Free-Lancers Included in ‘Shield Law’ : Media: State high court lets a ruling stand that says material may be kept confidential even when collected by a writer with no contract to publish it.

The state Supreme Court, expanding the news media “shield law,” on Thursday gave free-lance writers the same legal right held by other journalists to refuse to reveal unpublished information in court.

In a brief order, the justices let stand a ruling by a state appellate court that a Los Angeles writer, even while not employed or under contract to a news organization, was protected under a state law allowing journalists to withhold unpublished material and the identities of their sources.

The appeals court upheld the refusal of free-lancer Jan Golab to produce taped interviews with Bruce Adams, a key prosecution witness in the trial of two former Los Angeles police officers, Robert Von Villas and Richard Ford, who were convicted in 1988 of attempted murder and armed robbery.

Golab wrote about the case for Hustler and Los Angeles magazines. When the case came to trial, attorneys for the officers sought disclosure of the tapes to seek inconsistencies with Adams’ testimony against the officers.

Adams did not object to release of the tapes. But Golab still claimed protection under the shield law, saying that he wanted to maintain exclusive control over the material for possible use in a book, movie or other articles about the case.

Mark D. Greenberg of Berkeley, an attorney for Ford, said he was disappointed by Thursday’s action and is concerned that the appeals court ruling, which is now binding on state trial courts, could be abused.

“The appeal court leaves it rather loose as to who now can take advantage of the shield law,” Greenberg said. For example, he said, political operatives might gather potential evidence for political purposes then refuse to disclose it in court on the grounds that it was intended for a news article.

Greenberg said an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court would be considered on the grounds that the shield law’s protections for journalists are outweighed by the federal constitutional right to a fair trial.

Terry Francke, executive director of the 1st Amendment Coalition, representing news organizations, said Thursday’s action brought “common sense clarification” to the law by extending its coverage to legitimate free-lance journalists.

Francke noted that the appeals court took into account Golab’s 13 years as a reporter or writer and that he ultimately signed agreements to publish the articles. “This is by no means a carte blanche for anyone who wants to call himself or herself a free-lancer when faced with a subpoena,” he said.

The shield law, placed in the state Constitution by the voters in 1980, covers publishers, editors, reporters or others “connected with or employed” by a news organization “or any person who has been so connected or employed.”

When the issue arose at trial, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Alexander H. Williams upheld Golab’s refusal to turn over taped interviews with Adams, even for material obtained before the writer signed a contract with a publisher.

Williams said he could not allow discrimination against a free-lance writer. “When someone as a free-lance needs to develop a relationship to be able to ‘pitch’ an article (to a publisher), that person’s status is not fairly distinguishable from that of someone who is in the employ of an agency,” the judge said.

On Oct. 9, a state appeal panel in Los Angeles agreed, saying the shield law protected Golab before and after he signed a contract with a magazine publisher.

Von Villas and Ford were convicted of attempting to murder dancer Joan Loguercio in 1983 and in an unrelated 1982 armed robbery of $140,000 from a jewelry store. Adams, an informant, aided authorities in obtaining taped recordings of incriminating conversations he had with Ford the night Ford and Von Villas were arrested in the murder plot.

The two former officers were also tried separately and convicted of the 1983 contract murder of Northridge businessman Thomas Weed. An appeal in that case is pending before the state high court.