Judge in Kelly Thomas trial orders media to remove cameras

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A supporter falls to the ground crying at a memorial at “Kelly’s Corner” after two former Fullerton police officers were found not guilty of murder in the 2011 death of transient Kelly Thomas in Fullerton. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Kathy Thomas, mother of Kelly Thomas, receives a hug from a supporter in front of a memorial at “Kelly’s Corner.” (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Protesters march outside the Fullerton police station after two former officers were acquitted in the killing of Kelly Thomas. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Friends, family and supporters stand at “Kelly’s Corner” on Monday night after two former Fullerton police officers were found not guilty of the murder of Kelly Thomas. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Ron and Kathy Thomas embrace outside the Santa Ana Courthouse Monday after two Fullerton police officers were found not guilty in the murder of their son Kelly. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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As supporters hug, Kathy Thomas sits in a chair outside the Santa Ana Courthouse on Monday after two Fullerton police officers were found not guilty in the murder of her son Kelly. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Ron Thomas, the father of slain Kelly Thomas, hugs Marlena Carrillo outside the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana after the arraignment hearing. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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A supporter of Kelly’s Army pays his respects at the site in Fullerton where Kelly Thomas was involved in an altercation with police that led to his death. (Barbara Davidson / The Los Angeles Times)

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Members of Kelly’s Army chant “two down four to go” outside the Fullerton Police Department after two officers were charged in connection with the death of Kelly Thomas. Thomas, a schizophrenic, homeless man, died five days after an altercation with police. (Barbara Davidson / The Los Angeles Times)

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Charlotte Cianciola of Buena Park gets emotional as the District Attorney announces that criminal charges have been filed against two of the six Fullerton police officers involved in the beating death of Kelly Thomas. (GIna Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas at the news conference in Santa Ana where he announced charges would be brought against two Fullerton police officers in the death of Kelly Thomas. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Christine Walker, center, of Fullerton, joins a crowd outside the Santa Ana civic center watching a TV broadcast of Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas’ news conference. (GIna Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Staff members listen as their boss Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas addresses a press conference announcing charges against two Fullerton police officers for the beating death of 37-year-old homeless man Kelly Thomas. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Larry Dewitt Williams, 56, gathers with other supporters in front of the Orange County district attorney’s office to show support for Kelly Thomas’ family. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Ron Thomas embraces Susan Wright after she delivered an emotional plea to the Fullerton City Council for better treatment of the mentally ill. Thomas and hundreds of supporters attended the meeting hours after the release of the coroner’s report on the death of his son, Kelly, at the hands of Fullerton police. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Fullerton City Council member Sharon Quirk-Silva, left, and Fullerton resident Erin Lewis, right, comfort Cathy Thomas after the council voted to retain an outside investigator to look into the death of Thomas’ son, Kelly, after a confrontation with Fullerton police. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Cathy Thomas visits a memorial for her son Kelly at the Fullerton Transportation Center. She stops there several times a week to water the flowers and talk to people who pass by. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Fullerton Police Captain Kevin Hamilton, above, was named acting chief of police after Chief Michael Sellers went on medical leave in the wake of the death of Kelly Thomas in July. (Mark Boster/ Los Angeles Times)

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People outside the Fullerton police station protest the death of Kelly Thomas. (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times)

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Gary Tayles, 45, of Los Angeles joins a group outside the Fullerton police station protesting the death of Kelly Thomas. (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times)

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Cathy Thomas, left, shakes hands with Fullerton police officers who barricaded a street to make room for a demonstration protesting the beating and death of Kelly Thomas. (Alex Gallardo / Associated Press)

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Fullerton Police Chief Michael Sellers talks with the city attorney before a City Council meeting. Many residents have called for him to resign. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

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An overflow crowd watches a TV monitor outside City Council chambers as the public voices outrage over the death of Kelly Thomas, 37, a schizophrenic homeless man who was killed during an altercation with Fullerton police on July 5. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

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An impromptu sidewalk memorial has been set up for Kelly Thomas, 37, a homeless schizophrenic man who died five days after a run-in with Fullerton police in early July at a bus depot off South Pomona Avenue. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Passersby stop to read notes left at a memorial for Kelly Thomas. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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A woman holds a drawing of a police officer behind bars as Ron Thomas asks the Fullerton City Council for answers about his son Kelly’s death. Residents packed the council chambers and an overflow area for the Aug. 2 meeting. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Fullerton resident Michelle Kearney hugs Ron Thomas, father of Kelly Thomas. Residents packed the City Council chambers and an overflow area to express their outrage over the police beating of Kelly Thomas, who later died. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Cathy Thomas, mother of Kelly Thomas, listens to public comment during the Fullerton City Council meeting. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Residents stand and applaud as Ron Thomas is given more time to speak to the City Council about the police beating and subsequent death of his son, Kelly Thomas, last month. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

By Adolfo Flores

Dec. 3, 2013 11:45 AM PT

The judge in the Kelly Thomas trial ordered members of the media to remove their cameras in the middle of opening statements after crews refused to provide their live feed to the Orange County district attorney’s office.

The pool crew refused to hand over the feed Monday to prosecutors because providing it to one of the parties in the case would violate journalism ethics, said Patti Paniccia, co-counsel for the Radio & Television News Assn. of Southern California.

The organization had arranged for KCBS-TV (Channel 2)/KCAL-TV (Channel 9) to be pool for video and audio. The Orange County Register took the pool photographs. Pool photos and videos are provided to all media who requested to film or photograph the trial.

Two former Fullerton police officers are on trial in the 2011 death of Kelly Thomas, a mentally ill homeless man. After the officers beat him, Thomas was in a coma, and he died five days later.

Judge William Froeberg’s decision Monday came after the cameras had collected footage of Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas, who is prosecuting the case, and John Barnett, one of the defense attorneys.

Cameras were removed from the courtroom before defense attorney Michael Schwartz made his opening statements. Schwartz is representing one of the officers in the case.

The news association argued that the district attorney’s office shouldn’t have access to the pool video because it is not a media organization as defined by the law, Paniccia said. The footage should not be shared with any government agency, she said, and is protected as unedited news gathering by a journalist under the California Constitution.

“It’s the same way that a print reporter wouldn’t want to hand over their notes,” Paniccia said. “For a broadcast reporter, the video is the equivalent of a print reporter’s notes.”

Any part of a video shot will be considered confidential if it hasn’t been broadcast, and it requires a subpoena to be handed over, she said.

Susan Kang Schroeder, the district attorney’s chief of staff, said the media members were “petulant and petty” in complaining about the pool setup in the middle of opening statements.

“This is not the media’s property,” Schroeder said. “This is the public’s property what happens in court.”

Prosecutors had intended to post the entirety of Monday’s opening statements online, as well as use it in training, she said.

“This is an important case,” Schroeder said. “We want to show the public what happened in the court. It’s important to know why we charged one police officer with murder and another with manslaughter.”

The O.C. district attorney’s office had applied to be in the pool for the case’s preliminary hearing and other cases in the past, Schroeder said.

“To [complain] mid-trial is unacceptable,” she said.

Gwen Vieau, spokeswoman for the Superior Court of Orange County, said the judge had previously ruled that the media could shoot and record opening statements, closing arguments and the verdict.

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adolfo.flores@latimes.com

Twitter: @AdolfoFlores3