UPDATED! Jim DeRogatis defies judge’s order, doesn’t show up in court
Jim DeRogatis, the Sun-Times reporter who was anonymously delivered a copy of the R. Kelly sex tape for which the singer is currently on trial, did not show up to testify today. (See below for earlier updates.)
The Sun-Times lawyer is arguing that the reporter—technically—didn’t get a copy of the subpoena.
The judge is arguing that, technically, he would throw DeRogatis’s ass in jail in the meantime.
The judge, Vincent Gaughan, seemed to think that telling the Sun-Times attorney multiple times over the last week that he expected DeRogatis to be in court this a.m. was warning enough.
New developments are in as of about 3:30 p.m. Chicago time at the Chicago Tribune site here:
Gaughan said it was possible DeRogatis was unaware of the ordered appearance and would not issue a warrant for his arrest.
“I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt,” Gaughan said.
The judge said DeRogatis would have to appear tomorrow, Wednesday, at which time the routine may resume. One assumes that the reporter won’t show up again.
Hitsville is not a lawyer and doesn’t know whether the paper and DeRogatis have the law on their side. On the one hand, DeRogatis was handed a key—the key—piece of evidence in the case, and the defense has the right to determine the provenance of it, even if the testimony is, predictably, “We got it, we watched it, we called the police.”
But the issue is complicated. For one, DeRogatis is not, as the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune have been describing him, merely a “music critic.” He is a reporter, and he and his colleague, Abdon Pallasch, had been filing major investigative pieces on Kelly’s sexual proclivities a year before the tape came to light.
That original blockbuster story is here. The pair’s original story about the tape, more than a year later, is here.
That’s why DeRogatis was delivered the tape—and that makes his receipt of it part of news-gathering activities that should not be exposed to scrutiny by a court, particularly when they have nothing to do with the crime being charged, which was the actual filming of the video some years before.
Some of the questions about his appearance have been answered in court over the past few days. But others haven’t. Here, for example, is a Sun-Times posting about his testimony:
Gaughan said Kelly’s attorneys will be allowed to question DeRogatis about when he received the tape and what he did with it before turning it over to police. But the judge said they cannot ask whether he made a copy or ask any questions about his sources.
Aren’t those two sentences contradictory? The issue of whether DeRogatis made a copy is key because the defense has been making noises that those who have testified on court about having seen the tape should be charged with possessing child pornography.
As Hitsville has written, this is an interesting legal position. (Isn’t it stipulating the prosecution’s case for defense attorneys in any way to acknowledge that the tape might be child porn? That’s what Kelly’s on trial for, after all.)
Beyond that, the judge has apparently ruled that DeRogatis must turn over notes from his interview with Stephanie “Sparkle” Edwards. Again, from the papers it isn’t clear why these notes would be relevant. The tape was made years before DeRogatis interviewed Edwards—and DeRogatis’s reporting isn’t on trial.
On the other hand, the Chicago Tribune reported that testifying about the tape would not expose DeRogatis to possession of child porn charges—but only because the statute of limitations has apparently expired.
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The Daily Swarm is also following the R. Kelly case, and Jim DeRogatis’s situation, closely.
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UPDATE: The Trib now says the judge may be issuing a warrant for DeRogatis’s arrest:
Court resumed–and still no Jim DeRogatis.
Cook County Judge Vincent Gaughan, an animated jurist known for having a short fuse with lawyers, appeared subdued and spoke in short, clipped sentences when addressing Sun-Times lawyer Damon Dunn. The newspaper argued that DeRogatis had not been properly served the subpoena and therefore had no obligation to be in court this morning.
“I’m not sure why this [hearing] was called,” Dunn said.
“It’s [to decide] whether to issue a warrant for your client’s arrest,” Gaughan responded.
The Sun-Times’ version is sketchier:
Sun-Times pop music critic Jim DeRogatis has not appeared in court yet, though Judge Vincent Gaughan ordered him to show up this morning at 10 a.m.
As reporters and lawyers gathered in the courtroom, Gaughan was seen leaving through the hallway at 10:15, whistling and carrying a manila file folder. He was wearing a raincoat, as if he planned to leave the building.
Court reconvened at 11:30, and Gaughan berated Sun-Times lawyer Damon Dunn for not showing up earlier with DeRogatis. The judge said he had called the hearing “to see whether I’m going to issue a warrant for the arrest of your client,” referring to DeRogatis.
EARLIER:
Sun-Times music critic Jim DeRogatis failed to show up for his court appearance in the R. Kelly case this morning, defying the judge’s order to appear.
Sources say DeRogatis never received the subpoena issued by Cook County Judge Vincent Gaughan and called to say he would not be coming to court.
Gaughan, however, repeatedly told defense attorneys and prosecutors Monday to make sure DeRogatis and Sun-Times lawyer Damon Dunn knew they had a 10 a.m. appearance scheduled.
MORE: Robert Christgau, in his gnomic way, weighs in on the defense’s contention that DeRogatis is biased against Kelly in some way. The defense’s point is that DeRo was in some way out to get Kelly, but Christgau (as I read him) takes it to mean that DeRogatis was animated by hostility to Kelly’s art, with amusing (for Christgau fans) (like me) results.
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Disclosure: Hitsville is an old friend of Jim DeRogatis; we started the radio show “Sound Opinions” together.
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Earlier in Hitsville:
R. Kelly Sexfacts™ IV: The Quantum of Solace! The complete prosecution case!
Targeting Jim DeRogatis—literally
Bad craziness at the R. Kelly trial?
At the R. Kelly trial, they do things they don’t do on Broadway!
The NYT and R. Kelly: Curiouser and curiouser
The NYT finally notices R. Kelly isn’t a nice guy
R. Kelly and the NYT: The Freaky Defense
Tribune, Sun-Times protest closed hearings in R. Kelly case
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Damn. What a mess.
The ongoing Chicago follies with R. Kelly and Jim Derogatis sound about as one would expect. I do take exception to the notion that most music critics are not reporters. I’m mostly out of the music critic game these days, but I always did reporting whether writing reviews, profiles, news stories or obits.
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