Partial ban in murder case
N.L. premier wins partial publication ban involving daughter’s ex-boyfriend
A Newfoundland judge has upheld a partial publication ban on details in a murder case involving the ex-boyfriend of Premier Dwight Ball’s daughter.
Ball went to court to keep information involving Jade Ball under wraps.
He argued her privacy and health interests trumped the media’s right to report certain specifics Dwight Ball shared with police during a week-long manhunt in October 2015 for the suspect in a fatal shooting. Ball was less than two months from the election that would make him premier when he told investigators the killer may be his daughter’s former boyfriend.
Chief Justice Raymond Whalen of the provincial Supreme Court ruled Monday the partial ban is a reasonable protection of privacy that does not overly restrict the media’s right to report.
He stressed that press freedom is a “cornerstone” of democracy.
But he also said Ball’s willingness to promptly report to police private details that helped catch a killer was “commendable.”
Whalen ruled that allowing that information to be published could discourage other people from coming forward in future cases.
Lawyers for CBC and the Saltwire Network Inc. newspaper chain did not oppose the partial ban and weren’t in court Monday.
Whalen said citizens who in good faith offer private information to police need to believe that to the legal extent possible, it will be protected from widespread publication.
Documents released Dec. 19 under the partial ban outlined how Ball tipped police that the prime suspect wanted for murder in a botched St. John’s bar robbery could be Brandon Phillips.
A jury found Phillips, 29, guilty of second-degree murder in December. He is due back in court Feb. 22 for a sentencing hearing.