Reporters Can Tweet & Text Trial Plea, But Can't Broadcast Audio, Ontario Judge Rules
Journalists will be allowed to tweet and send live-text accounts of an expected guilty plea in a high-profile murder trial of an air force commander, a Canadian judge has ruled.
And they will even be allowed to take audio clips of the proceedings concerning Col. Russell Williams, 47, Ontario Superior Court Justice Robert Scott has ruled. However, the audio material can be used only to check the accuracy of notes and it will be a criminal offense to broadcast it, reports the Star.
In addition to two murders, Williams is charged with two sexual assaults and what the and what the Star refers to in an earlier article as a string of fetish burglaries.
Additional coverage:
CBC News: “BlackBerry ban at Col. Williams hearing lifted”
Peterborough Examiner: “Judge OKs tweets, texts”
Toronto Sun: “Killer colonel won’t lose his air force pension”
