The Kings want photographs, reports and documents subject to protective order

BY DANA LITTLEFIELD, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 2010 AT 4:58 P.M.

Lawyers representing the family of slain Poway teenager Chelsea King have asked a judge to expand a gag order barring authorities from making public comments or disseminating documents and photographs related to the murder investigation.

San Diego Superior Court Judge David Danielsen met with the lawyers in chambers Tuesday, but did not sign the proposed order. Instead, all parties in the case involving John Albert Gardner III, who pleaded guilty Friday to killing Chelsea and 14-year-old Amber Dubois, were asked to return to court Thursday to discuss the matter further.

Danielsen had previously scheduled the Thursday hearing to revisit a request by Gardner’s defense team to impose a revised gag order barring authorities from discussing the case publicly until after the sentencing on June 1.

But Danielsen said he didn’t understand why such an order would be necessary after Gardner had admitted he committed the crimes. The judge imposed the new gag order on a temporary basis, until he could hear from the lawyers at the Thursday hearing.

Various media outlets, including The San Diego Union-Tribune, have asked the judge to lift the order.

On Tuesday, attorneys Edward Patrick Swan Jr. and Michael Fell, who represent the King family, submitted a proposal for a new, more detailed order that would restrict anyone from the District Attorney’s Office, Public Defender’s Office, Medical Examiner’s Office or law enforcement agencies associated with the case from making any public statements.

Specifically, the order would ban the release of any photographs, reports, documents, information or opinion regarding Chelsea King. It cites privacy provisions of Marsy’s Law, also known as the victim’s bill of rights, which was passed by voters in 2008.