Judge Changes Course, Will Not Order Reporter To Disclose Off-The-Record Notes


Boston magazine writer Gretchen Voss will not have to turn over off-the-record notes from an interview she did with second-degree murder suspect Karen Read, a judge has announced, reversing a previous decision. 

Judge Beverly Cannone had ordered Voss to turn over off-the-record notes, setting up a potential conflict regarding freedom of the press. But now Cannone says that Voss need not turn over the notes. Only the recording of the on-the-record interview will be provided to the prosecution.

The Voss side has “articulated a compelling argument that requiring disclosure of the notes poses a greater risk to the free flow of information than the other materials produced,” Cannone wrote, according to media reports. "Conversely, the Commonwealth has not demonstrated to the Court that its need for the handwritten notes, separate from the audio recordings, outweighs the danger posed to the public interest in the free flow of information."

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Voss did not use any of the notes in her story, Robert Bertsche, an attorney for Boston Magazine told the court. He argued there is no indication that ‘the handwritten notes contain relevant information to the offenses charged.” 

Read is being retried on charges of killing John O’Keefe, a Boston police officer with whom she was in a relationship, with her car and leaving him the snow to die. The first trial ended with a hung jury last July. 

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