The Supreme Court denied a petition Tuesday from accused Aurora, Colo., mass shooter James Holmes, whose attorneys tried to force a Fox News reporter who covered the 2012 killing spree into revealing her sources.
The court will not hear the appeal from Holmes, who had asked the justices to overturn a New York state court finding last year in favor of reporter Jana Winter, according to a list of orders released Tuesday.
{mosads}Holmes allegedly killed a dozen people and wounded scores more when he allegedly opened fire in a movie theater during a midnight showing of “The Dark Knight,” part of the “Batman” film franchise.
In the aftermath of the shooting, a story under Winter’s byline revealed the contents of a notebook Holmes sent to his psychiatrist prior to the attack. The information was attributed to law enforcement sources who evidently violated the terms of a court-issued “gag order” on certain facts surrounding the case.
None of the officers known to have come in contact with the notebook admitted to leaking the information, and Holmes had sought to force Winter’s testimony on the subject.
His lawyers argued that the leak hurt Holmes chances of getting a fair trial, since some of the information reported is not admissible in court.
The New York court rejected the bid, saying Winter is protected under the state’s shield law.
“[T]here is no principle more fundamental or well-established than the right of a reporter to refuse to divulge a confidential source,” the New York court concluded. “And that concern is directly implicated here given that the only purpose for Winter’s testimony is to ascertain who leaked the information regarding the discovery of the notebook. “
The Supreme Court denied an appeal of that ruling without explanation.