Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 13, 1991 TAG: 9103130531
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-6 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium
Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Judge Frederick Aucamp ruled Tuesday that opening a March 28 hearing would not jeopardize Novak's ability to get a fair trial. At the hearing, prosecutors said they will seek to have Novak tried as an adult for the slayings of 7-year-old Scot Weaver and 9-year-old Daniel Geier.
The city's juvenile courts are normally closed to the public and the media.
"The cat's already out of the bag," Aucamp said. "The press has found the name of the defendant."
Aucamp said he will block the media from covering portions of the hearing that deal with sensitive material on the family's background.
If the court rules Novak can be tried as an adult, all proceedings would be open to the public. Novak also could face the death penalty.
The ruling came after several newspapers and broadcasters argued no interest would be served by holding the proceeding behind closed doors.
"We learn from these events, as sad as they are, and no one could say this is not a tragedy," said Conrad Shumadine, an attorney for The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star. "The public demands to know what's going on with crimes of this magnitude."
Novak, a sophomore at First Colonial High School, was charged Saturday with capital murder in the two deaths.
He is being held without bail in the Virginia Beach City Jail.
Monday's hearing ended about an hour before Scot Weaver's funeral.
Richard Colson, a family friend, gave a eulogy, talking about the things the boy loved.
"He'll be missed," Colson said. "By his family and his friends and his school chums, a loss we will not forget easily . . . a loss we can't replace."
The bodies of the boys were found March 5, hidden in woods near Wadsworth Homes, a Navy housing complex were Novak and the two boys lived.
by CNB