- KMPH-TV Journalist Nicole Garcia’s Live Reports Spur Testimony Contradicting Defendant’s Accounts -

Van Nuys, California (December 12, 2007) - - The immediate nature of New Media was on full display last week, as accounts of a prominent murder trial contained in a live blog by a television reporter prompted several potential witnesses to contact the District Attorney’s office to offer to testify.  Nicole Garcia, a reporter for Fresno, California FOX affiliate KMPH-TV, has been live blogging from the courthouse in Van Nuys, California, where the trial was moved because of concerns that the defendant would not be able to receive a fair trial in Fresno.

On trial was Larissa Schuster, a Clovis, California biochemist who was convicted today in the murder of her estranged husband, Tim Schuster, with the help of her lab assistant, James Fagone, in June 2003.  Fagone was tried separately and convicted in 2006.  The case has gained notoriety because of the grisly nature of the killing.  In his trial, Fagone testified that he and Larissa Schuster knocked Tim Schuster out with chloroform-soaked rags and a stun gun.  He also testified that Larissa Schuster poured gallons of hydrochloric acid over Tim Schuster's body.  On July 15, 2003, investigators found Tim Schuster’s decomposed body in a storage unit that Larissa Schuster had rented earlier in the month.

According to Garcia, “Two of the witnesses who took the stand today (December 3, 2007) actually testified that they felt compelled to come forward with new information in this case because of what they were reading on our trial blog on our Web site (KMPH.com).  In fact, prosecutor Dennis Peterson said at least five people contacted the Fresno County District Attorney’s office wanting to offer their testimony against Larissa Schuster because of what they were reading on the trial blogs.”

One of the people who came forward was Tami Belshay, a woman who Larissa Schuster calls her best friend.  Belshay testified in the trial approximately one month ago, but after reading the Schuster trial blog on KMPH.com, she felt that some of Schuster’s testimony that she read about contradicted a statement made to her by Schuster over the phone on July 12, 2003, the day that Schuster’s estranged husband’s body allegedly was moved from Schuster’s lab to a storage facility.  Below is an excerpt from the trial:

        Dennis Peterson (Prosecutor): “And after testifying in this case, did you have occasion         to access a blog regarding testimony in this trial?”
        Tami Belshay (Witness): “I did - Nicole Garcia’s blog.”
        Peterson: “And after you read that particular blog, did you take it upon yourself to                    contact the Fresno County District Attorney’s office?”
        Belshay: “I did.”

Belshay continued, “There was a statement that was made in the blog that indicated James was the person who went to the lab during the morning hours of July 12, and I interpreted that to mean that Larissa did not go to the lab at that time, and I felt that that was contradictory to what she had told me the morning of July 12.”

Another witness appeared in court December 3, Juliane Adams, also called the DA’s office after reading Garcia’s blog.  Adams is a lab supervisor in Fresno who testified, “I have never seen concentrated acid used to clean glassware for organic chemistry.”  Schuster said that she bought 18 bottles of hydrochloric acid for cleaning purposes.

Additionally, Garcia had quoted Larissa Schuster’s testimony that Tim Schuster never sought treatment for his sexual dysfunction and depression.  On Tuesday, December 4, Tim Schuster’s therapist, having read the blog, testified that she was his therapist and indeed saw him 27 times for these problems.

“People want to see justice be done, but they often don’t see ways to participate in that process. KMPH’s blog seems to have prompted potential witnesses to step up and offer testimony that helped paint a fuller picture of events.  It is a powerful testament to the constructive potential of new media tools,” said Jan Schaffer, executive director of J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism at the University of Maryland.

Without the time constraints of television, live blogging allows correspondents to report much more comprehensively than is possible in a conventional TV news story.  As a result, visitors to KMPH.com have been able to review relatively complete accounts of court proceedings instead of merely soundbites.  This has offered the opportunity for previously-called witnesses and potential witnesses to contact the court to contradict testimony that they believe is inaccurate.

About the Station

KMPH FOX 26 is home to the Valley’s number-one primetime newscast, The KMPH Ten O’clock News, five-hour morning show Great Day, and top-rated FOX network programs American Idol, House, 24, and Prison Break.  The station is available over-the-air on channel 26; high-definition broadcasts can be seen on channel 26.1.  On Comcast Cable, the station’s standard-definition signal is on channel 6; the high-definition version is on channel 906.  On Direct Broadcast Satellite Systems, KMPH is available on channel 26.

KMPH FOX 26 and sister station KFRE CW 59 are owned by Pappas Telecasting Companies, the largest privately-held, commercial television broadcaster in the United States.

Contact:
Mike Angelos
Vice President/Corporate Communications
Pappas Telecasting Companies
(559) 733-7800
MAngelos@PappasTV.com

Rosemary Danon
Vice President/New Media
Pappas Telecasting Companies
(424) 832-1642
RDanon@PappasTV.com