Ex-Prosecutor Going After Reporter’s Source

Ex-federal prosecutor Richard Convertino was showered with praise after he got convictions in a terrorism case in Detroit after Sept. 11, 2001. The convictions were later thrown out and Convertino was charged with — and later acquitted — of obstruction of justice. Now he’s suing the government for leaks and wants a Detroit Free Press reporter to give up his source.

Sandra Svoboda
Detroit Metro Times

DETROIT –The widespread fallout from a federal case that began with the arrest of alleged terrorists and then turned into a widely cited textbook example of prosecutorial excess has now hit a Detroit Free Press reporter who’s attempting to protect the identity of a confidential source.

Advocates are saying this latest twist in an already twisted saga is more evidence of the need for a federal shield law protecting journalists.

Meanwhile, critics continue to point to the failed case against the alleged Detroit “sleeper cell” as a prime example of the government’s reckless post-9/11 anti-terrorism agenda.

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