Court records of the Marshall County High School shooting case were ordered this week to remain confidential after the defense attorney called into question the Circuit Court’s jurisdiction.
An Agreed Order from Circuit Court Judge Jamie Jameson on Tuesday says the defense attorney representing accused shooter Gabe Parker claimed during the arraignment last Friday that the transfer of the case to a Circuit Court from the juvenile division of the District Court "was not proper." The defense requested a hearing on this issue.
According to the Order, the prosecution did not agree with the substance of the motion but agreed to a hearing.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Mark Blankenship said in an email to WKMS News the defense believes that the case was rushed through juvenile court, violating due process. Blankenship said he and his assistant Jacob Ford were present during the detention and youthful offender hearings and observed what took place. He said his office believes Parker’s due process rights were properly exercised and that the defense efforts in this regard are “futile.” (More about the earlier process)
Defense attorney Tom Griffiths did not respond to a request for comment by the time this story was published.
The defense has until March 8 to file objections. The prosecution has until March 12 to respond. The Court will soon after determine the motion. Subsequent orders of the Court will then direct further proceedings accordingly.
In a conference call on Monday, parties discussed scheduling a review of the juvenile/district court records related to the matter. "Review of these records was discussed at the defendant's arraignment February 16th on the record," the Order states. During that discussion, it was stated that parties would attempt to agree on which, if any, records related to the District Court proceedings must remain confidential. The conversation on Monday served as a procedural follow-up, according to the Order.
During the conference call, the defense attorney made an oral motion that any records relating to the district court file be kept confidential until a hearing on the issue of whether the transfer of this matter from District to Circuit Court was appropriate. Both parties agreed that the records should remain confidential until the Court may make a decision on the defendant's motion challenging the Court's jurisdiction. The court has thus ordered that all records (with the exception of the Grand Jury indictment and the Agreed Order) should be held confidential until then.
Lawyers representing a local media group have argued in a writ to the Kentucky Court of Appeals that a video of the hearing should be made public since Parker, who is 15, is being tried as an adult per a grand jury indictment (More on this). According to a state law, records are to be made public after a juvenile being tried as an adult has been indicted and arraigned (see also here).
This story may be updated.
