Gag order granted in Pittsburgh doctor's killing

A judge has granted a request for a gag order in the ongoing murder case involving Elijah Hemingway, the man accused of killing Dr. Idris Evans, a Pittsburgh doctor who was allegedly stabbed to death while he slept.

Hemingway, 32, is being represented by a public defender, who filed the request with the courts late last week. Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Edward J. Borkowski granted that request Monday.

The gag order is related to three cases against Elijah Hemingway. He's accused of a rape in Wilkinsburg just 14 hours before he allegedly broke into Evans' Edgewood home and stabbed him to death. The third incident is connected to burglary charges from February for allegedly breaking into his former girlfriend's home and stealing electronics.  

"The furor surrounding these matters shows no signs of slowing down, and a significant amount of both local and national media attention can safely be anticipated to continue throughout the pendency of these cases," Hemingway's public defenders said in the motion.

"Should this type of media coverage persist, defendant will be convicted in the court of public opinion long before the cases are called to trial, and it will be impossible to impanel a fair and impartial jury by selecting from a local pool," the motion went on to say.

St. Vincent College law professor Bruce Antkowiak said the potential jury is at the center of a gag order, specifically the ability to draw one from a local pool in Allegheny County instead of going outside the area.

"The judge wants to be able to make sure that at the time that the jury is hearing the case, they are hearing as much as possible of it for the first time in the courtroom," Antkowiak said.

That way, they haven't formed an opinion about a case beforehand, he said. 

"A court can tell those parties, 'I don't want you holding press conferences. I don't want you leaking information that there's been a new discovery,'" Antkowiak said. 

Antkowiak said hearings are still public and this doesn't restrict people not directly involved in the case from speaking. It's just a step some defense attorneys may take.

"It tries to keep a lid on pretrial publicity as it emanates from the parties," Antkowiak said.

As of now, Hemingway is still set to appear in court for his preliminary hearing in the homicide case on Friday.