Web posted
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Most pre-trial evidence open
By FOSS FARRAR
Traveler Staff Writer
WINFIELD -- All pretrial hearings in the Justin Thurber case will be open to the media, except for one, a district court judge ruled Friday.
Cowley County District Judge Jim Pringle ruled that with the exception of a hearing on statements made by the defendant, all other hearings will be open to the press.
Pringle heard arguments in the two-hour hearing Friday morning from defense and prosecution attorneys and an attorney representing The Wichita Eagle and KWCH-Channel 12 on whether certain evidence should be sealed and hearings closed before the trial.
Thurber is charged with capital murder and other charges in the disappearance and death of Jodi Sanderholm, a 19-year-old Cowley College student. Her body was found last Jan. 9, four days after she went missing.
The defendant also faces charges of rape, aggravated kidnapping and aggravated criminal sodomy. The trial is scheduled for June 24.
Thurber, dressed in blue shirt and tie, was present at Friday's hearing. He was escorted by Cowley County sheriff's officers, and was not wearing handcuffs or shackles.
Judge Pringle made his ruling after a 35-minute recess after the lawyers argued both sides of the issue.
The judge said that in determining what proceedings should be closed to the press and media and what should be open, a trial judge should consider whether a "clear and present danger" to fairness of trial exists.
"The purpose is to suppress unreliable or illegally obtained information," he said.
Pringle said he found that only publicity on pretrial statements of Thurber meets the "clear and present danger" standard.
To protect the due-process rights of the accused, a trial judge has the duty to minimize the effects of pretrial publicity on potential jurors, Pringle said. But openness in procedure is essential.
"Sometimes the cure is worse than the disease," he said. "If hearings are held behind closed doors, this perpetuates rumors."
Tim Frieden, Thurber's attorney, said he filed the motion for closed hearings on unreliable evidence to ensure that his client receives a fair trial. Media reports can prejudice potential jurors, he argued.
The danger is that pretrial hearing publicity can "unfairly influence potential jurors," Frieden said.
To support his point, Frieden opened a recent edition of The Arkansas City Traveler newspaper and said an opinion piece in the paper had criticized his motion to suppress evidence that could be considered inadmissible in court.
"Somehow my motion has been taken out of context and words taken out of context," he said. "Somehow a spin has been put on this motion."
Vic Braden, assistant attorney general appearing for the first time in the role of lead prosecutor, said the state had no general objection to Frieden's motion to suppress.
"The reason we don't oppose the defendant's motion is because we want a fair trial and also because we want the trial to stay here (in Cowley County)," Braden said.
Braden is the new lead prosecutor after Attorney General Paul Morrison's recent announcement that he is leaving office.
The defense has not decided whether or not to file a motion for change of venue and has not made any agreements with the prosecution on this issue, Frieden said.
Lyndon Vix, who represents The Wichita Eagle and Channel 12, argued for openness of all proceedings. He said that fear of tainting the jury pool assumes that a jury cannot be trusted to keep its oath to consider only the evidence and disregard outside information.
Vix said only in an "exceptional circumstances" should hearings be closed to the media. "Just because evidence is potentially inadmissible does not mean a hearing should be closed," he said. "It should not be because it's the safest course or to give the benefit of the doubt."
Pringle set the next hearing on motions for Jan. 30.
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