The identity of the witness whom prosecutors tried to introduce before a mistrial was declared in the Jason Rose murder and arson trial is now known.

According to Douglas County District Court records, a Lawrence woman, Emily Ruth Robinson, was served a subpoena Feb. 10 to appear as a witness, days after the Rose trial got under way.

When she was called by prosecutors on Feb. 12, Rose’s defense attorney, Ron Evans, complained because of the lateness of the request, which led District Court Judge Jack Murphy to declare the mistrial.

District Attorney Charles Branson said Friday that he could not confirm or deny how witnesses were involved in the case because of a gag order Murphy has issued.

Friday morning, Robinson confirmed that she received a subpoena Feb. 10 to appear as a witness in the trial, but she declined to elaborate on her involvement or confirm that she had posted a message on ljworld.com for the Feb. 9 story about the Rose trial.

“I’m not supposed to talk about that,” she said.

Rose is accused of starting the Boardwalk Apartments fire Oct. 7, 2005, that killed Kansas University student Nicole Bingham, electrician Jose Gonzalez and social worker Yolanda Riddle. Seven others were severely injured.

Prosecutors had said they spent the weekend investigating a new witness after the person came forward Feb. 9. The Journal-World also received a subpoena that evening requesting records and Internet protocol addresses for someone who had posted a comment earlier that day alleging Rose had said he would set his apartment on fire.

On Feb. 9, the comment, posted by a user under the name “truth_society,” stated that Rose told the poster and several others during his stay in a group home “that as soon as he moved out into his own apartment space, he was going to set it on fire.”

Later on Feb. 9, the Journal-World received a subpoena from the Office of the Kansas State Fire Marshal requesting records and Internet protocol addresses for the poster, and the newspaper complied later that night, based on the ljworld.com user agreement in which the company reserves the right to disclose identifying information of those posting comments in the event of legal action.

The new trial for Rose is scheduled to begin April 30.