On Friday, attorney Shannon Gray filed an appeal on a Latah County judge’s gag order.
Gray represents the family of the murdered University of Idaho Kaylee Goncalves. And they are appealing the judge’s gag order being extended to the families of the victims.
On Wednesday, Judge Megan Marshall issued an amended gag order in the Bryan Kohberger case. Her new order restricts the remarks of attorneys for the victims, their families, and potential witnesses. It had previously covered investigators, the prosecution, and the defense in the case.
Kohberger, 28, is the only suspect in the November 13 stabbing deaths of 4 university students. Kohberger was a Ph.D. student at nearby Washington State University. And is not expected to go to trial until at least June.
The case has been in the headlines daily drawing national attention for over two months.
The attorney claims the gag order is unconstitutional
According to Gray, the order is “facially overbroad and vague.” The filing claims it is unconstitutional to stop victims’ families and attorneys from speaking with the media.
Judge Marshall’s amended/expanded order stated that “The attorneys for any interested party in this case, including the prosecuting attorney, defense attorney, and any attorney representing a witness, victim, or victim‘s family, as well as the parties to the above-entitled action, including but not limited to investigators, law enforcement personal, and agents for the prosecuting attorney or defense attorney, are prohibited from making extrajudicial statements (written or oral) concerning this case, except, without additional comment, a quotation from or reference to the official public record of the case.”
According to Gray, the order is “facially overbroad and vague.” The filing claims it is unconstitutional to stop victims’ families and attorneys from speaking with the media.
Gray wrote that because the victims’ families are not parties to the case they shouldn’t be muffled.
“Properly construed, the Order does not apply to the Victims’ families in this matter,” Gray argued in a court filing Friday. “The only ‘parties’ to the case are the People and the Defendant. Accordingly, as non-party citizens, the Victims’ surviving family members are free to speak to the public and the media under the First Amendment to the Constitution. Simply put, their rights to freedom of speech cannot be restricted through a judicial prior restraint.”
She also argued that the gag order is in place solely to protect the defendant’s right to a fair trial and impartial jury pool. And that the order should stay after the jury is selected.