Court rules reporter must testify in voter suppression case

CONCORD, N.H. – The New Hampshire Supreme Court says a former reporter could be forced to testify against a man accused of sending a bogus email announcing a House candidate was dropping out of the race.

The Concord Monitor reports (http://bit.ly/2wH985L ) its attorney had objected to a subpoena for former Monitor reporter Nick Reid to testify against former Democratic campaign volunteer Carl Gibson.

Gibson is accused of trying to suppress voter turnout by sending an email saying Republican Yvonne Dean-Bailey was dropping out of a May 2015 special election. Gibson says the email was satire.

The court ruled Thursday that Reid was not protected from testifying in Gibson’s criminal case because the newsgathering privilege in the state constitution applies to sources that remain confidential.

Dean-Bailey ended up beating her Democratic challenger.

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This story has been corrected to show the candidate’s last name was Dean-Bailey, not Dean-Baily.

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Information from: Concord Monitor, http://www.concordmonitor.com