Judge: TV crew doesn’t have to hand over jail footage of man accused in 2 Costa Mesa slayings

A judge Friday blocked a subpoena seeking hundreds of hours of unbroadcast footage that a TV production crew recorded of Orange County Jail inmates, including the defendant in a 2010 Costa Mesa double murder case.

Defense attorneys for Daniel Patrick Wozniak had been seeking the tapes, a producer’s notes and any communications between the crew and jailers to bolster their defense of Wozniak, who was filmed in jail for an episode of the MSNBC show “Lockup” that aired in 2011.

Wozniak, a 31-year-old former community theater actor, is accused of shooting to death two Orange Coast College students — Samuel Herr, 26, and Juri “Julie” Kibuishi, 23 — on May 22, 2010, and dismembering Herr’s body in an effort to hide it.

Wozniak’s public defender, Scott Sanders, said he suspects that Orange County sheriff’s deputies violated Wozniak’s right to a fair trial by suggesting that “Lockup” producers interview him.

But Orange County Superior Court Judge John Conley threw out the subpoena after the TV crew — which included 44 Blue Productions and a freelance producer — invoked California’s “shield” law, which provides broad protections for news gatherers.

“I don’t think it’s even close,” Conley said, explaining that Sanders had failed to reach the high threshold of evidence required to make journalists turn over unpublished information.

Sanders argued that the TV crew asked for inmates to interview, and if jailers suggested Wozniak, they may have violated his Sixth Amendment rights, which bar law enforcement from trying to elicit statements from a defendant after criminal proceedings have started.

“They asked for high-profile inmates,” Sanders said. “I’m standing next to a very high-profile inmate.”

But speculation is not enough to overcome the shield law, argued Kelli Sager, an attorney for the TV crew.

“Mr. Sanders just wants to throw around accusations,” she said.

This is the third time Sanders has subpoenaed the TV crew since 2013, but the two earlier filings were either withdrawn or not decided.

Sager asked Conley to stop what she called a “broad-based fishing expedition” that has cost her clients thousands of dollars to defend against.

To try to bolster his case, Sanders read testimony from a sheriff’s deputy who said the TV crew asked for interview subjects. But Sager pointed out that earlier in his testimony, the deputy denied that any jailers had suggested inmates for the show.

Wozniak has pleaded not guilty. Costa Mesa police detectives said in grand jury testimony that he has admitted to the killings.

Sanders is seeking to have the death penalty removed as an option if Wozniak is convicted. He argues that Wozniak will not receive a fair trial, partly because of what he alleges is authorities’ misuse of jailhouse informants.

Prosecutors say they are not using any informants in their case against Wozniak and argue that any possible misconduct in the jails has nothing to do with them.

In March, Sanders succeeded in having the Orange County district attorney’s office thrown off another high-profile case when a judge affirmed Sanders’ accusations that law enforcement had repeatedly failed to turn over important evidence to the defense.

Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals removed all county prosecutors from the sentencing phase for Scott Dekraai, who has pleaded guilty to shooting to death his ex-wife and seven other people at a Seal Beach salon in 2011. The California attorney general’s office has appealed Goethals’ decision.