Judge Orders Kan.
Newspaper To Reveal Name Of Commenter
October 31, 2012 2:28 PM
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A
northeast Kansas newspaper has been ordered to identify a person who posted a
comment on its website about a story on a murder trial for which that commenter
was serving as a juror.
Shawnee County District
Judge Steven Ebberts last week denied a request by The Topeka Capital-Journal
to quash a district attorney’s subpoena seeking the name, address and Internet
Protocol address of a poster who goes by the pseudonym “BePrepared.”
That person is believed to
have been a juror in the first-degree murder trial of Anceo D. Stovall, 27, who
was being tried on 11 charges that included the shooting death of Natalie
Gibson and the wounding of her partner, Lori Allison, on July 21, 2011, during
a robbery.
The Capital-Journal
reported that court records indicate BePrepared accessed a news story posted
July 19 while the person and other jurors were deliberating Stovall’s fate two
days later.
After a four-week trial
and three days of deliberations, the jury convicted Stovall on July 24 of
aggravated robbery, found him not guilty of the burglary of a Jeep, and was
unable to reach verdicts on nine other charges, including murder.
District Attorney Chad
Taylor said Stovall would be tried again on those other charges.
Stovall’s attorney,
Jonathan Phelps, said BePrepared posted at 1:45 p.m. July 21: “Trust me that’s
all they got in their little world, as you know, I have been there. Remember
the pukes names they will do it for ever.” Phelps filed a motion seeking a new
trial, saying the online posting constitutes juror misconduct and hindered
Stovall’s right to a fair trial.
At a hearing Sept. 6, a
man believed to be BePrepared asserted his Fifth Amendment right against
self-incrimination when asked whether he was a juror in Stovall’s trial,
whether he made posts on CJOnline, and whether he posted under the name
BePrepared.
While the man’s name was
reported by the newspaper in coverage of the Sept. 6 hearing, The Associated
Press isn’t naming him because he has not been charged with a crime. Ebberts’ decision
noted that interference with the judicial process is a felony.
The judge said the
poster’s identity was relevant to an investigation of criminal misconduct
during the trial. He wrote that the prosecutor’s office has claimed that
without the information “a miscarriage of justice” would result.
He also agreed that the
prosecutor’s office couldn’t reasonably obtain the poster’s identity through
any means other than CJOnline.
Mike Merriam, the
newspaper’s attorney, said The Capital-Journal would not appeal Ebberts’
decision.
“This was not unexpected,”
he said. “It’s disappointing, but I understand his reasoning.”
A motion for a retrial was
set for Thursday afternoon.
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