Subpoenaed reporters

The Clermont County Prosecutor's subpoenaing of two Enquirer reporters in the Liz Carroll murder trial says more about pique than investigative technique.

The prosecutors wants all notes, videos, tapes and other materials Sheila McLaughlin and Eileen Kelley obtained during recent jailhouse interviews with Carroll and her husband, David Carroll. Both are charged with killing their 3-year-old foster child, Marcus Fiesel. Liz Carroll's trial started Monday; her husband's is scheduled for next month.

Kelley interviewed Liz Carroll. McClaughlin interviewed David Carroll. Everything said in both interviews was tape recorded by jail officials, so the prosecutors already know all there is to know about what the accused couple told the reporters. That point is made in the Enquirer's motions to quash the subpoenas, which Judge Robert Ringland is scheduled to hear Tuesday. The interviews were the basis of a series of stories the Enquirer ran Sunday and Monday, in which the Carrolls lay the blame for Marcus' death on their girlfriend, Amy Baker. Baker has been granted immunity from prosecution and is expected to be the key witness against the Carrolls.

So what is gained by such subpoenas? If McLaughlin and Kelley are subpoenaed witnesses they could be excluded from attending and covering the trial proceedings -- a "gotcha!" from prosecutors miffed about the interviews and subsequent stories.

This kind of a move doesn't benefit the prosecution of the case and it does have a chilling effect on the free and unfettered coverage of a case that has high public interest.