Sheriff's deputies arrest 'New Times' owners - Published articles critical of Sheriff Joe Arpaio

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/1019newtimes1019.html

Paper at odds with county authorities
Michael Kiefer, Robert Anglen and JJ Hensley
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 19, 2007 10:50 AM

Phoenix New Times owners Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin were arrested Thursday night by Maricopa County sheriff's deputies on charges of revealing grand jury information, a misdemeanor.

The charges stem from a story published under their byline in the Thursday edition of New Times, in which they describe a subpoena the paper reportedly received from a grand jury convened by the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.

Lacey has been released from jail after posting bail; there's no jail record available on the status of Larkin. Efforts to reach them Friday have been unsuccessful. advertisement

Grand jury proceedings are secret, and the two wondered in the opening paragraphs of the article whether they could face legal repercussions for making the subpoena public, but they viewed the subpoena as an attack on freedom of the press.

The alternative weekly newspaper, in its cover story, said the subpoena was part of an investigation orchestrated to get back at its reporters and the critical stories they wrote of County Attorney Andrew Thomas' political ally Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

[mvccd1000]

1. You running a few months behind? :)

Here's a link to today's followup:

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0220newtimes0221.html

'New Times' executives intend to sue Maricopa County over arrest

Michael Kiefer
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 21, 2008 12:00 AM
Two Phoenix New Times executives arrested last October after publishing the contents of a grand-jury subpoena have served legal notice that they intend to sue Maricopa County over the incident.

(edited to add link)