The San Jose Mercury News on Monday sued the Santa Clara County district attorney and the county's criminal grand jury for allegedly violating the First Amendment rights of witnesses by threatening to jail anyone who tells reporters about their testimony in the probe of Judge William Danser.
Filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court, the suit arises out of the current grand jury investigation into whether Danser doled out favors from the bench, perhaps to members of the San Jose Sharks and San Jose Earthquakes as well as others.
It appears the grand jury heard from its final witnesses on Monday and may begin deliberating today whether to hand up an indictment.
The witnesses included court staff and local sports figures, and the allegations against the judge seem to include (among other things) improprieties in the handling of a DUI case and improper parking ticket fixing. The Mercury News has the story here.