Broderick Judge Signs Temporary Gag Order

A Municipal Court judge has signed a temporary order to keep murder suspect Elisabeth (Betty) Broderick and others associated with her case from talking to the press, according to a spokesman for the San Diego County district attorney’s office.

Spokesman Steven J. Casey said his office requested the gag order Friday in the hope of preventing prospective jurors from being prejudiced by publicity. Broderick’s lawyer, Mark Alexander Wolf, did not object to the order, which was signed by Judge Ronald Domnitz.

A hearing to determine whether the order will be extended is scheduled for Dec. 11.

Broderick is accused of murdering her ex-husband, Daniel T. Broderick III, and his new wife, Linda Kolkena Broderick, in the bedroom of their Hillcrest home Nov. 5. She has pleaded not guilty.

Casey said that an article in The Times last week, which was based on the first jailhouse interview with Broderick, “was certainly a factor” in his office’s decision to seek the order.

“But our concern predated that. We looked at the number and the nature of the stories and statements that had been made,” Casey said. “Our concern is that an avalanche of pretrial publicity is at least a possibility if not a certainty. I don’t know when a snowfall becomes an avalanche, but an awful lot of snow has already fallen.”