Judge orders Malvo hearing open to public
By Jeanne Meserve and Mike Ahlers
CNN Washington Bureau
FAIRFAX, Virginia (CNN) -- A judge in Virginia ordered next week's hearing of 17-year-old sniper suspect John Lee Malvo be open to the public, rejecting arguments by Malvo's guardian that doing so would make it impossible for lawyers to seat impartial jurors.
Federal and state courts have expected to close pretrial hearings under certain circumstances, said the court-appointed guardian, Todd Pettit. "If this is not the case, there never will be a case," he told the judge.
Prosecutor Robert Horan opposed the defense motion.
"We tend to overrate what the public focuses in on," he said, "We think they sit around all day absolutely convinced they have to read every page of The Washington Post. They don't."
Attorneys for The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Associated Press, The (Baltimore, Maryland) Sun and the Richmond (Virginia) Times-Dispatch also argued for the hearing to remain open.
Juvenile Court Judge Charles Maxfield cited the "O.J. Simpson case, the Watergate trial and other celebrity cases" in ruling against the defense.
During the preliminary hearing, which begins Tuesday, Horan is expected to call 20 witnesses as he seeks to establish probable cause that Malvo killed FBI analyst Linda Franklin. Franklin was shot with a single bullet October 14 outside a Home Depot store in Virginia.
Under Virginia law, and in contrast to other states, hearings involving juveniles 14 years and older who are charged with felonies are usually open to the public.
