Corrupted-Justice Article

A Flagler judge has opened the door for what could be the first ever deposition of Chris Hansen, the nationally known correspondent of "Dateline NBC's" controversial "To Catch a Predator" programs.

Circuit Judge Kim C. Hammond granted a motion last week seeking to depose Hansen about what he saw when "Dateline NBC," Perverted Justice and the Flagler Beach Police Department conducted a sex sting in December. Hammond's decision also would allow Hansen to be questioned about any physical evidence and visual or audio recordings made during the sting.

"As far as I know, I'm the only attorney in the United States that has tried to take (Hansen's) deposition in relation to these 'Dateline' stings," Ted Zentner said.

News-Journal research did not find any account of Hansen being deposed in other "To Catch a Predator" cases across the country.

The motion was not a total victory for Zentner. Hammond denied deposing Hansen about the sting's setup or "any other information obtained in preparation for the gathering of news," according to the judge's order.

Zentner represents Todd Spikes, 42, a former Alabama police officer who was fired from his job after his arrest during the sting. Spikes, of DeFuniak Springs in North Florida, is charged with attempted lewd or lascivious battery, two counts of lewd or lascivious exhibition, and computer pornography and child exploitation.

Spikes was one of 21 men arrested, including three locals, when police said they drove to a house along the ocean in Flagler Beach to try to have sex with a decoy posing as a child the men had met on the Internet. Zentner also represents another man arrested in the sting, Dan Kelly, 46, of Clearwater.

Zentner said he will recommend to his clients that they take the next step and ask a judge in New York to issue a subpoena ordering Hansen to testify. Zentner expects an all-out fight from lawyers at NBC.

NBC spokeswoman Jenny Tartikoff declined comment Wednesday because litigation is ongoing.

Zentner said he wonders why other attorneys have not tried to depose Hansen.

"I think it needs to be done," Zentner said. "And I'm surprised that a lot of lawyers in this country haven't tried to do it, because I'm sure that there is some information there that may be helpful."

Judge Hammond's decision did not surprise Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press in Arlington, Va.

Reporters are protected from being forced to testify by shield laws. But most states have exceptions to those shield laws if reporters are eyewitnesses to crimes, Dalglish said in a telephone interview Wednesday.

"These guys at NBC, because they were cooperating with the cops, you could make a very, very strong argument that they were acting as cops and they had eyewitness observations of the law being broken," she said.

Partaking in a sting is a situation in which a reporter is begging to be subpoenaed, she said.

"You have a really hard time going in front of a judge and arguing that you need to be an independent observer of the news when you were part of the sting," Dalglish said.

The online decoys in the sting were members of the Oregon-based group Perverted Justice. During a hearing, Judge Hammond played off of that name when he said he was worried that blocking Hansen from being deposed might exclude relevant information from the case.

"We would get more perverted justice," Hammond said.