HOUSTON (Court TV) — The attorney representing a murder suspect who fled to Italy before his trial is now facing his own legal trouble after prosecutors accused him of violating a gag order in the case.
Lee Gilley is charged with murder in the death of his wife, Christa Gilley. (Law & Crime)
Lee Gilley, 39, pleaded not guilty to capital murder in the death of his wife, Christa Gilley, 38. On May 1, while he was out on bond awaiting the start of his trial, Gilley allegedly cut off his ankle monitor and boarded a plane for Milan. Federal prosecutors say that when he arrived in Italy, he tried to enter the country with forged Belgian documents under the name “Lejeune Jean Luc Olivier.”
After he was arrested in Italy, Gilley apparently confessed his real name and said that he was seeking asylum.
On Wednesday, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office filed a motion for a show-cause hearing, asking that Gilley’s attorney, Dick DeGuerin, be held in contempt for violating a gag order imposed after Gilley’s alleged flight from prosecution. The motion before 497th Criminal District Court Judge Peyton Peebles cites a May 8 order requiring attorneys on both sides to refrain from speaking to the media.
Despite the order, prosecutors say, DeGuerin gave an interview to a Houston television station on July 21. Prosecutors say that in that interview, DeGuerin updated the outlet about Gilley’s case, telling the station that Italian prosecutors were unwilling to extradite his client without a formal notice that the district attorney’s office would not seek the death penalty. “I’ve had cases where people have jumped bond, but nothing like this,” the motion quotes DeGuerin as saying. “It’s frustrating. I’m a trial lawyer. I’m ready to go to trial. But this certainly complicates the trial.”
Prosecutors argue in their motion that the interview was more than an innocuous slip, noting that DeGuerin has been a practicing attorney since 1965; his previous clients include Robert Durst and David Koresh. “As such, DeGuerin’s KTRK interview is not attributable to a proverbial ‘rookie mistake.’ DeGuerin understood — and ignored — this court’s order directing that he ‘shall refrain’ from talking to the media.”
The motion asks the court to schedule a hearing on DeGuerin’s alleged contempt.
DeGuerin hired attorney Brian Wice to represent him; in a statement to Court TV, Wice said, “I have great respect for Josh Reiss, but his motion is a masterclass in prosecutorial overreach. Any concern about Mr.DeGuerin’s comments could have been resolved with a phone call—not a legally and factually unsupported and unsupportable DEFCON-1 contempt motion. We are confident that come Monday, Judge Peebles will agree that Mr. DeGuerin’s comments did not come remotely close to violating the Court’s gag order.”
Gilley faces federal charges for his alleged flight in addition to the state-level charges for his wife’s death.
