Lower Court Holding
Decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
When Federal agents searched the ranch of Paul and Erma Berger in March of 1993, they acted not only pursuant to a search warrant, but also pursuant to a written contract with Appellees Cable News Network (CNN) and Turner Broadcasting System (TBS), authorizing the filming and recording of the search for broadcast on their environmental television shows "Earth Matters" and "Network Earth." The media wanted footage of the discovery of evidence showing that Paul Berger was poisoning eagles, and the government wanted the publicity. After Mr. Berger was convicted of one misdemeanor count for using a pesticide in a manner…
