REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — A San Mateo County judge on Friday granted a motion from the lawyers for accused Half Moon Bay killer Chunli Zhao to restrict remote access to court records related to the case and impose a gag order barring attorneys from speaking to the press.
Zhao is charged with seven counts of murder and one count of attempted murder in the Jan. 23 mass shooting, which began at the Half Moon Bay mushroom farm where he lived and worked. On Friday, Zhao, cuffed and wearing a red jail jumpsuit, appeared despondent as he walked into the courtroom; he later cried and sobbed during proceedings, leading Judge San Mateo County Judge Elizabeth K. Lee to call for a brief recess.
Since the shooting, media from all over the world descended on the sleepy town of Half Moon Bay to cover the worst mass shooting in the county’s history. But on Friday, Lee barred the attorneys in the case from speaking to the media after Zhao’s defense raised concerns that San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe has revealed too much in earlier statements.
During an afternoon hearing, Judge Lee said the protective order on trial publicity prohibits the government, the defense, the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office and Chunli Zhao “from making statements to the press concerning the facts of the case and offering any opinions regarding the events of the case.”
Lee said the parties may publicly discuss the following: dates of future and past court hearing, the procedural status of upcoming court proceedings, the procedural results of any prior court proceedings and rulings and results of prior court proceedings that have occurred in public court.
Defense attorney Johnathan McDougall had earlier called Wagstaffe’s statements to reporters since the shooting “incredibly egregious,” and said the “aggressiveness” of the press — including a jailhouse interview that Zhao granted to a television reporter — meant the court should place stringent rules on what prosecutors and the defense can say outside of court.
Media coverage of the case fed by statements from the attorneys “would not promote a fair and independent jury” in the event the case reaches trial, McDougall said.
“Mr. Wagstaffe has confirmed information to the press from a law enforcement investigation, a disclosure of factual information,” McDougall said. “This is all information that had not even been disclosed to the bench yet and is now being articulated by Mr. Wagstaffe to the press.”
Prosecutor Josh Stauffer said the accusations of the DA’s Office disclosing pertinent information on the case is not accurate and objected to the defense attorney’s “characterizations of statements made by Wagstaffe.”
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