By TP staff
Three news companies today filed a motion to lift the gag order and unseal court records in the Sandra Cantu murder case.
The Associated Press, The Record in Stockton, and the Bay Area News Group filed a motion citing public interest to overturn a ruling by Judge Linda Lofthus that bars witnesses and others involved in the case from talking about it, and keeps case documents secret, according to the AP.
Huckaby pleaded guilty Monday to kidnapping and murdering 8-year-old Sandra, who disappeared March 27 last year from the mobile home park they both lived in.
Lofthus put a gag order in the case early on, but during Monday’s hearing, neither prosecutor Thomas Testa nor defense attorney Sam Behar objected to lifting the gag order.
The AP reported media lawyers argued in court filings that Huckaby’s guilty plea negates any need for a gag order at this point, and its removal would shed light on the case.
Lofthus at Monday’s hearing said she needed more time to think about the gag order and was unprepared to lift it or open the case file to the public.
A hearing to argue for its removal is scheduled for May 24.
Copyright 2010 Tracy Press