Texas Author Released from Prison

Posted on January 10, 2002

Texas writer Vanessa Leggett -- jailed for her efforts to protect her sources -- was released from prison on Friday, January 4, 2002. A federal grand jury's investigation into the 1997 murder of a Houston millionaire's wife ended Friday, allowing Leggett's release. Leggett was jailed on July 20, 2001 for a total of 168 days. The court denied Leggett's repeated requests to be released on bond while appealing the contempt citation issued after she refused to hand over notes, research, tapes and transcripts to a federal jury investigating the case. Leggett plans to write a book about the murder and subsequent investigation.

``We applaud the release of Vanessa, but still protest her imprisonment,'' said the Society of Professional Journalists President Al Cross. ``Her case shows how First Amendment rights belong to everyone and why it's dangerous for the government to get into the business of defining who is a journalist.''

In November, SPJ and two other journalism groups joined a friend-of-the-court legal brief filed on her behalf by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. The organizations argued that Leggett met the requirements of the reporter's privilege as established by three federal appellate courts and should have been released -- just as other jailed journalists who have appealed contempt citations. The SPJ also provided $12,500 from its Legal Defense Fund so she could press her case in court.

``This period has been probably one of the most difficult periods in my life,'' Leggett said at a press conference in Houston. ``Being incarcerated is hard to describe just in a sentence, but I think it's safe to say that we all enjoy our freedom. I'm extremely grateful to have my freedom again.''

Leggett's battle could be far from over. She faces the chances of being subpoenaed once again if a new grand jury convenes or a trial is conducted. Federal prosecutors also have the option of filing criminal contempt charges, which carry stiffer penalties.

Leggett's attorney, Mike DeGeurin, on Monday filed a petition in the U.S. Supreme Court asking the justices to review her contempt-of-court case. DeGeurin argues in the petition -- just as the SPJ has -- that Leggett is protected by journalists' First Amendment rights because she was gathering information for public dissemination.

``Vanessa Leggett may be out of jail -- for now -- but the Justice Department officials who sent her there are still sitting at their desks with subpoena forms ready at hand,'' said Bruce Brown, SPJ First Amendment legal counsel at Baker & Hostetler in Washington, D.C. ``The journalism world needs to keep the heat on the Department, or Leggett's jail time will have been served in vain.''

Leggett was conducting the research and interviews to complete a book manuscript on the slaying of Doris Angleton, wife of reputed former bookie Robert Angleton. Robert Angleton and his brother, Roger, were charged with capital murder in the case. Before his trial in 1998, Roger Angleton committed suicide in the Harris County Jail, leaving behind a note claiming that he was solely responsible for his sister-in-law's slaying.

Leggett interviewed Roger Angleton while he was in jail. When Leggett refused to turn over the confidential research on this high-profile case, a federal judge found her in contempt.