Dershowitz to Newsmax: Conviction Unlikely for Don Lemon

Former CNN anchor Don Lemon will beat federal charges tied to the disruption of a church service in Minnesota, as prosecutors will struggle to overcome the First Amendment protections that cover journalists reporting on protests, Harvard Law School professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz predicted on Newsmax.

"My prediction is it will not end in a criminal conviction for Don Lemon," Dershowitz said during an appearance on Newsmax's "The Record with Greta Van Susteren" on Friday.

Dershowitz framed the case as a test of where newsgathering ends and criminal conduct begins, arguing the benefit of the doubt should go to the press in close calls.

"The line ought to be resolved in those cases in favor of the First Amendment in favor of journalism," he said.

He acknowledged there are circumstances where people claiming to be journalists are not protected, describing what he called an obvious example from overseas.

"We know that in Gaza, Hamas members were wearing journalist jackets and pretending to be journalists and having a camera in one hand and a gun in the other hand. That's an easy case," he said.

But Dershowitz said that is not what the videos appear to show in Lemon's situation.

"Don Lemon, who I've known for years, is a real journalist," said Dershowitz. "He may be a biased journalist, but the First Amendment doesn't distinguish between biased journalists and objective journalists."

To convict Lemon, Dershowitz said, the government will need strong proof that Lemon did more than cover events as they unfolded.

"They have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he was a coconspirator, that he was part of an effort to disrupt a church service," he said. "I think they're going to have a very hard time proving that beyond a reasonable doubt to a Minnesota jury."

Asked what could push a journalist over the legal line, Dershowitz offered hypotheticals that he said could support an aiding-and-abetting theory.

"You have to have a recorded conversation, perhaps, in which they ask him to please come and join the demonstration and give credibility to the demonstration," he said.

Or, he added, if Lemon "did anything to confront, say, the pastor and scream at the pastor the way some of the people did."

Even if a journalist's behavior raises ethical questions, he said, that is different from criminal liability.

"It may cross the line of journalistic ethics, but there's an enormous difference between violating journalistic ethics and being able to have proof beyond a reasonable doubt that he was a coconspirator," he said.

Dershowitz also suggested the venue could complicate prosecutors' efforts.

"This is going to be a jury of people from a state that is not particularly sympathetic to ICE and is apparently more sympathetic to protesters," he said.

He questioned why the Justice Department pursued the case after earlier resistance from judges.

"The DOJ wanted to bring this," he said, but "went to a magistrate, couldn't get an arrest warrant," then "went to a federal district court judge. Same answer," before taking the matter to a grand jury.

Dershowitz warned that grand jury presentations can be one-sided.

"A grand jury can be made to indict a ham sandwich if you present only a partial view of the evidence," he said, adding that if prosecutors did not identify Lemon as a journalist, "that could easily result in an indictment."

Dershowitz drew a clearer line for non-journalists accused of disrupting the service.

"That is a crime," he said. "You can't disrupt a church service."

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