A week after the city requested a gag order to stop public comments in the federal lawsuit brought by a woman who claims she was sexually harassed by former Chattanooga police detective Karl Fields, attorneys on both sides filed responses defending their statements to the media and calling the city’s request premature.
In that request, the city argued that were it allowed to continue, the public back-and-forth on both sides would make it impossible to find an unbiased jury pool. It also argues that the comments, particularly those made to the Times Free Press, violate a federal prohibition against extrajudicial statements.
Fields’ attorney, Jerry Tidwell, argued in his response that he doesn’t violate that prohibition.
“Counsel for Mr. Fields first contends that none of the statements made thus far can reasonably be construed as influencing the ability of any of the parties to receive a fair trial. Secondly, a vast majority of statements made to date by Mr. Fields’ counsel has quoted or referred directly to public records,” Tidwell wrote.
Statements made in reference to public records are exempt from the rule on extrajudicial statements, federal rules that limit the public comments attorneys make outside of court in order to avoid biasing potential jurors. In particular, the city took issue with a news release that Tidwell sent out after a code of conduct hearing ended with Fields’ firing. Tidwell defended those statements as well.