photo by: Mugshot courtesy of Montgomery County, Indiana, Sheriff's Office

Chadwick Elliott Potter is pictured with the Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center

A Douglas County judge has blocked the public from seeing information related to the arrest of a suspect who is accused of violently murdering a man whose body was found beneath a clump of bushes in downtown Lawrence.

Judge Amy Hanley’s action came after the suspect’s attorney, John Kerns, argued that news organizations sought information about the crime simply to obtain “hits” on their websites and to “make a buck.” He wrote that the public knowing information about a serious crime in the community would create a “massive cog in our system of justice.”

Chadwick Elliott Potter, 34, was arrested July 13 after the body of David Blaine Sullivan, 62, of Lawrence, was found a day earlier near the intersection of Sixth and Vermont streets. Potter, believed to be a transient, faces one count of second-degree murder in the case. Police have said that Sullivan suffered traumatic injuries after being struck with a blunt object.

photo by: Contributed

David Blaine Sullivan

After considering Kerns’ motion to keep the information secret, Hanley on Tuesday signed an order sealing the arrest affidavit in Potter’s case. The sworn affidavit would have revealed the circumstances and probable cause that led Lawrence police to believe that Potter killed Sullivan.

Kerns, in addition to arguing that release of the information would prejudice his client’s right to a fair trial, wrote that people connected to the case could be endangered or could have their privacy invaded if the public were to have access to the information, though he provided no details to support these one-sentence claims.

In sealing the affidavit, Hanley noted that she would reconsider the seal if a new request for the information is submitted after the completion or waiver of a preliminary hearing.

The purpose of a preliminary hearing is for the judge to decide whether, based on probable cause, there is enough evidence to order the defendant to stand trial.

Kerns was appointed to represent Potter shortly after his arrest. A week later, Kerns filed a motion to withdraw from the case, saying that Potter was dissatisfied with him.

Potter is being held in the Douglas County Jail on a bond of $1 million.

The Journal-World was the media organization that requested the affidavit be made public. Journal-World Editor and Publisher Chad Lawhorn took exception to Kerns’ argument that media organizations simply were trying to “make a buck” off of the information in the case.

“While I have no idea whether that argument held any sway with Judge Hanley, the attorney’s argument is insulting to the public,” Lawhorn said. “The reason the public chooses to read articles related to an alleged murder in our community is because the public has a very understandable interest in staying informed about public safety in the community.”