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Judge Cites Sam Shepherd Case as Reason for Gag Order

Aired June 13, 2003 - 11:08   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


LEON HARRIS, ANCHOR: Turning now to the murder case against Scott Peterson in California. A couple of important developments to talk about now.
The biggest important one may be a gag order on everyone involved in this case, including potential witnesses. CNN's Rusty Dornin is following this case for us. She joins us from Modesto to explain just why the judge decided to take this action.

And Rusty, why now?

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Leon, mum is the word or else on all sides or they would face contempt of court charges and possibly hefty fines.

It was no surprise that Judge Al Girolami slapped a sweeping gag order across the board on attorneys, witnesses, police officers, anyone involved in this case, citing massive publicity.

Over the last few weeks is really the reason. There's been so many leaks. One he cited recently was some autopsy -- partial autopsy results that favored the defense. But he also said that the prosecutors were making statements that were not appropriate in this case.

Now, because of the incessant chatter on local and national media, he says a change of venue really wouldn't make any difference without a gag order, because right before jury selection, things become very intense again. There's rumor, there's gossip, and that could really affect the picking of an impartial jury.

Now, we spoke to three of Laci Peterson's friends last night, some of whom may be called as witnesses. They have not been notified as of yet. They've been very unhappy about all these leaks and they all agreed that a gag order is great.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RENEE GARZA, FRIEND OF LACI PETERSON: I think that you can either look at the leaks, they could go either way. Either they will help the defense or the prosecution. I think the best thing that could happen is to have a gag order to prevent the unnecessary leaks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DORNIN: Now, the precedent in this case the judge cited was interesting. Remember the TV show "The Fugitive?" Now the subject of that show was a real life character, Sam Shepherd. He was accused of killing his wife.

The case that was cited was that there was so much pretrial publicity that the Supreme Court ruled that Sam Shepherd had to be released from prison. He chided the judge for not issuing a gag order, and that's one of the reasons the judge decided to institute one here.

Now, in another courtroom, a judge was busy trying to unseal some information. He agreed to unseal the eight search warrants that were done before Scott Peterson was arrested. However, that will not take effect until July 8, one day after an appeals court decision on that issue comes down and is final. And of course, that's barring any appeals by the prosecution or the defense.

And of course, the preliminary hearing scheduled to come up July 16. But we are hearing from both sides right now that that is likely to be delayed -- Leon.

HARRIS: Interesting. Thanks, Rusty. Rusty Dornin live in Modesto, California. Take care.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired June 13, 2003 - 11:08   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, ANCHOR: Turning now to the murder case against Scott Peterson in California. A couple of important developments to talk about now.
The biggest important one may be a gag order on everyone involved in this case, including potential witnesses. CNN's Rusty Dornin is following this case for us. She joins us from Modesto to explain just why the judge decided to take this action.

And Rusty, why now?

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Leon, mum is the word or else on all sides or they would face contempt of court charges and possibly hefty fines.

It was no surprise that Judge Al Girolami slapped a sweeping gag order across the board on attorneys, witnesses, police officers, anyone involved in this case, citing massive publicity.

Over the last few weeks is really the reason. There's been so many leaks. One he cited recently was some autopsy -- partial autopsy results that favored the defense. But he also said that the prosecutors were making statements that were not appropriate in this case.

Now, because of the incessant chatter on local and national media, he says a change of venue really wouldn't make any difference without a gag order, because right before jury selection, things become very intense again. There's rumor, there's gossip, and that could really affect the picking of an impartial jury.

Now, we spoke to three of Laci Peterson's friends last night, some of whom may be called as witnesses. They have not been notified as of yet. They've been very unhappy about all these leaks and they all agreed that a gag order is great.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RENEE GARZA, FRIEND OF LACI PETERSON: I think that you can either look at the leaks, they could go either way. Either they will help the defense or the prosecution. I think the best thing that could happen is to have a gag order to prevent the unnecessary leaks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DORNIN: Now, the precedent in this case the judge cited was interesting. Remember the TV show "The Fugitive?" Now the subject of that show was a real life character, Sam Shepherd. He was accused of killing his wife.

The case that was cited was that there was so much pretrial publicity that the Supreme Court ruled that Sam Shepherd had to be released from prison. He chided the judge for not issuing a gag order, and that's one of the reasons the judge decided to institute one here.

Now, in another courtroom, a judge was busy trying to unseal some information. He agreed to unseal the eight search warrants that were done before Scott Peterson was arrested. However, that will not take effect until July 8, one day after an appeals court decision on that issue comes down and is final. And of course, that's barring any appeals by the prosecution or the defense.

And of course, the preliminary hearing scheduled to come up July 16. But we are hearing from both sides right now that that is likely to be delayed -- Leon.

HARRIS: Interesting. Thanks, Rusty. Rusty Dornin live in Modesto, California. Take care.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com