Bond dropped in Stout case

photo Myles Stout, flanked by defense attorney Hank Hill, left, and prosecuting attorney Steve Smith, right, is escorted back to jail after a bond reduction hearing in Judge Rebecca Stern's courtroom Monday morning. Stout is charged in the shooting death of Myles Compton. Staff Photo by Dan Henry/The Chattanooga Times Free Press

A Hamilton County judge lifted a gag order Monday on media coverage of proceedings in a murder case and dropped the bond for the 20-year-old defendant by $90,000.

Bond initally was set at $117,000 for Myles Stout, who is charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of 19-year-old Myles Compton.

On Monday afternoon, Criminal Court Judge Rebecca Stern dropped Stout's bond to $27,000. Attorney Hank Hill, who is representing Stout, argued in favor of reducing the amount, noting that Stout's family lives in town and he has no previous record of serious crimes.

Stern had also issued the gag order on March 30, following the request of Hill. The order prevented any information from being released on the case, which is being considered for indictment by the grand jury.

Hill had requested not to release records kept by the Hamilton County Jail that track communications Stout made while in custody. The Chattanooga Times Free Press had requested those documents.

Under the new agreement, released Monday morning by Stern, the communications are still not releasable, but coverage of Stout's case and other documents filed are again open to the public.

"There was never any intention of keeping the newspaper from publishing the news," Hill said.

Anthony "Bud" Jackson and Tom Greenholtz, attorneys for the Chattanooga Times Free Press, said that, in their experience, gag orders are rare in local cases.

"Sometimes on the eve of a trial or during a trial you might see a gag order," Jackson said.

Both said that such an early gag order, when a potential trial could be months or even years away, was unusual.

Jackson, Greenholtz and Hill all said that the intent of the order was likely to deal with the specific request for jail communication.

The broad order stopped release of any information, which prevented newsgathering and prevented media from publishing any information, commonly categorized as "prior restraint," in First Amendment challenges, Greenholtz said.

Staff writer Joan Garrett contributed to this report.

Contact Todd South at tsouth@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6347.

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