from the wired archives

Gag Order

Sometimes you just can't win. A Florida man was convicted of fatally beating a retired banker with a fire poker, even though another man confessed to the crime. Richard England, 32, repeatedly said, "I didn't do it," during his sentencing hearing Thursday until the judge, exasperated with the outbursts, ordered his mouth taped shut with duct tape for the closing arguments. "The judge had warned him and warned him," said the assistant state attorney. "It needed to be done. It was absolutely necessary." But a veteran criminal-defense lawyer disapproved of the order, saying, "Not only are you demeaning the process, you are minimizing this person and this person's life. It's animal-like to tape his mouth shut so he can't speak." England may face the death penalty.

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