Published June 01, 2007 10:44 pm -
THE MOULTRIE OBSERVER
Judge bans media from immigrant slayings hearings
The Associated Press

TIFTON, Ga. (AP) — The judge in the trial against one of the men accused in the deadly home invasions that left six Mexican immigrants dead barred the media Friday from the courtroom and all pretrial hearings.

Superior Court Judge Gary McCorvey also barred attorneys, law enforcement, witnesses, families and all involved in the hearings for suspect Jamie Underwood from talking to the media and sealed all transcripts until after the trial, which is scheduled to start in August.

McCorvey, chief judge of Georgia’s Tifton Judicial Circuit, said the order was not opposed by either side and was necessary to protect the rights of Underwood and the other people who have been charged in the same crimes, as well as to avoid pretrial publicity that could make it difficult to impanel a unbiased jury. He said he had not decided whether the restrictions would apply to the trial itself.

While McCorvey made those comments from the bench before ordering all media reporters to leave, his written order was not made available Friday. District Attorney Paul Bowden said a written copy of the order would not be available until next week.

No other pretrial court appearances are scheduled for the case at this time.

Nine people left the courtroom at the Tift County Law Enforcement Center without speaking to the media. Tift County Sheriff’s courtroom division Officer Clay Pate said other than court personnel only Underwood’s family members were allowed inside the courtroom for the hearing where the judge was to hear motions from the Underwood’s attorneys.

Underwood’s attorney, Dennis Francis Jr., with the office of the Georgia Capital Defender, also declined to speak to the media after the two-hour hearing.

“Open courtrooms are a hallmark of our justice system,” said Hollie Manheimer, executive director of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation. “The blanket closure that appears to have happened in this case is disturbing from a public access perspective.”

David Hudson, an attorney with the Georgia Press Association, said that the judge’s order does not appear to comply with state law, and that the gag order may be too broad.

“The Georgia Supreme Court has held that the public must be permitted to attend all parts of a criminal case unless the judge makes specific findings in writing that there is an overriding interest that compels closure,” Hudson said, citing examples like national security or when a minor is involved.

“In a case like this, it would be hard to imagine any circumstances under which closure would be justified,” he said. “And it’s appropriate to ask people not to discuss evidence of guilt or innocence, but to say you can’t talk about the case at all prevents lawyers or clerks from even saying when the next hearing is going to be.”

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Underwood and Stacey Bernard Sims. The men face multiple charges, including murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, armed robbery, burglary and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime in the deaths of six men and the injury of at least six others.

All of men killed were Mexican immigrants. All were targeted in at least four attacks on Sept. 30, 2005, in and around Tifton, about 170 miles south of Atlanta.

The brutal slayings — with the victims beaten, shot and, in at least one case, raped — shocked many of the thousands of Hispanic immigrants, especially the illegal ones, who have flocked to south Georgia to pick vegetables, tobacco and peaches.

Two women, Jennifer Lafay Wilson and Emma Jean Powell, were indicted on the same charges, but prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty against them.