Court orders stay for boy’s trial

Staff report

NEW CASTLE, Pa.

The juvenile court trial of 14-year-old accused murder suspect Jordan Brown is on hold – possibly for several months – while the Pennsylvania Superior Court considers whether the trial should be open to the public.

The trial was to begin Tuesday but the court ordered a stay Monday pending an appeal by three newspapers of Lawrence County Common Pleas Court Judge John Hodge’s decision to keep the trial closed.

An official from Pennsylvania Superior Court offices in Pittsburgh said Tuesday that Lawrence County Common Pleas Court has 20 days from Monday’s decision to file a record and transcript of proceedings in the case.

After that, the appellants, who include the New Castle News, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, will have 20 days to file briefs.

Once those are filed, the other side will have an additional 15 days to submit briefs.

After all the paperwork is in, a hearing will be scheduled.

The three newspapers are arguing that it makes no sense to close the trial since Jordan was originally charged in adult court where the proceedings have been open to the public and the case has been widely discussed in the media.

It has also has drawn worldwide attention because of Brown’s age and the initial possibility he could face life in prison without parole if tried as an adult.

However, since Judge Dominick Motto ordered in August that the case be moved to juvenile court, all proceedings have been closed to the public under state law.

Jordan was 11 years old at the time he was charged with the 2009 shotgun slaying of his father’s girlfriend, Kenzie Houk, 26, and her unborn son at the New Galilee farmhouse where they lived.

He remains in an Erie adolescent facility awaiting disposition of the case.