Teen's lawyer wants records withheld
MIAMI, Florida (AP) -- The lawyer for a 14-year-old boy charged with killing a classmate asked a judge to bar the public from the teen's pretrial hearings and prevent the release of court records and what police say is his videotaped confession.
No date has been set for the judge to consider the request in the case of Michael Hernandez, who has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.
Defense attorney Richard Rosenbaum Monday said Hernandez cannot get a fair trial if the materials are released and court proceedings are reported by the news media. He said the information is not covered under Florida's public records law.
Prosecutors have said information gathered so far in the case would be released to the public at the same time it is given to the defense.
Hernandez is accused of repeatedly stabbing Jaime Gough in the neck February 3 in a bathroom at Southwood Middle School in the affluent Miami suburb of Palmetto Bay. The victim bled to death.
Hernandez had bloodstains on his clothes and a serrated knife in his backpack when he was taken into custody, and confessed to planning and carrying out the killing, police say.
His attorney said the boy spoke on the tape without his parents, despite their requests to be present.
If convicted, Hernandez faces life in prison without parole.
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