MADRAS – A circuit court judge for Jefferson and Crook counties overseeing a manslaughter trial in Madras has ordered media outlets to withhold printing stories about the case until the verdict is read.

The gag order Wednesday from Judge Daina Vitolins also included social media posts and speaking to anyone connected to the case.

The Bulletin told the court Thursday that the newspaper does not intend to abide by the gag order.

“It is the newspaper’s First Amendment right to report on important events in the community,” said Gerry O’Brien, editor of The Bulletin. “It’s also our responsibility to readers to represent their interests. Limiting press coverage casts a shadow on the public’s right to information.”

O’Brien said the paper, which covers Deschutes, Crook and Jefferson counties, “would ask that the judge agree to lift the verbal order.”

Vitolins is overseeing the trial of Brandon Kern, who faces first- and second-degree manslaughter charges for allegedly driving drunk when he collided with a vehicle on Nov. 6, 2020, on U.S. Highway 97. Alisa Rose Miller, a 19-year-old mother, was killed in the crash that also seriously injured two other people.

Opening statements were given Monday. The trial was scheduled to resume Friday morning.

Vitolins was Crook County district attorney from 2008 to 2017, when she was appointed to the 22nd Circuit Court seat by Gov. Kate Brown. The circuit includes Crook and Jefferson counties. Vitolins is a former president of the Oregon District Attorney’s Association.

Katie Slattery, court operations manager for the Jefferson County Circuit Court, informed The Bulletin of the order at the courthouse Thursday afternoon. It was a verbal order and was not put down in any court filings as of Thursday afternoon.

It’s unclear what prompted the judge’s order. Slattery did not explain the judge’s reasoning, but said she would ask Vitolins to speak to the press during a break. The judge did not, however. Vitolins refused to speak with reporters at the end of court proceedings Thursday evening.

The order drew swift rebuke from attorneys and advocates for press freedoms and First-Amendment rights.

“I am baffled by this,” said Jack Orchard, a media attorney for the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association. “I am unaware of any basis for restricting trial coverage, especially with constitutional protections for open courts and for a free press. A verbal order, without specific findings justifying it, is particularly difficult.”

Steven Wilker, an attorney for EO Media Group, which owns The Bulletin, said in an email that “such a gag order is almost certainly unconstitutional under both the First Amendment and Article I, section eight of the Oregon constitution.”

It states: “No law shall be passed restraining the free expression of opinion, or restricting the right to speak, write, or print freely on any subject whatever; but every person shall be responsible for the abuse of this right.”Wilker described the judge’s gag order as “inappropriate.”

Therese Bottomly, editor of The Oregonian and chair of the nonprofit government transparency advocate group Open Oregon, called the order unprecedented.

“I have been involved in Oregon journalism for nearly 40 years and have never heard of such an order,” Bottomley said.

“It appears to me to be blatantly unconstitutional. Journalists certainly have the right to report on proceedings in open court.”

Bryce Dole covers criminal justice for the Bend Bulletin, an EO Media Group newspaper that is a partner in the Oregon Capital Bureau. Oregon Capital Bureau reporter Gary A. Warner contributed to this story.