Coverage of trial called ‘child abuse’

Prosecutor raps Dispatch for ID’ing minors who testified; newspaper defends decision

ONEIDA, N.Y. » The Madison County District Attorney’s Office is accusing the Oneida Daily Dispatch of “child abuse” in its coverage of the criminal case against defendant Michael Stevens.

Stevens was convicted Oct. 31 of the attempted murder of Erin Chesebro, a girlfriend with whom he lived.

Robert Mascari, chief assistant district attorney, sharply criticized the Dispatch for identifying Stevens’ children and detail- ing their testimony in open court against their father.

READ the Madison County assistant district attorney’s letter to the Oneida Daily Dispatch

Mascari used proceedings in the case in Madison County Court on Oct. 26 to criticize the coverage:

“[I] woke to discover and to be contacted by the superintendent of Oneida Schools that there is an article in the Oneida Dis- patch this morning that can only be classified as child abuse, plain and simple; an article about our trial where the Oneida Dispatch had the complete lack of professional judgement to publish the names of those two young, innocent female witnesses who had to testify in this trial the other day. And in doing so, to reflect how they were on the stand and to reflect that their parents use drugs and have abused one another.”

“It is wrong on every level. We are talking about the fifth estate who will do so much to protect the right of sources, to protect the rights of defendants, to seemingly be the guardian of the public’s morals and good judgement and yet they could publish an article that is an act of child abuse. It is wrong on every level. It was unprofessional and leaves me shaking with anger.”

The comments were made without the jury present.

In a letter to the Dispatch dated Nov. 1, Mascari continued his criticism, expressing “my continuing disgust that your paper — both in print and on the internet — continues to find it acceptable to publish the names of young children who have been victims of verbal and physical abuse, ...” Mascari wrote. “By my count, Mr. Stevens’ children were victimized at least three times by this criminal prosecution. The first time was when their father decided to brutally attack their mother. The second time was when it was necessary to put them on the witness stand in order to prove the case against Mr. Stevens. The third and final time is when you decided to use their names in this article.”

Dispatch Managing Editor Tony Adamis said a faithful rendering of the testimony served readers and the public at large.

“We have open courts in the United States for a reason. In a democratic society, the public needs to see the process by which their government exercises the considerable power to seek justice, including depriving an individual of life or liberty,” Adamis said.

“The Madison County District Attorney’s Office decided to proceed to trial with this case and, in the course of presenting its case, to put these children on the witness stand to give testimony under oath in open court. Presumably, this decision reflected the experienced judgment of the District Attorney’s Office that, however difficult testifying might be for the witnesses, the importance of their testimony outweighed any speculative risk,” Adamis said. “In short, the interests of justice to the community at large trumped any speculative harm to the witnesses.

“[T] he defendant claimed he consistently was the victim of physical aggression in the relationship with the victim,” Adamis said. “That was part of his bid to convince the jury ofhis innocence. The prosecution countered the defendant’s assertions with eyewitness testimony from inside the family. As related by our story, that testimony by the children contradicted the defendant on two key scores — who was ( wielding the knife) on the night of the crime and who persistently was the aggressor within the family,” Adamis said. “And, as it turned out, the testimony undercut the claims of the defendant and, presumably, helped lead the jury to convict him.

“But, as with a jury, readers cannot be expected to fully weigh testimony — especially conflicting testimony — without knowing who is giving it and how they were in a position to have that knowledge. That’s why we fully reported it,” Adamis said.

Inhis 36 years practicing law, Mascari said in an interview with the Dispatch, he had never seen local media publish the names of children who had been subject to domestic abuse.

In his letter to the Dispatch, Mascari asserted “the effect of your article was to subject innocent children to ridicule and shame in the community. You re- victimized them with no apparent concern for their mental well- being. You caused an injury to these children that our office and the school district have done our best to clean up.

Asked during an interview what the children experienced as a direct consequence of identification, Mascari said that it was not his place to disclose that information, directing the question to the school district.

Oneida Superintendent Mary- Margaret Zehr said federal privacy laws prevented her from commenting.

Mascari said he supports the First Amendment, but said the reports needlessly exposed children to potentially harmful repercussions from fellow youngsters and even adults.

“I don’t believe in censorship; I believe in judgement, and I believe using young children’s names, who are themselves victims, it opens them up to an added level of ridicule,” Mascari said.

“I don’t at all doubt the sincerity of Mr. Mascari. And had he approached the Oneida Daily Dispatch prior to the trial, we certainly would have listened to his concerns. But, in my 35 years of managing the coverage of courts, I several times have had the experience of children who testified or were otherwise deeply involved in open court proceedings and, in each case, the children were named in our reports ( and those of other news organizations) for the reasons I have outlined,” Adamis said. “In none of those cases did an officer of the court protest. Nor were there any known ramifications to the children as a result of our reporting. That’s not to say there can’t be, but that’s been my experience.”