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Show The Salt Lake Tribune, Saturday, November 29, Panel Rejects Conviction In Atlanta Kidnap Case 1975 "The March 4 issue of Time characterized appellant and his wife as an antisemitic, redneck couple engaged in a fast money scheme, the judges wrote. Williams admitted abducting Murphy but maintained he was insane at the time. Williams wife, Betty Ruth, was term for given a suspended three-yea- r failing to report a crime. She was put on probation for three years. Freed Unharmed Murphy, now editor and publisher of the San Francisco Examiner, was held 49 hours and released unharmed after the Atlanta Constitution owners paid $700,000 ransom, later recovered from Williams home in suburban Lilburn. Murphy said he was disturbed by the decision and that the action had shaken his confidence in the American system of justice. "Lets face it, Murphy said. "Mr. Williams came to my oftice. He made the telephone calls to the newspapers and the radio station ... He demanded the FBI chief appear live on radio and television for my life. He generated the publicity, he demanded all of it. The panels decision was one in a series that has recently reignited the issue of freedom of the press vs. a defendants right to a fair trial. Last week Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun set down rules restricting pre-trireporting in a Nebraska murder case. ATLANTA (AP) Prejudicial errors by the government and pretrial publicity prevented a fair trial for the abductor of newspaper editor Reg federal panel Murphy, a three-judg- e ruled Friday. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel returned the case to U.S. District Court Judge William C. OKelley and ordered a new trial for William A. H. Williams. Williams, 35, was convicted of extortion Aug. 3, 1974, and sentenced to 40 years in prison after Murphy, then editor of The Atlanta Constitution, was abducted from his home that February. The judges objected to a controversial passage in closing arguments by Asst. U.S. Atty. Stephen Ludwick that acquitting Williams would be a blank for him to commit crimes check against judge, jury and community. Extensive Coverage also cited extensive coverage of They the case by the news media especially a bylined narrative by Murphy which appeared in combined Sunday editions of The Atlanta Journal and Constitution. "Every aspect of his life became grist for the reporters mill," the judges said of the defendant in an opinion written by Judge Homer Thornberry of Austin, Tex. They also criticized news service reports and news magazine stories. 4,000-wor- f 4 ? A construction worker on mild temperatures for this time of the year a busy downtown street here takes time out have given residents a chance to get outto gander at a few womanly legs. Extremely doors and enjoy the mild autumn weather. WASHINGTON d Press Fears Unfair Reporting Restrictions Dale Nelson Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON Conflict between the , reporting of crime in the press and a defendants right to a fair trial is in the spotlight again after Fridays reversal of an extortion conviction in a Georgia abduction case and a continuing legal battle over a Nebraska murder trial. Many journalists think recent court decisions, notably a Nov. 20 order by Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun in the Nebraska mass murder case, have imposed constitutional conditions on what the press may report. They say this violates the First Amendments protection of a free press. Blackmun and the three federal judges who overturned the extortion conviction of William A. H. Williams represent the other point of view. They say that publicity surrounding a defendant can prevent a fair, verdict when the case gets to , unprejudiced the jury. Prior Record In the case of Williams, who was convicted in the 1974 abduction of then Atlanta Constitution editor Reg Murphy, the judges noted that news reports covered His prior criminal record, his poor credit rating ... his overwhelming ... and in short, every aspect of his life. The same issue was raised in a third case Friday. Lt. William L. Calleys lawyer argued that a federal appeals court erred in reversing a judges ruling that extensive news coverage of the My Lai massacre made it impossible to find unbiased jurors. In an appeal to the Supreme Court, the lawyer said Calley was denied due process ol law because of "pervasive publicity preceding his trial on charges of taking part in the massacre at a Vietnamese village. The American Bar Assn, has had a committee of judges and lawyers at work with an eye to spelling out some guidelines to show how far the courts can go in By W. m restricting such publicity. News organizations are divided over whether they should cooperate. Make Report Some say that they would be implying their approval of something thats unconstitutional in the first place. The committee originally planned to make a report at an ABA convention in Atlanta in February, but has indicated recently it may take longer than that. Meanwhile, even before Fridays Calley appeal and he decision of a three-judg- e INVwk Analysis federal court on the Williams conviction, the murder case in Nebraska had brought the issue into sharp focus again. Erw in Charles Simants, 29, is scheduled to go on trial Jan. 5 in North Platte, Neb, on charges of murdering six members of a Sutherland, Neb., family. A county judge sharply restricted what newsmen could report before the trial starts. Blackmun removed some of the restrictions, but in doing so laid down some rules of his own which lawyers familiar with First Amendment cases say are unprecedented in their restrictions on pretrial reporting. News organizations have asked the Nebraska Supreme Court to strike down the original restrictions and the court has indicated it will act Monday. Meanwhile, the organizations have also asked the full U.S. Supreme Court to overrule Blackmun. There has been no indication when the court will respond The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press compares Blackmuns order with the gag. imposed, and later struck down by the Supreme Court, in the Pentagon Papers case. Only it says this one is more sweeping. The Pentagon Papers order barred newspapers from continuing their publication of installments from classified documents about American involvement in the Vietnam war. In 1971 the Supreme Court struck it down in a 3 ruling, saying the government could not impose prior restraints on publication for national security reasons unless it showed "direct, immediate and irreparable damage. In the Nebraska case, which does not involve national security, Blackmun barred pretrial reporting of confessions, certain other statements by the defendant and the circumstances of his arrest. Blackmun overruled portions of District Judge Hugh Stuarts original order which barred publication of medical testimony and some other matters brought out at a preliminary hearing. He said these could be reported, as long as they did not point the finger of blame at any individual. He also struck down Stuarts wholesale adoption of voluntary guidelines which had been worked out by lawyers and journalists in Nebraska in an attempt to head off confrontations on the fair trail, free press issue. He said many provisions of the guidelines were too vague to be treated as law. In doing so, however, Blackmun did something else which has caused alarm in the journalistic community. He said that courts can convert such guidelines into official court orders, so long as the guidelines are specific enough. Voluntary guidelines of this nature have been adopted by news media and bar organizations, frequently with the cooperation of the courts, in 23 states. But Blackmuns ruling goes beyond voluntary agreements and, many journalists fear, opens the door to compulsory restraint on what can be reported. Blackmuns ruling applies only to the Nebraska case but frequently such a ruling sets a precedent unless the full court upsets it. ZCMI Outfits You Just in Time For Christmas Memories OPEN TOMORROW SUNDAY 12 P.M. DOWNTOWN 17 E. Broadway FASHION PLACE -- 5 P.M. GUYS' Colored "CORDS' IN A CHEAT SELECTION OF COLONS Green 9 Natural Brown 9 Sand 9 Beige 9 Rust 9 Yellow 9 Grey 9 Light Blue 9 Navy Sizes 28 thru 38 9 OGDEN 2283 Vash. Blvd. ujflm ms Dial 52I-3S- 35 if TOMtfMMDU! DATSDII IIOIJEY DEE. LOWEST PRICED. 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