David Tulis
District Attorney Coty Wamp is asking that "disruptive" reporter David Tulis be banned from the Courts Building during a trial that is slated to start next Monday.
Mr. Tulis has written a number of articles on his blog backing a local plumber, Ray Rzeplinski, who is facing multiple charges. He said Rzeplinski has been a victim of police brutality in two different incidents.
Mr. Tulis said, "DA Coty Wamp, angry at my coverage of the botched-up case State v. Rzeplinski, is demanding Judge Amanda Dunn bar me from the courthouse or her courtroom.
"The earliest a show cause hearing will occur is Monday as to why the Constitution must be overthrown (open courts, press rights) and why she should not be sanctioned for her actions to keep the public blind about her work as an elected official."
DA Wamp is asking that the state be allowed to strike potential jurors who have read Tulis articles about the case or heard him on the radio and not count the strikes against the state's allotted share.
She said Judge Dunn should tell jurors "who have been exposed to the idea of 'jury nullification' they should not consider that theory.
On the request to bar the reporter from the courthouse, DA Wamp said, "While this may seem drastic, the state believes it is necessary to preserve a fair trial for both parties."
Her motion says, Mr.
Tulis's obstructive and disruptive behavior is not limited to these articles."
She said he recently tried to intervene in another case and had been warned he could not practice law without a license.
DA Wamp said Mr. Tulis had his own criminal cases, and, while they were pending Grand Jury action, he "attempted numerous times to directly contact, get ahold of, or deceive his way into the Grand Jury room to speak with the foreperson of the Grand Jury directly.
"At one point, he identified himself as a reporter curious about how the Grand Jury operated, not disclosing that he had a case pending the Grand Jury and attempted to gain direct access to them. He was unsuccessful in this attempt when court security intervened."
Rzeplinski is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, reckless endangerment, resisting arrest, possession of a prohibited weapon, resisting arrest, and possession of a firearm with a conviction of a prior violent felony.