The Paul Gackle Legal Fund
Donation protected
Hello friends, family, colleagues, acquaintances, longtime listeners, first-time callers. My name is Paul Gackle. I'm a former- San Jose Sharks reporter. I survived an attempted murder in which I got stabbed 14 times in my apartment. I'm launching this fundraiser to help pay legal costs & daily expenses because I have no other options.
THE NEED:
I need $5,000 to pay a retainer fee to hire a lawyer to oversee my appeal in a restraining order case brought against me by my former-employer, the Mercury News.
I need to fight this restraining order with everything I have. It stigmatizes my PTSD. It frames a victim of violent crime as a threat to commit future violence. It will hurt future employment opportunities. It destroys my public reputation. It compounds my trauma with further victimization at the hands of powerful forces.
I have suffered severe PTSD in the years since the attack. This has severely limited my ability to work and has caused great financial hardship. Whatever you can give will help me to advocate for myself in court, continue my recovery and reclaim my good name.
Right now, I have less than $200 in my bank account as I await my reward from the California Victims Compensation Board. As a result, I’m seeking an additional $2,000 to cover daily expenses — food, bills, transportation — for the month of June.
BACKGROUND:
This legal appeal is to challenge allegations made by the Mercury News that I'm a dangerous person. I assure you I am not. Instead, I have exercised my freedom of speech to complain loudly and frequently about the multiple times the San Jose Mercury News and DA Jeff Rosen's office have violated my rights and otherwise treated me poorly. I am a reporter. It is what I do.
On July 21, 2017, I was stabbed 14 times in an attempted murder in my apartment. Less than a month later, before my phyiscal wounds had healed, I returned to my job as the San Jose Sharks beat reporter for the Mercury News. It was way too soon. I was just beginning therapy to heal from the emotional trauma of the attack. But I was told that if I didn’t return by opening day of training camp my beat would be handed over to another reporter on the sports page. I was also afraid of looking “soft,” covering a sport where athletes earn their stripes by playing through injury.
I was back at work, but in a fragile state. My relationship with the Mercury News started deteriorating almost immediately. The paper often shapes stories in ways that are favorable to sources -- such as the DA’s office -- in exchange for scoops where it can be the first to break significant news. My case was no exception.
Instead of complying with Marsy’s Law (the California victims bill of rights), which mandates that prosecutors keep victims abreast of things, like court dates and additional charges, the Santa Clara DA’s office first withheld this information from me for 13-plus months and then tipped off the Mercury News. The DA’s office was required by law to inform me of my attacker's identity, her court dates and that she'd killed a man two weeks after stabbing me. They did not. Instead, I learned this information from my editor, Bert Robinson, at the Mercury News, a clear violation of Marsy’s Law.
Despite my protests, the Mercury News published an article on Sept. 13, 2018 — the night before Sharks training camp opened — unveiling Sydney Whalen as my attacker, describing Daniel Torrez’s murder and unmasking me as the reporter who was stabbed in his apartment by Whalen. Making matters worse, the Mercury News protected DA Jeff Rosen at my expense, failing to report that Whalen was a repeat violent offender who had been released on a plea deal just nine days before my stabbing. The Mercury News also failed to report the multiple Marsy’s Law violations that Rosen’s office had committed; how it concealed Whalen’s identity from me to keep news of her plea agreement out of the public eye.
The article also put me out of work for three weeks; it triggered nightmares, flashbacks and panic attacks. I barely slept; I couldn’t eat. I made it back to the work for the third game of the season; told again that if I didn’t return immediately the beat would be handed to another reporter.
I finally succumbed to PTSD in April 2019, leaving the beat to take a disability absence. I was fired on Oct. 2, 2019, the day after I returned to work.
This institutional betrayal was the beginning of a new chapter in my trauma story. As the case made its way through the court system, I spoke out on Twitter about Jeff Rosen’s failures re: Sydney Whalen, the role the Mercury News played in the cover up and the multiple violations of my Marsy’s Law rights.
In retaliation, the Mercury News interfered with my ability to receive public assistance while unemployed. The paper told the victims compensation board that I shouldn’t be eligible for funds under their wage loss program because my job loss wasn’t related to the crime committed against me. As a result, I’ve received just $10,000 in financial assistance from May 2020 to present day.
In July 2021, the San Jose Spotlight wrote an article chronicling my plight with victims compensation.
Two days later, the Mercury News fired back by filing a restraining order against me. The San Jose Spotlight covered that story, too:
Without the financial resources to hire a lawyer, I had no choice but to represent myself at the restraining order hearing in February. Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t overcome several advantages — money, power, high-profile attorneys — that the Mercury News held over me, which brings us to today.
THE APPEAL:
I’ve filed an appeal with the California Court of Appeal for the Sixth District, and to win the appeal, I need a professional lawyer with experience.
The good news is that I’ve found an attorney who’s enthusiastic about representing me. Unfortunately, I still haven’t received my victims compensation reward, so I’m going to need help raising $5,000 to pay a retainer. At this point, I have less than $200 in my bank account and I’m struggling just to make ends meet. Any extra help that I can get to pay for things like food and transportation while I await my victims claim will literally help me survive at a time when friends and family are tapped out.
By contributing to this fund, you will empower me to defend myself in court. It will give me peace of mind as I can hand the case over to a professional attorney and refocus my energy on recovering from trauma. Most importantly, a victory in court will finally put an end to this saga and give me the opportunity to start a new life, which is what I so desperately want.
That’s all I want; just to live again. Please help so I can finally move forward and start a new life.
Organizer
Paul Gackle
Organizer
Berkeley, CA