Judge orders reporter arrested in leaked psychiatric report on suspect in Ohio serial slayings
By APWednesday, March 17, 2010
Judge in Ohio orders reporter’s arrest in leak
CLEVELAND — A judge has ordered a newspaper reporter arrested over a leaked psychiatric evaluation on a Cleveland man accused of killing 11 women.
Cuyahoga (ky-uh-HOH’-guh) County Common Pleas Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold ordered the arrest of Gabriel Baird of The Plain Dealer on Tuesday after he failed to appear at a hastily scheduled hearing. The newspaper said he was out on assignment and that he and a newspaper attorney would appear before the judge on Wednesday.
The hearing concerns Baird’s Nov. 6 story on an evaluation of Anthony Sowell that concluded he was unlikely to assault women after he finished a prison term for attempted rape.
Sowell wants to know how Baird got the confidential report.
The newspaper says Ohio’s shield law protects Baird from having to reveal his source.
