’s news director and custodian of records), hereafter collectively “KOVR,” petition this court for a writ of mandate or prohibition to avoid disclosure of materials subpoenaed by the prosecution in a pending criminal case. The materials are “outtakes” of a videotaped interview KOVR conducted with the defendant in the criminal case. KOVR submitted the videotape to the trial court for purposes of an in camera review in the course of the trial court’s ruling on KOVR’s motion to quash the prosecution’s subpoena. The trial court ordered disclosure. KOVR contends the threatened disclosure is prohibited by the news-persons’ shield law. (Cal. Const., art. I, § 2, subd. (b) (hereafter article I, section 2(b)); Evid. Code, § 1070. ) The People argue among other things that the shield law merely provides an immunity against contempt, not a privilege against disclosure, and there is no contempt order in this case. We shall agree that our review of the merits of the dispute is premature.

We previously issued an alternative writ and a stay of the trial court’s order pending our…