Byron Wells and his wife plan to join the Peace Corps and their misdemeanor criminal trespass conviction will delay their assignment to Africa if his case remains unresolved, attorney Dan Barr said
Judge upholds reporter's trespassing conviction
A judge has upheld the misdemeanor criminal trespass conviction of a newspaper reporter who entered the property of a former Chandler police officer involved in a fatal shooting.
Judge Michael Jones of Maricopa County Superior Court upheld the conviction of East Valley Tribune reporter Bryon Wells in Chandler Municipal Court on Friday. Wells was fined $300 and sentenced to a year of probation.
In an attempt to interview fired Officer Daniel Lovelace, Wells entered an unlocked gate posted with a "no trespassing" sign but left the property when told to leave by Lovelace's wife.
In an appeal, Wells argued that his newsgathering activities were protected by the First Amendment and that the "no trespassing" notice was not enough to make his entering the property a crime.
Jones said Wells had "ample notice" that he would be trespassing if he entered the property and that reporters' First Amendment rights do not exempt them from trespassing laws.
Wells' attorney said it was undecided whether Wells would appeal again. One consideration is that Wells and his wife plan to join the Peace Corps and that it will delay their assignment to Africa if his case remains unresolved, attorney Dan Barr said Tuesday.
Lovelace has pleaded innocent to second-degree murder in the shooting death of Dawn Rae Nelson. Lovelace said he shot her in self-defense when she tried to run him over with her car after trying to fill a fraudulent prescription at a drugstore drive-through.
(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
