The Region : ‘Twilight Zone’ Trial Gag Request Denied

The judge in the “Twilight Zone� movie manslaughter trial has rejected a defense motion to restrain Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Gilbert I. Garcetti from further public comment on the case. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Roger Boren explained in court that a gag order against Garcetti, sought by Harland Braun, defense counsel for associate producer George Folsey Jr., would be “totally counterproductive.� Braun’s motion resulted from recent public statements by Garcetti in support of Deputy Dist. Atty. Lea Purwin D’Agostino, the prosecutor in the case. D’Agostino had said she would have charged the movie’s director, John Landis, with second-degree murder if she had filed the case stemming from the deaths of actor Vic Morrow and two child actors. Braun labeled Garcetti’s subsequent remarks “prejudicial,� because Garcetti is not directly involved in the case as is D’Agostino.