ESPN opposes access limits in Miami murder trial

ESPN joined two other media outlets Thursday in a motion opposing a judge's suggestion that she could close public access to proceedings in the retrial of a former Miami football player accused of killing a teammate. The motion by ESPN, NBCUniversal Media, which owns NBC6 South Florida, and McClatchy Company, publisher of the Miami Herald, was filed in advance of a Monday hearing before Florida 11th Circuit Court Judge Cristina Miranda. During a previous hearing, Miranda raised the possibility of restricting media access and imposing a gag order in the case of Rashaun Jones, who was arrested in 2021 and charged with the 2006 killing of Miami teammate Bryan Pata. His trial this spring ended in a hung jury. Thursday's motion by ESPN and the other outlets cites "the well-established presumption that pretrial proceedings and trials are open to the public and that prior restraints, like gag orders, are unconstitutional." The media outlets' motion argued against imposing any order that would prevent parties in the case from speaking publicly, including to the media. Jones' attorney, Sara Alvarez, filed a motion Wednesday that opposes both a media ban and gag order. "Mr. Jones, who holds the fair-trial right, does not seek closure and affirmatively opposes it," the defense motion states. "Indeed, Mr. Jones welcomes the scrutiny of the press as to all aspects of this case including the decisions of this court." The Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office has not indicated any position on either, although prosecutors filed a motion last month expressing concerns about defense attorneys communicating with the media. Prosecutors asked the judge to order their opposing counsel to turn over any correspondence with reporters, among other records, "to allow the court to determine whether there have been any violations of privileged communications or dissemination of the personal information of law enforcement officers to the media or other parties." Prosecutors and the judge also have expressed concern about the release, on a YouTube personality's social media account, of a recently recorded deposition of an inmate who told police in 2022 that Jones told him of having killed Pata. The media outlets' motion notes that much of the information regarding witnesses and evidence has already been made public in various media reports and court filings; that includes the statements by the jailhouse informant. The news media motion states that courts have routinely rejected such bans in other high-profile Florida court cases, including the Parkland school shooting and the trial of serial killer Ted Bundy. "The News Media, as a surrogate for the public, relies on access to proceedings and to official statements from individuals and institutions to accurately and promptly disseminate matters of public import," the motion states. "The public has a significant interest in this case as it involves, not only the alleged criminal actions of Jones, but also issues regarding the law enforcement response and investigation after Pata's death spanning over a decade as well as the government's conduct in the ensuing prosecution." Both the media motion and the motion by Jones' defense state that the judge is considering restrictions without citing supporting evidence that pre-trial media coverage in the Jones case poses a threat to a fair trial and without considering less-restrictive alternatives. In May, just days before the retrial was to begin, Miranda delayed the trial to September as attorneys argued over evidence related to recent developments. Among new issues in the case: an internal police investigation into the lead detective over alleged use of an anonymous social media account to make comments about the defendant and witnesses during trial, a Florida Bar misconduct complaint against the former lead prosecutor, and reintroduction of the jailhouse informant as a witness. At a June 17 hearing, Miranda said she had discussed the gag order and media exclusion in light of "results that have occurred from the social media in this case" and "people that are disclosing things that shouldn't be disclosed." "And I'm going to have to take control of it a little more firmly than we have had," she said. "As Mr. Jones knows, things have come up on social media that are pro and against him. I don't think that it assists in our desire to pick a fair and impartial jury in this case." Pata was shot in the head outside his apartment shortly after football practice on Nov. 7, 2006, and while documents uncovered in an ESPN investigation showed police considered Jones a suspect early on, no arrest was made for 15 years. A trial earlier this year ended in a hung jury, which prompted the judge to declare a mistrial.