Lawyers for accused killer want newspaper to minimize reports

<p>Lawyers for an accused serial killer are asking a judge to order the Florida Times-Union to remove material about their client from its Web site and stop publishing reports based on public records about the slayings.</p><p>Paul Durousseau is charged with six counts of first-degree murder in Jacksonville and one in Georgia between 1999 and February of this year.</p><p>The Duval County Public Defenders Office said in a court motion that publicity about the case is hurting Paul Durousseaus chances for a fair trial.</p><p>Circuit Judge John Skinner will hear arguments on the motion Friday.</p><p>In additoin to the Jacksonville killings, prosecutors say Durousseau is linked through DNA to the 1997 slaying of Tracy Habersham in Columbus, Ga.</p><p>The Times-Union detailed the case against Durousseau in front-page stories Sunday and Monday, basing the reports largely on investigative records obtained from prosecutors.</p><p>Assistant Public Defender Ann Finnell said her office and the court should have been notified by the Times-Union and the State Attorneys Office before the records were released, and now the newspaper should be precluded from publishing any more reports based on the materials.</p><p>Reports on jacksonville.com, the newspapers Internet site, also should be removed, Finnell argued.</p><p>Times-Union Editor Pat Yack said the motion is to take something down thats already been published.</p><p>People have a right to go back and read those accounts, which were carefully reported and edited, he said.</p><p>Barbara Petersen, president of the First Amendment Foundation in Tallahassee, said nothing in public records law requires a criminal defendant or the court to be notified when public records are sought.</p><p>Its just bizarre. ... What theyre basically asking the judge to do is violate both the United States Constitution and the Florida Constitution, she said.</p><p>Chief Assistant Public Defender Bill White said his when balancing the fair-trial rights of a defendant against the First Amendment rights of the media, theres still room for prior restraint.</p><p>I know thats a bad word for journalists, but it is a legitimate legal concept, White said. Were trying ... to minimize the press coverage.</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x286596c)</p>