Hook editor Hawes Spencer has been subpoenaed in the metasizing “school bomber” case. (Those are condescension quotes around “school bomber.”) Albemarle County’s famously incompetent Commonwealth Attorney Jim Camblos told local reporters in March that the verdict in the case was a secret, under court orders, and threatened to prosecute any paper that printed leaked information. Only it turned out that Camblos totally made it up — there was no such court order. The Hook and The Daily Progress, to their great credit, have been pursuing the matter through legal channels ever since, trying to figure out what Camblos is trying to hide. Now comes the subpoena of Spencer, and apparently a couple of other news outlets.
Is Camblos making good on his threat against the papers? Nobody knows — the case file is closed.
I’m not a huge fan of the Rutherford Institute, but it’s good to see John Whitehead weighing in on the side of press freedoms on this one. (And it’s strange and worrying times when the “liberal” ACLU and the “conservative” Rutherford Institute are both openly concerned about whether we’re eding toward dictatorship.)
… and in fact, as I had forgotten, the ACLU and the Rutherford Institute are jointly assisting Rich Collins in the appeal of his conviction for trespassing when he was distributing campaign literature at the Whole Foods shopping center.
Why on earth would the prosecutor’s need a change of venue in this case? And isn’t it weird that the prosecutor’s should be afraid to have the full truth of this case revealed? These are the same people who elevated the profile of this case in the local media to start with!! If anyone cares about what is best for the kids involved and the community as a whole, then the truth about this case, except for the names which have not yet been disclosed needs to be told. Soon.
And this attempt to intimidate the local press really looks bad for the prosecutor.
I think the change in venue angle might need a whole other blog entry, if for no other than in hopes that somebody in the know might spot it and be able to explain what the deal is here. I was listening to Coy Barefoot’s show yesterday when Hawes Spencer explained that having the prosecutor call for a change in venue isn’t just rare, it’s entirely unheard of. This is a topic where I’m totally out of my depth, though, so I’m really not equipped to evaluate the matter for myself.
I must be behind the times. Has someone reported that Camblos has filed a motion to change venue? Isn’t the court file closed? I will say, not only is it practically unheard of for a prosecutor to file for a change of venue, but it is downright bizarre. Anyone know his stated reasons?