Name of last-minute witness revealed / LJWorld.com

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.

dthroat 10 years, 7 months ago

But why should she do that GoldenBoy if she had reliable and truthful information.???? You sound like one of those "don't snitch" people who would rather let killers go free than to tell what you know. (and then probably bi**h because crime is bad)

justsomewench 10 years, 7 months ago

a coward's statement, to be sure.

Very true Sigmund.!!

TheGoldenBoy 10 years, 7 months ago

I think that I am going to purchase a 1-yr license for a Hide IP program so they can't find out who I am. As for the new witness, all she would of had to was say that it wasn't her that posted that stuff and that someone else had used her computer or that her ISP had given the police the wrong IP which happens sometimes!

ModSquadGal 10 years, 7 months ago

People DIED... if she has a moral bone in her body, she will tell the truth. If not, then I hope she has trouble sleeping at night. Until then, only she knows what she knows. It's a shame though that this caused the trial to be delayed.

Sigmund 10 years, 7 months ago

If TCP/IP packets are reaching your computer you are not "hidden." You can use all the proxies and all the Onion routers all you like, and while it may make it slightly more difficult for LE to trace your real IP (and degrading your experience in the process I might add), you can still be traced, trust me. It will also convince LE you have something to hide. Save your money and just don't do anything on the Interweb you wouldn't want printed on the front page of your hometown newspaper.

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