After death threats and a jailhouse attack, attorneys for a manfacing the death penalty in a Middletown double killing asked a judge to close the court proceedings to the public.
Sheriff's deputies lined the walls of a fourth-floor courtroom in Butler County Common Pleas Court on Sept. 30, where prosecutors and Natrone Kakaris' attorneys argued whether to hold future hearings and the trial behind closed doors.
The request came after threats were made toward Kakaris' attorneys, as well as a potential witness in the case, and after Kakaris was assailed while in custody at the Butler County Jail. It received opposition from prosecutors, the victims' families and members of the press covering the proceedings.
Judge Jennifer Muench-McElfresh denied
the request, saying there's currently no "essential purpose" to close the courtroom. She added that law enforcement will find out who's responsible for the threats.
"I am simply not going to tolerate any kind of threats that affect anyone's ability to do their job," Muench-McElfresh said. She added that the Butler County Sheriff's Office will provide additional security at hearings.
Kakaris, 29, is accused of fatally shooting Marvin "Ty" Davis II and Daniel Fitzgerald, both 25 years old. A grand jury indicted him in February on charges including aggravated murder.
Prosecutors said in court filings that Kakaris carried out the shooting in early 2023 to escape arrest for another crime and because he "wanted no witnesses." Davis was shot 14 times and Fitzgerald was shot three times, they added, including once in the back of the head.
The killings were unsolved for more than three years until Kakaris' arrest by Middletown police and the U.S. Marshals Service early this year.
Attorneys received threats in text message, pamphlet
Lawrence Hawkins III said in court that he and David Brewer, the attorneys representing Kakaris, have been targeted in a series of threats since they were appointed to the case.
The first instance happened at the end of an arraignment in March, when someone yelled out, "Lawrence, you ought to be ashamed of yourself," Hawkins said. Later that same day, someone went into Brewer's office and yelled, "Tell Dave Brewer I'm going to kill him."
Weeks later, a pamphlet was left at Brewer's office. It read, "What if you were killed in the line of duty?"
Hawkins added that he was sent a text message from someone threatening to come after him for statements made in the courtroom. He said the threats are part of an effort to influence the court proceedings in Kakaris' case.
"They already polluted the whole process," Hawkins said. "Those actions by themselves have created an appellate issue that's going to be looked at for over 10, 15, 20 years."
He asked the judge to close the courtroom for safety concerns, and to ensure the attorneys and witnesses don't have to worry about interruptions or reprisals.
While prosecutors said they sympathize with Hawkins and Brewer over the threats they're facing, the law is clear that any restriction on public access to the courtroom must be "narrowly tailored."
"I think what the defense here is asking for is very broad," said Butler County Assistant Prosecutor Michael Hon. "Closing the courtroom doesn't guarantee that any threats would stop."
Mom says 'I should have the right' to be present for trial
Family members of Davis and Fitzgerald sat together on one side of the courtroom as prosecutors and the defense attorneys made their arguments. They want to be there to know what's happening, and they want others to know too.
"Someone senselessly shot my baby 14 times," said Patricia Snow, Davis' mom. "Nothing this court does can give me my son back ... but I can still be his mother. And one of the things that I can do for him is to be present when the justice system addresses what happened to him and Dan both."
Snow said that Davis was her only son. He dedicated his time to volunteering with children and mentoring them.
"He had a way of making people feel comfortable and cared about," she said. "He gave his time and his heart to young people because he wanted to make a difference in their lives."
Karhma Foster, Fitzgerald's mom, is likewise mourning her son and the life events she'll never experience with him. She won't receive another Mother's Day gift, go to her son's wedding or even celebrate his 30th birthday.
Fitzgerald's 6-year-old daughter has been robbed of a life with her dad.
"What I need to do is to have my son covered in the best way that I know how, the only way that I have left, and that's to stand here and be present in these proceedings," Foster said. "I should have the right."
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: After threats, lawyers sought to close hearings in death penalty case
