The State - News from Nov. 22, 1988

A San Bernardino Superior Court judge, overriding California’s Shield Law for the news media, tentatively ruled that Los Angeles television station KCBS must turn over to prosecutors news footage and photographs of vandalism conducted by animal rights activists at Loma Linda University Medical Center. The dispute over who should have custody of the materials began in August when San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies investigating the vandalism seized two videotapes from the Riverside office of the television station’s news department. KCBS went to court, arguing that the seizure, which included unbroadcast material, was a violation of the station’s First Amendment rights. The station contended that while the sheriff’s deputies had a search warrant, California law exempts such so-called outtakes from being seized with a warrant.