PUBLIC INFORMATION — The Sacramento Bee reports that the judge in the kidnapping and torture case involving a Tracy teenager as the victim denied a request on Monday to unseal investigative documents and allow attorneys and police to talk about the case.
The case of a young man known in court documents only as John K. Doe, who police have said was held captive and ritualistically tortured, has drawn news media coverage around the world.
In denying a motion by members of the media to lift a gag order and make public the results of search warrants, San Joaquin District Judge Cinda Fox said such disclosures would compromise the ability of defendants in the case to get a fair trial.
Some of the information is so incendiary that it "could lead to moral judgment and possible outrage" that may taint a jury pool, the judge said.
In denying a motion by members of the media to lift a gag order and make public the results of search warrants, San Joaquin District Judge Cinda Fox said such disclosures would compromise the ability of defendants in the case to get a fair trial.
Some of the information is so incendiary that it "could lead to moral judgment and possible outrage" that may taint a jury pool, the judge said.
Just asking: How does it protect the defendants' presumption of innocence to have the judge publicly call the evidence against them too shocking to let the public know about?
