One of the two suspected illegal immigrants accused of murdering 12-year-old Houston resident Jocelyn Nungaray is now seeking a temporary restraining order to ensure that the media attention the case has attracted does not prevent him from receiving a fair trial.
Franklin Peña’s attorneys have filed an order that “prevents the parties to this proceeding, law enforcement officials, the Houston Forensic Science Center, or court personnel from making any out-of-court statements or otherwise disseminating any information relating to this proceeding (sic) through any public means of communication.”
The motion also states: “The additional out-of-court statements to the news media are likely to create undue bias in the community and deprive the defendant of a fair trial guaranteed by Article I of the Texas Constitution and the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.”
Peña’s attorneys also claim that Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg made speculative and biased comments about the case when she told KPRC 2, “All cases evolve and we file charges early because we want to have these dangerous defendants in custody. We are not waiting until all the evidence is in to file the first charge because we want to protect the public and give the victim’s family peace of mind that these monsters will not flee the judicial district.”
The murder led to the proposal by Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Congressman Troy Nehls to create the Justice for Jocelyn Act.
