CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A 19-year-old accused of murder will not be able to use video from the popular cable TV show The First 48 in his defense.
Mecklenburg County Superior Court Judge Eric Levinson ruled that the show s production team, ITV Studios, is protected by the North Carolina Journalist s Privilege Statute and as a result, the production team does not have to turn over its video.
Camera crews from ITV have been following CMPD homicide investigators for the past ten months. According to a contract between the production team and the police department, ITV owns the rights to the video, but CMPD gets the opportunity to review the video before it airs on TV.
The attorney for 19-year-old Jonathan Fitzgerald was seeking access to the 20-hours of raw tape shot in connection with Fitzgerald s case.
He is charged with the first degree murder of Oscar Chavez. Investigators believe Fitzgerald and his girlfriend, Danielle Holmes, stabbed Chavez after a drug deal that went awry.
According to legal briefs, Fitzgerald confessed to the murder.
Nevertheless, his attorney Jeremy Smith believes the ITV video could have potentially provided important clues for Fitzgerald s defense.
We just don t know, he said about the video. There are a lot of ways it could have helped.
This case may also have far-wider implications throughout the North Carolina justice system. While ITV has been taken to court elsewhere, this is a first-of-its-kind case for North Carolina.
Throughout the two-day hearing, several other attorneys were in court listening to the arguments, knowing the decision could impact other cases as well.
Smith told NewsChannel 36 he will evaluate the judge s decision with his legal team, his client, and the Appellate Defender s Office before deciding whether or not to appeal.
We are disappointed. We were hoping to get the video, Smith said. We fought as good as we could for it, and we will just move on.
