In Re Application to Quash Subpoena to National Broadcasting Company, Inc. Steven Krase and Jenny Krase v. Graco Children Products, Inc., Ruth Marden v. Graco Children Products, Inc., Kerry Ann Murphy v. Graco Children Products, Inc., National Broadcasting Company, Inc.

79 F.3d 346, 24 Media L. Rep. (BNA) 1599, 1996 U.S. App. LEXIS 6571
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit
DecidedApril 4, 1996
Docket1281
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 79 F.3d 346 (In Re Application to Quash Subpoena to National Broadcasting Company, Inc. Steven Krase and Jenny Krase v. Graco Children Products, Inc., Ruth Marden v. Graco Children Products, Inc., Kerry Ann Murphy v. Graco Children Products, Inc., National Broadcasting Company, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Application to Quash Subpoena to National Broadcasting Company, Inc. Steven Krase and Jenny Krase v. Graco Children Products, Inc., Ruth Marden v. Graco Children Products, Inc., Kerry Ann Murphy v. Graco Children Products, Inc., National Broadcasting Company, Inc., 79 F.3d 346, 24 Media L. Rep. (BNA) 1599, 1996 U.S. App. LEXIS 6571 (2d Cir. 1996).

Opinion

79 F.3d 346

24 Media L. Rep. 1599

In re APPLICATION TO QUASH SUBPOENA TO NATIONAL BROADCASTING
COMPANY, INC.
Steven KRASE and Jenny Krase, Plaintiffs,
v.
GRACO CHILDREN PRODUCTS, INC., Defendant-Appellee.
Ruth MARDEN, Plaintiff,
v.
GRACO CHILDREN PRODUCTS, INC., Defendant-Appellee.
Kerry Ann MURPHY, Plaintiff,
v.
GRACO CHILDREN PRODUCTS, INC., Defendant-Appellee.
NATIONAL BROADCASTING COMPANY, INC., Appellant.

No. 1281, Docket 95-9118.

United States Court of Appeals,
Second Circuit.

Argued Jan. 12, 1996.
Decided April 4, 1996.

Appeal from orders entered in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Duffy, J.) denying a motion by appellant to quash a subpoena for the unbroadcasted portions of certain videotaped television interviews relating to an allegedly defective infant's cradle and holding appellant in contempt, the district court having rejected claims of privilege based on the New York Shield Law, the New York State Constitution and the United States Constitution.

Susan E. Weiner, National Broadcasting Company, Inc., New York City (Floyd Abrams, Susan Buckley, Cahill Gordon & Reindel, New York City, of counsel), for Appellant.

Richard W. Bethea, Jr., Stophel & Stophel, PC, Chattanooga, TN (Stephen S. Duggins, Stophel & Stophel, PC, James D. Silbert, Hinckley & Silbert, PC, New York City, Steven M. Lieberman, Rothwell, Figg, Ernst & Kurz, Washington, DC, of counsel), for Defendant-Appellee.

(Robert P. LoBue, Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler, LLP, New York City, of counsel), for American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., CBS Inc., Daily News, LP, Dow Jones & Company, Inc., and Fox News, Inc. as amici curiae.

Before: VAN GRAAFEILAND, MINER and CABRANES, Circuit Judges.

MINER, Circuit Judge:

Appellant National Broadcasting Company, Inc. ("NBC") appeals from orders entered in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Duffy, J.) denying its motion to quash a subpoena for the unbroadcasted portions of certain videotaped television interviews and holding it in contempt. Such unbroadcasted portions are often referred to as "raw footage" or "out-takes." The subpoena giving rise to this appeal was issued out of the Southern District upon the request of appellee Graco Children's Products, Inc. ("Graco") in connection with its defense of a products liability action brought against Graco in the District of Massachusetts by Ruth Marden.

