A judge in Louisiana has ruled that TV meteorologists and news directors must testify if called in the trial of the owners of the St. Rita nursing home in New Orleans.
Judge Jerome Winsberg ruled in St. Francisville that Bob Breck, Dan Milham and Carl Arredondo, who handle weather reporting and forecasting for New Orleans stations WVUE, WDSU and WWL, will have to testify about their weather reporting prior to and during Hurricane Katrina. The news directors of WVUE and WWL also will have to testify if called.
Wednesday’s ruling came as lawyers continue their efforts to seat a jury in the trial, in which St. Rita’s nursing home owners Sal and Mabel Mangano face 35 counts of negligent homicide. The charges against the Manganos stem from the drownings of residents at the St. Bernard Parish nursing home during Katrina’s massive flooding.
Attorneys for the state Attorney General’s office, which is handling the prosecution, have edited some 70 hours of video of weather forecasts and reporting from the television stations into a two-hour compilation they plan to show a jury. They had subpoenaed the meteorologists and news directors to testify, as well.
This ruling for the prosecution follows an earlier ruling for the defense that Governor Blanco will have to testify as well:
But Assistant Attorney General Paul Knight, referring to an earlier ruling in which Winsberg sided with defense attorneys and said Gov. Kathleen Blanco would have to testify if called, said, “If Gov. Blanco can be subpoenaed to testify, by golly, it’s not too much of an imposition for these news directors and meteorologists to come here to testify briefly.’’