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Twohig v. Blackmer5/20/1996
ORIGINAL SUPERINTENDING CONTROL PROCEEDING
RANSOM, Justice.
{1} Attorney Ray Twohig petitioned this Court for a writ of superintending control vacating a trial court order prohibiting all trial participants from communicating with the media about the third trial of Twohig's client, Gordon House. As grounds for his petition, Twohig claimed that this "gag order" impermissibly restricted his rights of free speech in violation of Article II, Section 17 of the New Mexico Constitution and our recently amended rule governing trial publicity, SCRA 1986, 16-306 (Repl. Pamp. 1995). We assumed jurisdiction over Twohig's petition under the New Mexico Constitution, Article VI, Section 3 (providing that Supreme Court shall have power of superintending control over all inferior courts). See SCRA 1986, 12-504 (Cum. Supp. 1995) (establishing procedure for issuance of extraordinary writs). At a hearing held before us on March 22, 1995, we issued our writ vacating the order in question. In this opinion we explain the reasons for our earlier ruling and hold, in the absence of certain requisite findings of fact supporting a Conclusion that a universal restriction of speech was necessary to meet a clear and present danger of infringing House's and the State's right to a fair trial, the gag order issued here violated Article II, Section 17 and Rule 16-306.
{2} Facts and Proceedings. The amount of publicity surrounding a fatal 1992 Christmas Eve accident and the three trials of House on vehicular-homicide charges well may be unprecedented in New Mexico. From the beginning it was made generally known that House had been involved in a wreck that claimed the lives of Melanie Cravens and her three daughters. It was also made known that when the accident occurred, House was driving at nighttime at a high rate of speed in the wrong direction on Interstate 40. See Steve Shoup, Police Suspect Alcohol in Christmas Eve Wreck, Albuquerque J., Dec. 26, 1992, at A1, A8. It was speculated that House had been drinking, see id., and test results made public by the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) soon after the accident indicated that five hours after the fatal crash House had a blood alcohol level of 0.1 percent, see Robert Rodriguez, Test Says House Legally Drunk, Albuquerque J., Dec. 30, 1992, at A1.
{3} Long before the first trial, prosecution and defense attorneys commented extensively in the media about the case and the issues presented by it. The strategies and opinions of the lawyers received early press coverage. An article appearing in the Albuquerque Journal quoted Twohig as saying "'experts will be used' to determine whether the signs on the Volcan offramp were confusing or insufficient." Patricia Gabbett Snow, Officer: Pickup Sped Wrong Way 10 Miles, Albuquerque J., Jan. 9, 1993, at A1, A3. In this same article, Chief Deputy District Attorney Alan Rackstraw was quoted to the effect that, although he would not release results of a blood sample taken from House by University Hospital staff members on the evening of the crash, "I don't deny that they are consistent with the tests from APD." Id.
{4} Twohig attacked the blood-test results almost immediately. In an article appearing in the Navajo Times--a paper published in Window Rock, Arizona--Twohig hinted that "some important facts" in House's case had not been made public. Valerie Taliman, Family Seeks Fair Justice, Navajo Times, Jan. 14, 1993, at 1. He also stated that the blood-alcohol test taken by APD may not have been accurate because testing equipment at the APD lab was broken within a two-day period prior to testing and there was no proof that the instruments had been fixed. Id. at 3.
{5} Another theme tha
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