Lara in court; judge loosens but won’t lift gag order

The former Central Oregon Community College campus safety officer accused of killing a Bend woman back in July appeared in court Thursday morning.

Edwin Lara appeared by video hookup in a red jail jumpsuit for a hearing on pre-trial motions and deadlines, while family and friends of his alleged victim, Kaylee Sawyer, looked on.

Lara’s attorney told Deschutes County Circuit Judge Michael Adler there were some conflicts on dates for other cases his law firm is handling and asked for more time to review the evidence

Adler told both the prosecution and defense the trial date set for Oct. 10, 2017 will not be changed, for any reason.

The judge said the court will work with both sides when it comes to hearing dates. But he also said Lara has the right to a speedy trial, as does the victim’s family.

Lara is accused of killing Sawyer in late July and leaving her body in a canyon west of Redmond, then fleeing to California, where he was arrested after a freeway pursuit.

Adler also addressed the objection filed by Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel last month.

The DA claimed in a court filing that the restrictive nature of the order prohibiting out-of-court comments on the case was an unconstitutional abridgement of his freedom of speech and hampered his office’s ability to keep the Sawyer family apprised of possible plea negotiations.

He also said the public deserved to hear from him if he chooses to seek the death penalty in the case, or not, and why.

But Adler said the court was concerned with Hummel talking with the media about active criminal cases and publicly sharing some information about evidence before trial.

“It prohibits lawyers from having news conferences, it prohibits lawyers from making statements to the media, it prohibits district attorney Hummel from doing what he has demonstrated from doing as district attorney which is to make public statements to the media about evidence in cases,” Adler said.

The initial gag order in the case was imposed by Presiding Circuit Judge Alta Brady shortly after Lara’s arrest, on July 26. Adler amended it on Aug. 11, loosening some restrictions, but days later issued a more restrictive order after Hummel spoke with reporters about the case.

The judge said the order does not prevent speaking with the victim’s family, and is only regarding comments to the media, which Adler said judges have also been critical of.

However, Alder agreed to revert to the less-limited Aug. 11 order. He said Hummel can speak publicly on the death penalty issue, but urged caution and warned against statements that could prejudice the case.

In fact, the judge said violating the order could result in a contempt-of-court.

“He (Hummel) should consider this a very stern warning that this court is not going to tolerate any inappropriate (public comments),” Adler said.