JOURNALIST’S, CITY’S LAWYERS CLASH OVER LAWSUIT

Federal judge to rule on whether free speech case moves forward

Attorneys for NBC 7 journalist Dorian Hargrove and the city of San Diego pressed their best arguments in federal court Thursday about why a defamation and free-speech lawsuit should move forward or be dismissed.

U.S. District Court Judge Cathy

Ann Bencivengo did not issue a final ruling on the city’s effort to throw out the case before subpoenas can be issued and depositions can be taken.

Each side in the closely watched litigation urged the judge to sustain or reverse a tentative decision issued earlier this month that said she was inclined not to allow the complaint to proceed.

“The involvement of the state’s prosecutor contacting (Hargrove’s) employer was motivated by his speech,” said attorney Lawrence Shea, who represents Hargrove, “… and that speech was highly protected.”

Shea said that by writing a letter to Hargrove, posting tweets that Shea described as defamatory and sending a City Attorney’s Office representative to meet with NBC 7 officials about Hargrove’s coverage, the government entangled itself in the station’s decision to limit Hargrove’s investigative journalism work, thereby violating his First Amendment rights.

A lawyer for the city said the case should be dismissed because, among other things, it was NBC 7 that took action to limit Hargrove’s reporting — not the city.

Deputy City Attorney Jon

Cadieux said the city was not privy to why NBC 7 took the action it did. He said the First Amendment prevents the government from stifling free speech, but it does not prevent a private employer from choosing not to publish certain speech on its platforms.

“To claim a First Amendment violation, Hargrove would have to plead two elements, that he was deprived of a federal right — in this case, his right to free speech — and ... that the person who deprived him of that right acted under color of law. Plaintiff has not plead facts to