Washington, D.C., September 27, 2022 — The Las Vegas Review-Journal on Monday filed a motion to prevent law enforcement from accessing electronic devices and unreported source material obtained when they searched the home of slain reporter Jeff German as part of their murder investigation.
“A murder investigation should not be used as a pretext to access unreported source material that should be protected by both the First Amendment and Nevada’s shield law,” said CPJ U.S. and Canada Program Coordinator Katherine Jacobsen. “If law enforcement were to gain access to decades of Jeff German’s unpublished work, including sensitive source material, it would make an already difficult situation even worse.”
German covered crime and political corruption for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and was found dead with stab wounds outside his Las Vegas home on September 3. Several days later, police arrested Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles on suspicion of murder.
Update: The Committee to Protect Journalists, along with more than 40 other media organizations, has signed on to an amicus brief filed by the Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press in support of the Review-Journal’s motion.