GAG RULE SOUGHT IN MURDER PLOT TRIAL.Byline: Jeannette DeSantis Daily News Staff Writer A defense motion to close the preliminary hearing of Nicole Garza and place a gag order A court order to gag or bind an unruly defendant or remove her or him from the courtroom in order to prevent further interruptions in a trial. In a trial with a great deal of notoriety, a court order directed to attorneys and witnesses not to discuss the case with the media—such on all those involved in the murder plot case was unsealed Thursday by a Van Nuys commissioner. The motion claimed pretrial publicity The right of a criminal defendant to receive a fair trial is guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The right of the press (print and electronic media) to publish information about the defendant and the alleged criminal acts is guaranteed by the First Amendment. in the case endangered Garza's right to a fair trial The Right to a fair trial is an essential right in all countries respecting the rule of law. It is explicitly proclaimed in Article Ten of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Sixth Amendment of the US Constitution, and Article Six of the European Convention of Human and unfairly infringed upon her family's right to privacy. Van Nuys Municipal Court commissioner Gerald T. Richardson unsealed the motion, filed by public defender public defender, governmental official who represents indigent persons accused of crime. U.S. Supreme Court decisions expanding the right to counsel to pretrial proceedings and holding that a person cannot be sentenced to even one day in jail unless a lawyer was Marie Girolamo on behalf of Garza, 32. The Sylmar mother of three is accused of plotting to kill her husband, Deputy City Attorney Jose Garza, with the help of her sister, Lynette LaFontaine-Trujillo. Nicole Garza was charged with murder when her sister was killed in a gunbattle with Jose Garza, who mistook her for a burglar. She is also charged with attempted murder In the criminal law, attempted murder is committed when the defendant does an act that is more than merely preparatory to the commission of the crime of murder and, at the time of these acts, the person has a specific intention to kill. for her part in the incident. The motion was challenged by Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times Morning daily newspaper. Established in 1881, it was purchased and incorporated in 1884 by Harrison Gray Otis (1837–1917) under The Times-Mirror Co. (the hyphen was later dropped from the name). attorney Karlene Goller, who said the sealed motion made it impossible for news organizations to legally respond to Girolamo's request for a closed preliminary hearing. A hearing on that issue is scheduled for Dec. 17 in Richardson's courtroom. Before agreeing to unseal the Nov. 7 motion, Richardson said letters to Garza from the tabloid show ``Hard Copy'' and others expressing interest in the story were to remain sealed or be removed before the motion was made public. ``I do not want to see copies of the letters in the newspaper tomorrow,'' Richardson said. ``I think they are too prejudicial and can impede Ms. Garza's right to a fair trial.'' Those letters were withdrawn from the motion by Girolamo and the entire motion was unsealed. |
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