Gag order hearing in murder case of former Decatur officer moved up
DECATUR, Ala. (WHNT) — A judge has granted a second motion to move the gag order hearing in a murder case against a former Decatur police officer.
Mac Bailey Marquette is facing a murder charge for the Sept. 29 on-duty shooting of Stephen Perkins outside of Perkins’ home. A temporary gag order in the case was issued March 22 and a hearing on whether to make the gag order permanent was originally set for Monday, April 8.
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Then, at the request of the City of Decatur who said several officers subpoenaed for the hearing would be out of town that week, Morgan County Circuit Judge Charles Elliott reset the hearing for May 20.
Marquette’s attorney filed a motion this week saying they’ll be attending a conference out of state on that date and requested the hearing be continued again.
Elliot granted that motion Tuesday, setting the hearing for Friday, May 17 – moving it up three days.
The gag order bars out-of-court public discussions of the case or releases of information by the parties involved, including attorneys on all sides.
Morgan County District Attorney Scott Anderson has subpoenaed about 18 witnesses for the hearing.
Last week, after that gag order was issued, the conservative Alabama website 1819 News released what appears to be Marquette’s body camera footage from the night of the Perkins shooting. The website says it’s video that the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) provided to the Morgan County DA’s Office in the Marquette investigation, but it is not clear how they got access to the video.
News 19 doesn’t own the rights to the video and has not aired it. News 19’s parent company Nexstar requires its stations to obtain permission from the video’s original owner in order to air it.
You can see all of our prior reporting on Marquette’s case and the death of Stephen Perkins on this page.
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