Prosecutors: Don’t copy videos for Duncan defense

Prosecutors are asking 1st District Judge Fred Gibler to reconsider his order that graphic videos seized as part of the murder and kidnapping investigation into suspected serial killer Joseph Edward Duncan be copied for defense lawyers.

Kootenai County Prosecutor Bill Douglas said Monday he also is asking the judge to view the videos before making a decision. A hearing on the state’s motion to reconsider is scheduled for Nov. 2.

“We’re asking the court to consider a couple of other reasons why we feel the state does not have to provide copies because of their sensitive nature,” Douglas said. Last week, Douglas expressed concern over the possibility of “inadvertent or accidental dissemination” of the videos, which he describes as graphic and disturbing.

Douglas said Monday that copying the videos could compromise an ongoing investigation. He said his office will propose additional ways to accommodate Duncan’s attorneys, without making copies of the videos that Duncan allegedly produced while holding Dylan and Shasta Groene at a remote Montana campsite.

Meanwhile, the public defenders office says some of the videos may already have been made public.

“We have a source inside of law enforcement that told us that he had been told some of those videos have made their way to the Internet,” public defender John Adams said Monday.

Douglas wouldn’t comment Monday on that aspect of the case.

“All I can say is the matter is a subject of an ongoing investigation,” Douglas said. “I can’t attest to the validity of those statements, whether they were made or not.”

Douglas said the list of items compiled by the public defenders office is information that Duncan’s attorneys believe the state hasn’t provided as part of the discovery process.

“We maintain they have a lot of this stuff or a lot of this stuff does not exist,” Douglas said.

In court last week, Douglas said he was concerned specifically about two video clips, each 10 to 15 minutes long. He said the defense had seen all of the videos and still pictures that were seized, but Adams said he wasn’t sure the defense had seen everything.

He said he had been told that there were as many as 15 videos and hundreds of photographs. The memo from his office states that Idaho State Police “related seeing numerous sex videos.”

In making their arguments, attorneys for both sides cited court cases dealing with child pornography.

Detectives found a laptop computer, cameras and other electronics in Duncan’s rented Jeep. Kootenai County sheriff’s Detective Brad Maskell sought a warrant July 2 to search the equipment.

In an accompanying affidavit listing his qualifications, Maskell cited his experience investigating computer crimes and work relationships with an FBI agent skilled in Internet pornography investigations.

Duncan is accused of kidnapping Shasta and Dylan Groene after killing the children’s mother, her boyfriend and their 13-year-old brother in mid-May. Shasta told investigators that Duncan kept the children at a remote Montana campsite for weeks and that he took pictures of himself with the children.

Shasta told authorities that Duncan showed her those digital pictures.

The nature of the pictures wasn’t revealed in the heavily redacted court transcripts, but federal prosecutors have said Duncan may face charges for production of child pornography.

The campsite is near the small town of St. Regis, Mont., where wireless Internet service is available. Duncan was spotted in the town – by himself and with the kids – even as a nationwide search for the missing kids was under way.

The 42-year-old convicted sex offender is set to go on trial in January for the alleged triple murder in Coeur d’Alene. Federal charges for the kidnapping of Dylan and Shasta, and Dylan’s alleged murder, are expected to follow.