« Ind. Decisions - Another Indiana 7th Circuit opinion today | Main | Ind. Gov't. - "The irony is that while many sunset provisions were unnecessary, a thorough review of the FSSA would have truly been in order this year – exactly as the original proponents of sunset legislation envisioned" »

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Ind. Courts - "Court's gag order on Choate case far-reaching"

Susan Brown reported last evening for the NWI Times:

CROWN POINT | Lake Criminal Court Judge Diane Boswell's order "gagging" people and agencies involved in the Christian Choate case may be as unusual as the case itself. * * *

In the swell of publicity surrounding the life and death of the 13-year-old, Boswell appears to have raised the bar. A gag order typically is issued to remind legal professionals of their duties under their ethical code of conduct and to ensure a fair trial.

The emergency order, which was made public Monday, was issued two weeks ago immediately before a news conference that the Indiana Department of Child Services had scheduled. It gags not only lawyers connected to the murder case against the boy's alleged killers but "in any case arising of the same or similar facts."

Gag orders typically prohibit attorneys and the parties in a pending lawsuit or criminal prosecution from talking to the media or the public about the case. The intent is to prevent prejudice from pretrial publicity that could influence potential jurors.

In addition to all officers of the court and their employees, the order also captures "all participants named in the discovery and the petition for gag-order."

In seeking the emergency order, lawyers for the prosecution and the defense wanted Lake Juvenile Court Judge Mary Beth Bonaventura and DCS to fall under the gag order by virtue of their being "occurrence witnesses."

The two-page order also details six examples of the kinds of statements that are prohibited, such as statements related to the character, credibility, reputation or criminal records of other suspects or witnesses -- or their expected testimony.

In another rare twist, court documents released Monday show prosecutors requesting subpoenas be served on The Times of Northwest Indiana and the Post-Tribune.

Prosecutors are seeking audio recordings of a Times interview with Christina Choate, the dead teen's older sister currently under juvenile jurisdiction in a custody case. In addition, prosecutors are asking the Post-Tribune to produce copies of a specific obituary and related comments published by the paper.

Here is the June 30th NWI Times story on the issuance of the gag order.

The NWI Times also has this June 24th post headed "Indiana Department of Child Services records released Friday reveal a history of abuse and neglect in the case of Christian Choate," that links to the IDSC document.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on July 12, 2011 08:26 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts