Arrasmith Judge: No Gag Order Media Coverage Found Plentiful, Balanced So Far

A judge has rejected a request for a gag order in the Kenneth D. Arrasmith case, but agreed to allow selection of the jury for the double murder trial from outside Nez Perce County.

Prosecutor Denise Rosen wanted Arrasmith, his lawyers and all potential witnesses to be prohibited from speaking publicly about the case.

“This court will issue a gag order only when it believes that publicity poses an imminent threat or clear and present danger to the impartiality of the proceeding and there are no lesser measures which can effectively negate this threat,” 2nd District Judge Ida Leggett said in an order Friday.

Arrasmith, 44, of Sunnyside, Wash., is scheduled to stand trial starting Nov. 6 on two counts of first-degree murder for the May 17 slayings of Ronald and Luella Bingham of Clarkston, Wash.

They were repeatedly shot at the Lewiston auto repair shop where Bingham worked.

Arrasmith contends the couple sexually tortured his teenage daughter, and that law enforcement authorities did nothing to stop them even though the situation had been reported.

The case has attracted nationwide attention, with Arrasmith depicted as a man who took the law into his own hands after law enforcement agencies failed to stop the abuse by the Binghams.

But Leggett said Friday that a gag order was not justified in light of her decisions to bar camera coverage of court proceedings, select a jury from outside the county and to sequester jurors.

The judge wrote that local print and television media have presented a vast amount of information on the case, but that the coverage has been balanced overall.

xxxx
COURT DATE Trial begins Nov. 6