Dinwiddie judge denies defense motion for gag order in Irvo Otieno murder case
DINWIDDIE – A Circuit Court judge denied a defense request Tuesday for a gag order in the case of a Virginia man reportedly suffocated to death by deputies and mental-hospital staff who had him pinned to a floor in the hospital’s admissions area.
An attorney for one of the 10 people indicted in the March death of Irvo Otieno claimed that the release of a surveillance video — showing seven deputies and three security guards at Central State Hospital just outside Petersburg restraining the 28-year-old Kenyan native after deputies brought him to the hospital for evaluation — could make it hard to seat an impartial jury. The video was among several Dropbox links mentioned in a discovery motion Monday by the prosecution that the defense claimed was improperly filed in the case.
Because it was not put under seal, the court record was publicly accessible. Several media outlets, including The Progress-Index, have gained access to that video and have published it either in its entirely or in snippets.
More:Why was Irvo Otieno treated with such brutality? Family still searching for answers.
Doug Ramseur, an attorney representing CSH security guard Wavie Lavin Jones, said the gag order he requested could not prevent news organizations from sharing the video because “that bell already has been rung.” Ramseur said his concern was that the availability of the video would taint a potential jury who, although not expected to be empaneled for months, could have formed their own opinions about the suspects’ guilt or innocence.
“[The release] already raises the possibility we’re going to have a problem with getting a fair jury,” Ramseur said. The fact that the video has been seen on national news outlets further enhances that possibility that the suspects will not be able to get a fair jury anywhere, according to Ramseur.
“If we get to that place, we can’t have a trial at all,” Ramseur told Circuit Judge Joseph Teefey.
Instead, the gag order he requested would apply only to attorneys involved in the process, including both prosecutors and defenders, and their respective staffs.
Ramseur said he filed the gag order motion after learning that Commonwealth’s Attorney Ann Cabell Baskervill, who originally was not going to release the jail video, changed her mind after Otieno’s family asked it be made public. He also was critical of Baskervill for not filing the discovery motion under seal, which is standard legal procedure in Virginia criminal trials.
Baskervill told the judge her office had been inundated with Virginia Freedom of Information Act requests for a copy of the video, said she opted to release the video but only after the grand jury had a chance to review it while deciding whether to indict. The prosecutor has come under fire from some in the legal circles for using a rare process that allows prosecuting attorneys to petition courts for arrests based upon evidence and bypasses preliminary hearings before judges to take the case straight to a grand jury. Baskervill said she did so in order to protect the Henrico jail community from the deputies who she claimed went rogue on restraining Otieno.
“I do have obligations to the public’s right to know certain things,” she told the judge.
After a brief recess, Teefey came back with the decision to deny the gag order, saying while he recognized “the validity of the defense motion” for a fair jury, the process is in the early enough stages that by the time it came to trial, any potential jurors would be able to render a fair verdict regardless of the widespread media attention.
“There is no evidence that a fair trial is not going to be deferred,” Teefey said.
Instead, the judge reminded all the attorneys they are bound by a code of ethics to watch what they say in public about their cases.
Teefey also agreed with Ramseur’s notion that the court would be unable to prevent media outlets who already have accessed the video from publishing it.
“I’m not going to play a game of ‘Whack-a-Mole' with trying to get the media to call it back,” Teefey said.
The suspects indicted are deputies Jermaine Lavar Branch, 45; Bradley Thomas Disse, 43; Randy Joseph Boyer, 57; Dwayne Alan Bramble, 37; Tabitha Rene Levere, 50; Brandon Edward Rodgers, 48; and Kal yell Dajour Sanders, 30; and hospital employees Darian M. Blackwell, 23, of Petersburg, Wavie L. Jones, 34, of Chesterfield, and Sadarius D. Williams, 27, of North Dinwiddie.
At least four of the deputies and one of the CSH security guards have been granted bond on the condition they do not associate with anyone else involved in the case.
Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@progress-index.com or on Twitter at @BAtkinson_PI.
This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Virginia judge denies gag order in Irvo Otieno case
