California reporter vows to protect source after police raid

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A freelance journalist is vowing to protect his source after San Francisco police raided his home and office while keeping him handcuffed for several hours as part of a criminal investigation, according to a newspaper report.

Bryan Carmody told the Los Angeles Times that officers banged on his door Friday and confiscated dozens of personal items including notebooks, his cellphone, computer, hard drives and cameras. A judge signed off on search warrants, which stated officers were investigating "stolen or embezzled" property, the newspaper reported Saturday

Authorities said the raid came during an ongoing probe into who leaked a confidential police report about the Feb. 22 death of San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi.

Carmody said investigators had asked him a few weeks earlier to identify the source that provided him with the report. The reporter said he politely declined.

While he was shackled, officers got a second warrant to search his newsroom, where police seized a thumb drive, CDs and, inside a safe, the leaked police report about Adachi's death, the Times said.

Carmody, 49, said he has not shared the name of his source with anyone, and no markings on the document could be traced to the person who provided it.

To Carmody and his attorney, the raid smacks of impropriety and an invasion into the work of a professional reporter.

"It's designed to intimidate," said his lawyer, Thomas Burke. "It's essentially the confiscation of a newsroom."

Meanwhile the incident provided a new twist in the story of the unexpected death of Adachi, who left behind a legacy of championing civil rights.

Initial reports said the 59-year-old elected public defender had been traveling when he suddenly had a heart attack.

Carmody said while trying to figure...