Frontlines

Cameras in jury room? Judge allows TV taping

HOUSTON — The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals will review whether a TV news show can record jury deliberations in a capital murder trial.

State district Judge Ted Poe signed an order allowing PBS’s Frontline to tape the trial and deliberations for a documentary about death penalty cases. The jury room camera would have been unmanned as jurors deliberated the fate of a 17-year-old who is on trial for slaying a Houston businessman during a June carjacking.

The court’s decision to review the camera issue further delays the trial that has gained worldwide attention. The decision means more oral arguments will be entered from both sides.

The Harris County District Attorney’s Office opposed the filming but the defense agreed to it. Fourteen of the 110 potential jurors were dismissed after indicating that the camera might affect their deliberations and jury selection was suspended in November.

Defense attempt to stop secret-tape report fails 

SAN ANTONIO — A federal judge last month denied an attempt by defense attorneys to prevent the San Antonio Express-News from publishing reports about secretly recorded conversations that show alleged vote-buying at city hall, the newspaper reported.

Although he denied the injunction, U.S. District Judge Edward C. Prado said he would issue a restraining order to all parties in the case to prevent further leaks of evidence.

The Express-News obtained dozens of digitally recorded conversations between city councilmen, a lobbyist and attorneys detailing an alleged vote-rigging scheme. The newspaper reported that the tapes are believed to be the foundation of a bribery case being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Defense attorneys argued that the newspaper’s report would taint the jury pool.

Prado said he was concerned about pre-trial publicity but declined to stop publication since the tapes already were in the newspaper’s possession.

2 gag orders hamper reporting in Houston  

HOUSTON — Two state district judges in Harris County issued separate gag orders in two high-profile murder trials.

Judge Jeannine Barr imposed a gag order on jurors, attorneys and court employees after postponing until Jan. 16 the punishment phase of a man who was found guilty of murdering his girlfriend’s 3-year-old daughter.

Judge Carol Davies issued a move sweeping order for a pre-trial hearing in the case of a Friendswood dentist accused of killing her husband with a car. In that case reporters were banned from interviewing anyone connected to the case while inside the County Criminal Justice Center where the courtroom is located. The order also seemed to bar a sketch artist from court and to prevent reporters from interviewing jurors after the final verdict.

FORT WORTH — If your newspaper is going to run a political satire, take a lesson from a Dallas alternative newspaper and make sure it appears on the editorial page or is labeled satire.

For the second time a court has ruled that the Dallas Observer can be sued for defamation over a satirical piece. The 2nd Court of Appeals said the First Amendment did not protect the satirical piece that the newspaper ran in 1999 about a 6-year-old Ponder girl being arrested, jailed and shackled after writing a bizarre book report.

The piece was not labeled satire but was meant to mock an earlier incident in Ponder where a 13-year-old was detained after writing a graphic Halloween story depicting a teacher and another student’s death.

The newspaper published a follow-up piece the next week saying anyone who believed the story was “cerebrally challenged” and “clueless.”

A Denton County prosecutor and a judge, who were main characters in the real case and fictional piece, sued the newspaper saying they were subject to public ridicule and threats after the satire ran.

The newspaper, which had asked for summary judgment twice, has 45 days to decide whether to appeal to the Texas Supreme Court or to ask the entire court to hear its argument.

UTMB sues state over willed body part records

GALVESTON — The University of Texas Medical Branch sued the Attorney General’s Office in October challenging a ruling that certain information on its willed body program should be made public.

UTMB is facing six lawsuits over the program and is fighting disclosure of certain information requested by The Galveston County Daily News, Houston Chronicle and other media outlets as well as attorneys representing the families of deceased people whose bodies were lost or mishandled.

The university last summer sent letters to donor families saying that poor record-keeping made it impossible to verify if the ashes of donors had not been commingled. The university also sought an FBI investigation into whether a former employee had sold body parts illegally.

Laredo woman sues mayor over TOMA

LAREDO — A local woman sued Mayor Elizabeth “Betty” Flores claiming a Sept. 3 city council meeting violated the Texas Open Meetings Act.

An attorney told the Laredo Morning Times that the mayor announced during the meeting that a posted agenda item would not be discussed in open session and instead would be moved to closed session.

While an executive session was listed on the agenda, no subject matter was specified as required by the act.

The attorney left the meeting thinking the item’s discussion would not be open to the public but later learned the council had discussed the item in open meeting.