An Orange County judge issued a gag order Monday in the high-profile case against Michelle Parker’s ex-fiancé, who was recently charged with killing the young mother 15 years ago, and said the arrest affidavit with potentially new details will be released soon.
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Comparing the case against Dale Smith Jr. to that of Casey Anthony, prosecutors from the Orange-Osceola State Attorney’s Office urged Circuit Judge Sonia McDowell to curb public comments on the case. They said they want to avoid having to sequester a jury should the case go to trial.
The gag order prevents attorneys, law enforcement officers and anyone else involved in the case from making public statements about it. The order could last until jury selection.
Smith, the longtime prime suspect in Parker’s 2011 disappearance and presumed death, was arrested Oct. 14. He has pleaded not guilty and remains in jail without bond.
The case of Parker’s disappearance drew national attention, which was renewed after the Orlando Police Department announced Smith was in custody.
Prosecutors initially requested that his 46-page arrest affidavit be sealed. The document is expected to detail what led police to arrest Smith more than a decade after Parker, 33, vanished shortly after dropping their 3-year-old twins at Smith’s apartment. Her body has never been recovered.
Several news organizations, including the Orlando Sentinel, went to court to get the document unsealed. Prosecutors said they wanted it sealed until Monday, allowing detectives to conduct a few more interviews with witnesses this past weekend.
On Monday, Assistant State Attorney William Jay confirmed the affidavit no longer needs to be sealed and, after the judge’s ruling, said it would be released soon. Rajan Joshi, Smith’s attorney, said he anticipates he’ll file a motion to secure Smith’s release once he gets a copy of the affidavit.
“We’re getting the affidavit, you guys will get the affidavit and we’ll move forward after that,” Joshi said.
Jay asked the judge to impose the gag order, citing high public interest in the case and the statements from Joshi, who defended his client and questioned the police investigation in the days since Smith’s arrest.
“Every time any information gets released through discovery and public records requests for the duration of this case, we’re going to have breaking news at 4 p.m., 5 p.m., 6 p.m., 10 p.m., 11p.m., and noon discussing the evidence,” Jay said, “and it is only going to put water on an oil fire to allow counsel for either the state or the defense to get involved in this media circus.”
Smith observed the hearing silently in court as Parker’s family also looked on.
Joshi, who has represented Smith since the investigation’s early stages, told the court he faces “an uphill battle in the court of public opinion.”
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He previously told the Sentinel that the case against Smith is circumstantial and he has yet to learn of any incriminating evidence that has developed in the 15 years since the investigation began.
Joshi said in court he has not held press conferences to talk about the case, but merely responded to questions put to him by reporters. His comments, he said, were meant to defend Smith as details slowly trickled out to the public.
“I’m not attacking any witnesses, I’m not attacking any motivation over here,” he said. “… They had the police chief, they had the state attorney, they had the lead detective over there talking about the case, and then they don’t want me to be able to respond.”
Detectives and Parker’s family have long pointed to Smith as the culprit. Parker disappeared shortly after the airing of a pre-taped segment of “The People’s Court” featuring the couple squabbling over a missing engagement ring, which further included allegations that he verbally and physically abused her in the past.
Smith’s arrest was announced at a press conference by OPD, though the department provided just scant details.
Last week, in a motion seeking to keep the affidavit sealed, prosecutors noted Smith had a planned trip to Colombia, discovered the day before his arrest, and that his son had visited OPD inquiring about the case earlier this month. The document did not provide any details about the son’s interview with officers.
Joshi told reporters Smith had visited Colombia 18 times in six years to see a romantic partner. He also said Smith’s son’s visit to OPD, which he noted turned into an “interrogation,” was not described accurately in the prosecutor’s motion.
“He was not going there asking, ‘Is my dad a suspect?’” Joshi told McDowell, “but that’s what it’s sounding like in the pleadings and that’s what people are going to take from that. As his attorney, I need to clear some things up.”
Detectives have kept mum on what led them to arrest Smith on Oct. 14, aside from vague references to new digital forensics tools allowing them to analyze location data and communications in ways they couldn’t 15 years ago.
They also cited what they called inconsistent statements by Smith about Parker’s disappearance.
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