A judge reserved decision on whether to stop Michelle Lodzinski's lawyer from talking to reporters during her murder trial. Watch video
NEW BRUNSWICK -- Superior Court Judge Dennis Nieves did not issue a ruling Thursday on whether to "gag" Michelle Lodzinski's attorney to keep him from speaking to members of the press during her trial for the murder of her son, Timothy Wiltsey, 5, in 1991.
But, the judge gave indications that he did not favor the motion by the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office, made after Gerald Krovatin gave an interview to The Associated Press days before jury selection resumed earlier this month.
"I don't want to mess this case up," Nieves said. "But a gag order is extraordinary."
He said even if there is no order barring Krovatin from speaking about the case, just filing the motion could have Krovatin "thinking twice" the next time he talks to a reporter about the case against Lodzinski.
Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Scott LaMountain told the judge his office filed the motion to keep Krovatin from "leaking information to the jury pool."
"He says the state's entire case is built on character assassination and he knows he shouldn't say that," LaMountain said. "He tried to put all of that out on the eve of jury selection. What the state's asking for is a level playing field."
Krovatin argued that the state's motion violated his first amendment right to free speech and was an extraordinary request.
He also pointed out that the state's whole case against Lodzinski was circumstantial and "they intend to prove she is a bad mother."
"That is character assassination," Krovatin said. "This whole case is based on she was a poor mother."
He said the Associated Press article in which he was quoted has not circulated within Middlesex County nor been read by any of the jurors that have been questioned in the two weeks of jury selection in the trial so far.
Andrew Gimigliano, representing the Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers of New Jersey, spoke as a friend of the court, to support Krovatin, telling the judge granting the motion would be a "dangerous precedent."
Lodzinski was charged in August 2014 with the death of her son, whom she reported missing the evening of May 25, 1991 from a carnival in Sayreville. She told police he disappeared when she went to a stand to buy soda.
Prosecutors said the case was reopened after new evidence linked Lodzinski, who was living in Florida, to her son's death.
Wiltsey's remains were found in a marshy area in Raritan Center in Edison 11 months after his disappearance. She has pleaded not guilty, and her lawyer said there's "no evidence" linking her to her son's death.
http://www.nj.com/middlesex/index.ssf/2016/02/trial_set_to_begin_next_week_for_mom_charged_with.html
Jury selection is expected to take several weeks and the trial is expected to take three or four months.
Sue Epstein may be reached at sepstein@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @susan_epstein. Find NJ.com on Facebook.