The lawyer for the man accused of killing a Sheffield policeman and longtime friend has filed motions to block any broadcasts, recordings or photographs of his court appearances and to prevent attendees from commenting or disclosing information to the media.
Brian Lansing Martin, 41, has been charged with three counts of capital murder, two counts of attempted murder, two counts of shooting into an occupied vehicle and one count of felony possession of a firearm while link to the October 1 shooting.
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Martin is charged with the murder of Sgt. Nick Risner, a US Army veteran who joined forces in Sheffield eight years ago, and William Mealback Jr., who was shot and thrown from his own car before the shootout Martin later had with police . One of the attempted murder charges stems from the wounding of Sheffield Police Lieutenant Max Dotson. Dotson filed a lawsuit seeking $375,000 in damages from Brian Lansing Martin.
In motions filed before Colbert County District Judge Chad Coker, Rebecca Green Thomason, who represents Martin, asks the court to restrain trial participants, including law enforcement and prosecutors, from doing out-of-court statements to the media. The motion argues that such statements could taint the eventual jury pool.
A further motion seeks a ban on photographing, broadcasting or recording the court proceedings, arguing in documents that “the proceedings in this case have been widely publicized, much of which has been inaccurate, false, speculative and inflammatory”.
Other motions seek the recording and transcription of all legal actions, including the preliminary investigation, and the assertion of Martin’s right to be present at all legal actions.
Coker has not yet ruled on any of the motions.
Martin’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for December 3. He is being held in Morgan County Jail.
