Judge Plans to Cite Paper for Contempt

A Superior Court judge intends to cite the San Bernardino Sun for contempt of court early next month for publishing testimony in a death penalty case that a defense lawyer contends could endanger the defendant if he returns to prison.

Judge Bob N. Krug said in a hearing on Monday that he will issue the citation May 4, according to Michele Williams, a Superior Court clerk. She said another judge, probably from outside San Bernardino County, will hold a hearing on the contempt citation at a date to be determined May 4.

Alice Neff Lucan, general counsel for Gannett Co. Inc. in Arlington, Va., which owns the Sun, said it was not immediately clear who would be cited, but possibilities include Executive Editor Robert W. Ritter and reporter Carl Yetzer.

The maximum penalty would be five days in jail and a $500 fine per offense, Williams said.

The issue arose last week when the newspaper defied Krug’s order not to publish the testimony of a psychologist who told a jury that defendant Danny Guerra, 27, apparently once worked as an undercover agent for a U.S. Army criminal intelligence unit.

The testimony was given during a retrial of the death penalty phase of the Guerra case. Guerra was convicted in the 1980 murder of a fellow guard and the wounding of another.

He spent five years on Death Row before the California Supreme Court overturned his death sentence on grounds that the prosecution had not proved that he intended to kill his victim.

A new jury will decide whether Guerra should be sent back to Death Row. Guerra’s attorneys contend that he was mentally impaired at the time of the shootings and that he couldn’t legally form the intent to kill. Their argument is based on the testimony of a police psychologist who says the stresses of undercover work can severely distort the personalities of some agents.

Krug sided with defense attorneys who fear that publicity about that testimony could place Guerra in danger of being regarded as a “snitch” by other inmates should he be returned to prison.