FRIDAY, APRIL 28, 2006
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 3B
Mowing over 'em
Nicoletta Niosi/KANSAN
Paper's photos subpoenaed
Ashley Brown, Kearney, Neb., sophomore and member of the KU track and field team, practices hurdles in Memorial Stadium on Wednesday. The team will compete in the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, April 28-30.
BY ALAN SCHER ZAGIER
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MISSOURI
COLUMBIA, Mo. — A Boone County Circuit Court judge has ordered The Columbia Daily Tribune to hand over hundreds of unpublished photos to attorneys on both sides of a wrongful death lawsuit involving a fallen Missouri football player.
Judge Gary Oxenhandler ruled Wednesday that the newspaper must disclose 604 unpublished photos to attorneys representing the family of former Missouri reserve linebacker Aaron O'Neal as well as 14 university employees named as defendants, including head coach Gary Pinkel, athletic director Mike Alden and team medical director Rex Sharp.
The 19-year-old redshirt
freshman collapsed on the field about 45 minutes into an hourlong, voluntary workout on July 12, 2005, and died later that afternoon.
The Boone County medical examiner ruled that O'Neal died of viral meningitis, with swelling in his brain affecting his heart and causing him to lose his ability to breathe properly.
Tribune photographer Jenna Isaacson documented O'Neal's collapse on Faurot Field at the preseason workout.
But attorney Jean Maneke, who represents the newspaper, said she was not certain the Tribune would appeal the ruling, citing concern that a higher court ruling could establish case law that would make it even harder for reporters to protect their work products in the future.
Isaacson, who had agreed to testify about what she witnessed at the practice, is out of the country and could not be reached for comment.
"An innocent photographer is now in the position of having to assist a private plaintiff trying to win a large sum of money from the university," Maneke said. "They're using our newspaper to make that happen."
The Tribute has 10 business days to turn over the photos.
Attorneys for Lonnie O'Neal, the player's father, sought the photos to bolster the case, arguing that the absence of a reporters' shield law in Missouri meant the paper had no legal basis for its refusal of a subpoena of Isaacson's photos.