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 was considering not allowing attorneys to speak with the media.
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 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 weighed barring 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 to the media in earlier statements.
Defense attorney Johnathan McDougall called Wagstaffe’s statements to the press since the shooting “incredibly egregious,” and said the “aggressiveness” of the press — including a jailhouse interview Zhao granted to a television reporter — meant the court should place stringent rules on what prosecutors and the defense can say to the media following future hearings.
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 a defense accusing the people of disclosing pertinent information on the case is not accurate and objected to the defense’s “characterizations of statements made by Wagstaffe.”
Lee asked the attorneys to draft a gag order for the case and made clear that she expected attorneys to refrain from speaking to reporters until she issued a ruling Friday afternoon.
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