Local television reporter Jim Taricani was found guilty of criminal contempt Thursday for refusing to name the source of a secret FBI videotape used in the 2002 "Operation Plunder Dome" trial of former Mayor Vincent Cianci and associates.
Taricani, a reporter for WJAR Channel 10, NBC's Providence affiliate, will face sentencing Dec. 9 and could receive up to six months in prison. Chief U.S. District Judge Ernest Torres said there was no way of knowing exactly what the sentence would be until he had reviewed all of the evidence, but Taricani "ought to be prepared for any eventuality at the time of sentencing."
Yesterday's ruling was the end of a three-year attempt by the court to learn the source of the secret tape, which was given to Taricani in violation of a court order. WJAR aired the videotape, which showed Cianci associate Frank Corrente accepting a bribe from an undercover FBI agent, before Corrente and three codefendants were tried on corruption charges. The trials resulted from a four-year-long public corruption investigation nicknamed "Operation Plunder Dome."
Taricani was found in civil contempt last March for refusing to reveal the tape's source and was fined $1,000 a day as a result. WJAR, which covered Taricani's fines, paid a total of $85,000 before the court ruled on Nov. 4 that the fines were not sufficient to force Taricani's compliance with the court order. Torres then gave Taricani one last chance to reveal his source before being found to be in criminal contempt. Yesterday, Taricani's chances ran out.
Before the ruling, Taricani's lawyer, Martin Murphy, made a final attempt to avoid a criminal contempt ruling. Murphy argued that criminal prosecutions of this nature had a chilling affect on the "ability of reporters to gather news."
Murphy also argued that Taricani should not be found guilty because he had been acting on good faith and a belief that his conduct was protected by the law.
But Torres emphasized that Taricani was not on trial for airing the video. The crime was instead his refusal to reveal the tape's source - a direct violation of a court order. Moreover, Torres said that good faith and a misunderstanding of the law was not a defense against a criminal contempt charge.
"The issue is a very simple one," Torres said. There was a lawful court order of reasonable specificity, which Taricani willfully violated. The evidence is "clear, overwhelming and undisputed," Torres said.
Torres pointed out that Taricani was given numerous opportunities to comply with the court order and the court had attempted to reason with Taricani on several occasions.
Taricani, who received a heart transplant several years ago, was given a week to submit medical information to the court, which will be used to place him in the appropriate facility upon sentencing.
After the ruling, Taricani read from a written statement: "When I became a reporter 30 years ago, I never imagined that I would be put on trial and face the prospect of going to jail simply for doing my job.
"Although I am willing to go to jail, I think it is wrong that journalists should face this type of threat simply for doing their jobs," Taricani continued.
In response to questions from reporters, Taricani said his biggest personal concerns about jail were his health issues.
While Taricani said he was "anxious and nervous" about the possibility of going to jail, he said he had "no regrets whatsoever."
Yesterday's ruling, and the proceedings leading up to it, have garnered a great deal of media attention because of their implications regarding the conflict between journalists' rights to inform the public and defendants' rights to a fair trial. Several other cases around the country also involve the leaking of information to journalists in direct violation of the law; those cases have yet to go to trial.
"I wish all of my sources could be on the record, but when people are afraid, a promise of confidentiality may be the only way to get the information to the public, and in some cases, to protect the well-being of the source," Taricani read from his statement.
After the ruling, WJAR released a statement expressing the station's profound disappointment with the conviction and said it stands by Taricani and supports his decisions not to disclose the tape's source.
"No reporter should have to pay such a terribly high price for honestly and legally reporting the news," the statement read.
