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As four individuals remain to be tried in the attempted murder of Tippecanoe County Judge Steven Meyer and his wife in their home earlier this year, the court issued a gag order last week, keeping the public out of the loop for now.
Since May 12, counsel for the state and the defendants, their professional staff, law enforcement officials, court personnel and all family members have been prohibited from discussing the case with the public and media.
Cass County Superior Court Judge Lisa Swaim, who was appointed to serve as a special judge in the matter, issued the order after defense counsel published a survey on social media to gauge public attitudes toward the defendants, who have been accused of attempting to murder Meyer in a plot tied to the trial of a high-ranking gang member who was set to appear in front of Meyer on Jan. 20.
The prosecution argued in its May 12 request to restrict communication that the defense’s survey could have influenced potential jurors.
According to defendant Blake Smith‘s attorneys, Denise Turner and Spenser Benge, in an objection to the state’s motion to restrict communication, the survey was created to support another defendant, Thomas Moss, and his previous request to change venues. Moss is also accused of attempted murder.
The study, which the Tippecanoe County Public Defender Agency funded, was a five-question survey distributed on social media, targeting adult Tippecanoe County residents, according to court documents.
Turner and Benge defended the survey, saying it did not contain confidential, privileged or sealed information and that it did not make extra-judicial statements.
According to the prosecution, the survey also displayed photos of the defendants and asked the respondent whether they thought the accused were innocent or guilty.
At a May 12 hearing, the court ordered Moss’s counsel to disclose the details of the survey and to cease collecting data from it.
After the hearing, the prosecution filed its motion to restrict communications, calling the survey “misleading” and claiming it could “detrimentally influence potential jurors.”
But Smith’s attorneys say the survey was necessary to establish a stronger basis to remove the case from Tippecanoe County. They also say that surveying methods, such as the one they used, have consistently been used to support a venue change.
“Surveys like the one conducted in the instant case have been used for more than half a century, particularly in Indiana,” Smith’s attorneys said in their objection. “Not once has an appellate court found the use of surveys to be inappropriate or unlawful.”
Smith, Moss and Nevaeh Bell, along with Raylen Ferguson, who is accused of pulling the trigger and shooting through the Meyers’ front door, have trial dates set for later this year.
In late April, a Tippecanoe County jury found Amanda Lee Milsap guilty of bribery and invasion of privacy in relation to the case.
The obstruction of justice case against Zenada Greer, who reportedly shared a residence with Ferguson and whose vehicle was identified driving toward the Meyers’ home, was dismissed in March.
Smith and Bell are both scheduled to go to trial this July, while Ferguson is set for trial in August and Moss in September.
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