As appears from the caption, there originally were three products liability actions pending against Graco, two in the District of Massachusetts and one in the Southern District of Texas. These actions were based on similar claims that an infant's cradle manufactured by Graco was defective. In aid of its defense in each case, Graco served upon NBC subpoenas similar to the one at issue here. It withdrew the subpoena relating to the Murphy action prior to the district court decision reviewed on this appeal, and has since withdrawn the subpoena relating to the Krase action.

In denying the motion to quash, the district court rejected claims of privilege asserted by NBC under the New York Shield Law, the New York State Constitution, and the United States Constitution. Relying on the Shield Law, we reverse.

BACKGROUND

"Dateline" is a prime-time news program produced by NBC at its national headquarters in New York City. On May 23, 1995, a Dateline report about infant deaths that occurred in Graco Converta-Cradles was aired. The Converta-Cradle was a swinging cradle for infants in which the infant was rocked from head-to-toe rather than from side-to-side as in traditional cradles. According to the Dateline report, nearly 190,000 Converta-Cradles were sold during the two years that Graco manufactured and distributed the product. Almost as soon as the product was placed on the market, the safety of the Converta-Cradle was seriously questioned. Fourteen infants were reported to have died in the cradle. After receiving notification from the Consumer Product Safety Commission in 1991, Graco stopped manufacturing the product. Sometime thereafter, Graco instituted a voluntary recall of the Converta-Cradles and notified its customers.

Dateline reported on various products liability lawsuits that had been commenced by parents whose infants had died in the Converta-Cradle, including the suit commenced by Ruth Marden for the wrongful death of her infant son, Alexander. Some of the parents and their lawyers were interviewed on videotape, and Dateline used portions of the interviews on the air. Among those interviewed were Ms. Marden and her lawyer, Daniel Leonard. A portion of Ms. Marden's interview, relating to the circumstances surrounding her son's death, was broadcast on the program, but no portion of Mr. Leonard's interview was used. Parts of other interviews also were used, including a portion of the interview of Richard Bethea, Graco's attorney. According to Mr. Bethea, Graco took the position that the infant deaths were caused by Sudden Infant Death Syndrome ("SIDS") and were in no way related to any defect in the Converta-Cradle. However, in the Dateline report, reference was made to Graco's records of internal meetings in which there were discussions of the risk of suffocation caused by the head-to-toe swinging motion of the Converta-Cradle. The Dateline report concluded with an admonition to "keep an eye out for cradles that may have slipped by the 1992 recall."

Approximately three months after the Dateline broadcast, Graco served a subpoena on NBC relating to the action brought in the District of Massachusetts by Marden against Graco. The subpoena required that NBC provide deposition testimony and produce the following items:

1. Any outtakes or raw footage (audio and/or video) of interviews with Andrew John Marden and/or Ruth Marden and/or their attorney, Daniel Patrick Leonard, concerning the following:

(a) The purpose, frequency and method of the Mardens' customary usage of the Graco Converta-Cradle which is the subject of this suit;

(b) Alexander Marden's physical condition, activities and usage of the Converta-Cradle on November 10, 1991;

(c) All of the facts, circumstances and events of November 10, 1991 involving Alexander Marden, the Marden children, Andrew John Marden and Ruth Marden; and

(d) The position in which Mrs. Marden found her child in Graco's Converta-Cradle product on the evening of November 10, 1991, or her recollections thereof.

2. Any notes of interviews with the Mardens or their attorney, Daniel Patrick Leonard, concerning the areas of inquiry set forth in Paragraph 1 above.

3. Any outtakes or raw footage (audio and/or video) containing any and all information concerning the areas of inquiry set forth in Paragraph 1 above.

4. Any notes containing any and all information concerning the areas of inquiry set forth in Paragraph 1 above.

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79 F.3d 346, 24 Media L. Rep. (BNA) 1599, 1996 U.S. App. LEXIS 6571, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-application-to-quash-subpoena-to-national-broadcasting-company-inc-ca2-1996.