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Judge puts gag order on Sean Taylor case
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Four suspects were arrested in Lee County in connection with the slaying of NFL star Sean Taylor. The Daily News had reporters on the scene at FDLE all day covering the arrests. Watch »
Sean Taylor shooting
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Updated: 1:06 p.m., Jan. 8
Judge Dennis Murphy agreed to a gag order silencing police, attorneys of all of the suspects and Sean Taylor’s family.
He also said part of the statements the suspects made to the cops with be withheld for now.
Posted: 8:36 p.m., Jan. 7
From the killing of a young couple in their Gateway bedroom to the execution of a school teacher by the self-titled Lords of Chaos, the Lee County legal community has seen its share of limelight court cases.
But perhaps none has garnered so much interest as the fatal shooting, in Palmetto Bay late last year, of NFL star Sean Taylor.
In the first days after four Fort Myers-area men were arrested in Taylor’s death, their lawyers’ names were splashed across the national news. Some mused about plea deals and talked about confessions. Before a single not-guilty plea was entered, regrets and condolences were extended to the victim’s family; the whole incident was termed a tragic mistake.
Now at least one of the attorneys wants everybody to stuff a sock in it.
David Brener, who represents 18-year-old Charles Wardlow in the first-degree murder case, is set to ask a judge Tuesday morning to prohibit the defense, the prosecution and the Taylor family’s attorney from talking publicly about the case.
Brener declined to comment for this story.
Florida’s public information laws are notoriously broad, and attorneys here typically have a tough time shutting out the media in any way.
But at a December hearing in the Taylor case, Judge Dennis Murphy expressed frustration with the defense lawyers’ loose lips.
Wardlow and three others — Venjah Hunte, 20; Jason Mitchell, 19; and 17-year-old Eric Rivera, the alleged gunman — are accused of driving to Miami in late November and breaking into Taylor’s home. He surprised the group by being there, police have said, and received a serious bullet wound in the leg when he confronted the intruders with a machete.
The Washington Redskins safety died the next day at an area hospital.
Hunte’s attorney said last week he would not join Brener in his motion to ban the lawyers from talking to the media about the case.
Michael Hornung, who in particular has come under fire for divulging details about the case to reporters, said he did not plan to be in Miami for Tuesday’s hearing.
A trial date has been set for April 7. That will likely be delayed.
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Mr. Hornung is the same lawyer who wondered aloud... via the press if getting drunk, slapping a flight attendant, headbutting a passenger then exposing yourself on a crowded airline, causing the pilot to declare an emergency landing............is a criminal offense? I wonder if someones perception of reality is so contorted...how do they manage simple tasks..like cleaning themselves.
#1 Posted by yregrus on January 7, 2008 at 9:57 p.m. (Suggest removal)
There is a TV movie deal in all of this.
All gross revenues should go to the fiance and child.
#2 Posted by volochine on January 8, 2008 at 1:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Let 'em talk. Some of those defense attorneys have done more for the prosecution, why stop them now?
#3 Posted by boatbum on January 8, 2008 at 5:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)
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