Attorneys for suspect James Holmes subpoenaed Winter to testify about who told her that a notebook Holmes sent to a psychiatrist contained "details about how he was going to kill people."
Winter's story about the notebook was published on July 25, five days after Holmes is accused of opening fire at a midnight movie, killing twelve people and injuring seventy more. In it, the New York-based reporter said her information came from two unnamed law enforcement sources.
Holmes's attorneys want to know who violated a gag order in the case and "leaked" that information to Winter. At a hearing in December, they attempted to find the sources by questioning several law enforcement officers who had access to the notebook, which was discovered in the mailroom at the University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Campus, where Holmes was a student.
The package was addressed to Dr. Lynne Fenton, a psychiatrist who had seen Holmes. Witnesses have said it contained both a notebook and burned money. A few officers admitted to leafing through the pages of the notebook, but said they didn't linger on any particular page. "I just sort of fanned through the pages with my thumb," Aurora police detective Alton Reed testified in December. Neither he nor any of the other officers said they spoke to the media about the notebook or its contents.
Winter was subpoenaed to appear in court on Monday. Though her attorneys fought to postpone the court date, Judge William Sylvester ruled that the hearing will take place as scheduled. Now, however, he's said he's willing to hear oral arguments about whether Winter should have to testify. Her lawyers say she should not "because the testimony and documents sought in the subpoena concern confidential newsgathering information that is privileged from disclosure under the Colorado Shield Law." Winter also filed a lengthy affidavit in support of quashing the subpoena.
Read Winter's request to quash the subpoena and the judge's order below.
Motion for Protective Order and to Quash Subpoena Duces Tecum and Ad Testificandum
Order Re Request for Oral Argument Regarding Motion to Quash Subpoena
More from our Aurora Theater Shooting archive: "James Holmes's court filing about guilty-plea offer a publicity ploy, prosecution says."
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