A Cape May commercial fisherman charged with killing a pilot whale in 2011 has gotten a federal order prohibiting federal agents and a defense investigator from speaking to informants in the case.
Defense attorney Bill Hughes Jr., of Cooper Levenson, in Atlantic City, said in court documents the informants told his investigator they were threatened and harassed by federal agents.
And in its submission, the U.S. Attorney's Office alleged the defense investigator had misled the informants while interviewing them.
The order follows an Oct. 17 teleconference between U.S Magistrate Judge Cathy L. Waldor, Hughes and lawyers for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.