Was city of Fresno planning to attack journalistic freedom? Here’s what we know
Was freedom of the press under attack this week in Fresno?
While attempting the first prosecution of a homeless man under Fresno’s no-camping ordinance, the City Attorney’s Office subpoenaed at least two journalists who covered the case, including one at The Fresno Bee.
Karl Olson, the attorney who was prepared to contest the subpoena of a Bee reporter in court on Thursday at a hearing in the case of Wickey Two Hands, said the City Attorney’s Office should have never issued the subpoenas.
“There is a shield law in California that protects reporters from having to disclose unpublished information and confidential sources,” Olson said. “And the law is very clear — under a California Supreme Court case called Miller v. Superior Court — that a prosecutor cannot pierce the shield law and get testimony from reporters.”
In a Thursday evening phone call to a Bee editor, Fresno City Attorney Andrew Janz said the subpoenas were issued without his knowledge. Janz said he did not review the subpoenas, and were issued without following proper protocols.
The subpoena the Bee reporter was served Tuesday to appear at the hearing was signed by Deputy City Attorney Daniel Cisneros.
A Fresno County judge Thursday dismissed the case against Two Hands, 77, on the grounds that the prosecution failed to bring the homeless man to his requested trial by jury in a timely manner. The dismissal of the case means Cisneros was not required to reveal in court why he subpoenaed Bee and Fresnoland reporters as part of his prosecution strategy.
Janz declined to provide additional details or comment Friday. Cisneros did not respond to a request for comment.
Attorney David Loy, legal director for the First Amendment Coalition, was prepared to contest the subpoena of the Fresnoland reporter.
“I will assume that they did not have the motivation or the intent to intimidate the press,” said Loy, referring to the City Attorney’s Office.
“But that is very much the effect of serving a subpoena on a reporter. It has an intimidating effect, and that’s something that should not happen.”
Reporters cover case, get subpoenaed
Police arrested Two Hands, who was homeless in Fresno for several years, on Oct. 14 for allegedly violating the city’s “no-sit-sleep-or-lie” ordinance. The ordinance, approved by the Fresno City Council last year, allows fines and jail time for homeless people who decline the city’s offer of housing or treatment.
First arraigned in January, Two Hands asserted his right to a speedy trial and should have been granted one within 45 days. In February, his trial was postponed until Thursday — on the request of the City Attorney’s Office and against Two Hands’ speedy trial wishes.
Fresnoland reporter Pablo Orihuela covered Two Hands’ case in February. Bee reporter Thaddeus Miller covered it in March.
A process server served Miller a subpoena from the City Attorney’s Office in The Bee’s newsroom Tuesday. The document, signed by Cisneros, required Miller to “attend the hearing” but provided no further explanation.
The City Attorney’s Office first attempted to serve Orihuela electronically, without his consent, according to a letter of objection that the First Amendment Coalition sent to Cisneros. Fresnoland reported that the City Attorney’s Office served him on Thursday in the courtroom where it was prosecuting Two Hands — despite the objections of Loy and Patience Milrod, both who represented Orihuela.
Loy told The Bee that he spoke with Cisneros, but was “not 100% clear on what (Cisneros) was trying to do.”
Like Olson, the Bee’s attorney, Loy contested the subpoena on the grounds that is was barred by California’s shield law for reporters and the 1999 Miller v. Superior Court case.
“The reason we have a shield law is that it protects the independence the press,” Loy said. “The press can’t do its job if it’s not independent or if it’s seen as aligned with the government or the prosecution in the criminal case.”
Olson said that, while governments sometimes try to subpoena reporters, it’s not a common occurrence. He said someone at the City Attorney’s Office should have seen the subpoenas before they were served to reporters.
After Two Hands’ case was dismissed Thursday, his attorney, Kevin Little, said he believed the city prosecutors “perhaps wanted to use certain video footage or audio footage that had been obtained by The Bee or by Fresnoland.”
“That was a very unfortunate tactic,” Little told reporters outside the Fresno County Courthouse. “Anything that even is suggestive of intimidation or involving the media in legal disputes as a witness, when they were acting in their capacities as reporters, is a very dangerous precedent.”
This story was originally published April 11, 2025 at 3:44 PM.
