« Ind. Courts - Star editorial on cameras in courtrooms | Main | Ind. Courts - "Bailiff accused of impersonating officer" »

Saturday, August 26, 2006

Ind. Courts - "Judge denies TV station's request for witness lists in Behrman case"

"Judge denies TV station's request for witness lists in Behrman case" is the headline to an AP story published this morning the Louisville Courier Journal. Some quotes:

MARTINSVILLE, Ind. — A judge yesterday denied a television station's request for lists of potential witnesses in the trial of the man charged with killing Indiana University student Jill Behrman.

Indianapolis Fox affiliate WXIN had filed a formal request under the state public records law for lists of prosecution and defense witnesses who might testify in the trial of John Myers II.

In a three-page ruling, Morgan Superior Court Judge Chris Burnham said the records were confidential because they may contain the names of witnesses who appeared before the grand jury that indicted the 30-year-old Ellettsville man.

Grand jury proceedings are confidential under Indiana law. Burnham issued an order July 11 closing the witness lists to the public because they could be intertwined with the grand jury process. * * *

A grand jury indicted Myers on a charge of murder in April after hearing testimony from 90 witnesses. Authorities have declined to comment on any possible motive for Behrman's death.

Myers has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bond. Jury selection is to begin Oct. 2, with the trial to start Oct. 16.

An August 9th ILB entry recorded that "pretrial hearings in the Jill Behrman murder trial are being held in closed chambers."

From a June 8th ILB entry, quoting from an AP story by Ken Kusmer:

A judge on Thursday refused to release autopsy and forensic reports in the death of an Indiana University student whose body was found in 2003, nearly three years after she disappeared while riding her bicycle in Bloomington.

The cause and manner of 19-year-old Jill Behrman's death and other autopsy results have been sealed since December 2003 by order of Morgan Superior Court Judge G. Thomas Gray. He refused to change that stance Thursday.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on August 26, 2006 09:46 AM
Posted to Ind. Trial Ct. Decisions