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COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho (AP) A judge on Wednesday ordered a reluctant prosecutor to supply to defense attorneys copies of graphic videos found in a Jeep used by a suspected killer.
Prosecutor Bill Douglas had resisted copying the materials, arguing they were too disturbing. District Judge Fred Gibler said he could find no reason to deny the defense copies. He also set strict guidelines to prevent the release of two video clips, which were 10 to 15 minutes each, to anyone else.
The materials were found in the Jeep after the capture of Joseph Edward Duncan III, who is charged with killing three members of an Idaho family in May so he could abduct Shasta Groene, 8, and her brother, Dylan Groene, 9, for sex.
Douglas said he refused to copy the material because the contents were so offensive, and he argued that he feared Duncan could not get a fair trial. His office had allowed defense lawyers to view the material whenever they wanted.
Public Defender John Adams argued Wednesday that it was inappropriate for prosecutors to control when the defense could view key evidence. Both sides were careful not to divulge the contents of the videos, and the judge said even he did not know what was on them.
Shasta Groene was missing seven weeks before she was rescued the morning of July 2 while eating with Duncan at a Denny's restaurant in Coeur d'Alene. She told authorities the children were molested and that Duncan killed her brother. She also helped direct authorities to Dylan's burned remains in Montana.
Duncan, 42, who remains jailed without bail, refused to attend Wednesday's hearing.
Duncan, a registered sex offender who was on the run from a molestation charge in Minnesota when he was arrested, faces the death penalty if convicted of the three counts of first-degree murder he faces in Idaho.
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