NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A federal judge ordered a newspaper on Wednesday to turn over information about anonymous online comments in the case of a former director of a nonprofit housing agency in New Orleans.
Stacey Jackson is accused of taking kickbacks from contractors for the agency. As part of her defense, she is seeking information on whether federal prosecutors were among those making anonymous comments about her on Nola.com The Times Picayune.
Jackson is the former executive director of New Orleans Affordable Housing, which was supposed to provide federally financed house-gutting services after Hurricane Katrina. News reports in 2008 showed that work was often never completed.
The newspaper has been fighting Jackson’s subpoena for records. U.S. District Judge Mary Ann Vial Lemmon ordered the records be turned over to the court for a private review.
Jackson has also asked for a delay of her May 12 trial while she seeks the information. She also is seeking dismissal of charges, arguing that they were filed too late.
Lemmon’s order that the newspaper turn over the records came a day after the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals turned down the newspaper’s request to block her earlier order.
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