UPDATE: Gag order issued in Greitens’ investigation
UPDATE 6:20 pm: Read direct quotes from the judge on the gag order below:
Judge transcript on gag order:
I’m not going to make the order final until I hear back from the parties, the issue was raised as to the media and as to the legislature. And I’ll give you time to look at that issue. As far as what powers this Court has to prevent the reckless dissemination of information that may taint the jury pool that we’re trying to accumulate here in the next month. But the order — the Court will be entering an order that all parties, attorneys, endorsed witnesses and their attorneys are prohibited from making any public statements outside the courtroom that could interfere with a fair trial, or prejudice either the State or the defendant.
Judge transcript on House Select Committee report:
“I’ll, once again, the legislature has their — their powers. And I have to hope that consideration is being given to any defendant, defendant’s rights to have a fair trial in front of an impartial jury. I am assuming that they are weighing that west of here. But, nonetheless, they have their jobs and their authority, and I’m not going to pick up the phone. I think that they — it would be hard for anyone not to understand hat dissemination of information on a trial this serious that has not gone through the rigors of every trial, we read to the jury in Jury Instruction Number 1 a caution that tells the jury that all the evidence they hear has been weighed by the Court and by the parties, and is — and the Court’s rulings are based on decades of case law and statutes, and all of that evidence is screened before any jury is given the right, an opportunity to hear that evidence. I would only hope that all information that’s disseminated is only disseminated through that process of decades of judicial rulings and precedent that have been on the books, as I said, for decades. So phone call from me shouldn’t be necessary.
UPDATE 5:45 pm: The special investigative committee said they will release its report at 5 p.m. on Wednesday.
House Speaker Todd Richardson, as well as members of House Republican Leadership and members of the committee, will hold a press conference at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.
UPDATE 2:30 pm: A judge has issued a partial gag order for attorneys and witnesses in the criminal case.
St. Louis Circuit Judge Rex Burlison issued the order Tuesday in response to a request from Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner. Gardner expressed concern that Greitens’ attorneys were trying the case in the media.
The order does not prohibit attorneys from speaking about public information in the case, but prohibits comments related to deposition material, opinions about what witnesses might testify to and other speculative issues.
ORIGINAL STORY: The Circuit Attorney’s office filed a gag order Tuesday, which would restrict the defendant, Gov. Eric Greitens, and his attorneys from publicly speaking on the case.
Just after 1 p.m., Susan Ryan with the Circuit Attorney’s office said the order is actively being considered by a judge.
ABC 17 has a interview scheduled with Edward Dowd, of Dowd Bennet LLP, which is the law firm representing the Governor, for 3 p.m at their offices in St. Louis.
If the judge allows the gag order, the interview will be canceled.
This comes after Greitens’ attorneys filed documents on Sunday saying the governor’s ex-mistress testified that she does not know if her belief that he had a phone was the result of a dream. It also says that the woman revealed that she had sent partially nude images of herself to Greitens three months after their encounter.
A spokesperson for the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s office says Greitens’ attorneys latest court filing is another attack on the “credibility of the victim.”
Stay with this story for the latest information.
