Court Condemns Taping of Search

A federal appeals court condemned Montana federal agents and cable networks Thursday for a publicity-conscious agreement to let media crews record a search, and ruled that the agents and the networks could be liable for damages. The conduct of federal wildlife agents during the search of a ranch, and the networks’ recording of conversations inside the owners’ home on a microphone worn by an agent, “transformed the execution of a search warrant into television entertainment,” said the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. “Law enforcement authority was used to assist commercial television, not to assist law enforcement objectives,” said Judge Mary Schroeder in the 3-0 ruling. The ruling reinstates a suit by the owners, Paul and Erma Berger of Jordan, Mont., against Cable News Network, Turner Broadcasting System, the federal wildlife agents and a federal prosecutor. The Bergers’ lawyer, Henry Rossbacher, said the couple want $10 million in compensatory and punitive damages. The Bergers’ ranch was raided in March 1993 by Fish and Wildlife Service officers who had a search warrant to look for evidence that Paul Berger was killing eagles. He was eventually acquitted of charges of killing protected species and convicted only of a misdemeanor pesticide charge.