Features

There’s a twist some might call “ironic” in the case of Kahlil Jacobs-Fantauzzi, accused of obstructing a police officer during the summertime height of the conflicts between KPFA “free-speech” radio and its governing board. Jacobs-Fantauzzi’s attorney Richard Krech subpoenaed photographs taken by The Oakland Tribune the morning of the arrest, but the newspaper’s chief photographer, Ron Riesterer, is refusing to turn them over. The Trib’s attorneys are evoking California’s shield law, which protects journalists, including photographers, from having their work used in behalf of a particular party. 

The law was written “so newspapers don’t become an evidence-gathering branch” of government, said Tribune attorney Duffy Carolan of Crosby Heafey Roach and May. 

In a hearing earlier this week, the court found Riesterer guilty of contempt. Carolan said the paper plans to appeal the decision, but no date for the appeal has been set. 

In a hearing Thursday, the court reduced the number of photographs under consideration from eight to four. 

Jacobs-Fantauzzi said he agrees with the paper’s First Amendment rights, but at the same time “if it will prove my innocence, I have a need to pursue it.” 

Krech argued that “the police are not telling the truth.” The photographs and videotapes will show that Kahlil was acting as a peacemaker when he was arrested, he said.