Herald-Post Pub. Co., Inc. v. Hill

Arvel Ponton, III, an attorney, was employed by Jose Ruiz Contreras to represent him in a federal drug smuggling case. During pretrial discovery in the criminal proceeding, Ponton filed a discovery motion and brief alleging, among other things, that Gary Hill and others were “paid confidential informants for the Drug Enforcement Administration [DEA].” A reporter for the El Paso Herald-Post, a daily newspaper published by the Herald-Post Publishing Co., Inc. and owned by Scripps Howard Co., Inc. (collectively “Herald-Post”), learned of the allegations and obtained copies of the motion and…