KGTV CHANNEL 10 v. Superior Court

— In this case, we are called upon to decide whether the court may prohibit the media from publishing the name or likeness of a minor charged with murder at a juvenile court detention hearing when the minor’s name and image were broadcast by the media at her arrest a few days before the hearing.

Murder is one of the serious offenses which opens the door to a public hearing. The media has a statutory right to attend the hearing and a constitutional right to say what transpires. Where, as here, reporters learn the minor’s name at the detention hearing and see for themselves she was the same person arrested and pictured earlier, they have a right to report the information free from any restraint by the juvenile court.

Factual and Procdeural Background

Niki M. is the 17-year-old arrested and charged with murder for a shooting in Balboa Park in which a graduate student was killed and his girlfriend was wounded. On May 12, the media published Niki’s full name and footage of her being escorted into a building in connection with a story about her arrest. According to the petition, the media lawfully obtained the minor’s name from various sources including school officials and…