Mark v. Shoen v. Leonard Samuel Shoen, Edward J. Shoen v. Leonard Samuel Shoen, Ronald J. Watkins

WILLIAM A. NORRIS, Circuit Judge:

This appeal presents the question whether an investigative author, at work on a forthcoming book, may be compelled to testify and produce notes and tape recordings of interviews he conducted with a source who happens to be a defendant in a defamation action. We hold, under the circumstances of this ease, that he may not.

I

Appellant Ronald Watkins is an investigative author of books on topical and controversial subjects. He became involved in this defamation action because of his work on a forthcoming non-fiction book about a long and bitter family feud over…