PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Surveillance video of a Ponte Vedra teenager stabbing his ex-girlfriend and her mother should not have been released to the media before it was provided to the defendant, according to his attorney.
A motion filed this week in Spencer Pearson’s attempted murder case says the state broke Florida law by giving local media outlets the video footage before turning it over to the defendant during the discovery process.
“The State has disclosed surveillance videos to the media ... in an apparent effort to try this case in the court of public opinion, thereby depriving Defendant of his right to a fair and impartial jury under the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States,” the motion said.
Pearson, 18, is charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder and three counts of aggravated battery causing serious bodily injury for the June 3 attack. The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office says he chased and then repeatedly stabbed 18-year-old Madison Schemitz and her mother with a knife outside of Mr. Chubby’s Wings, then stabbed a man who intervened to stop the assault. He has pleaded not guilty.
Surveillance video compiled and released by the Sheriff’s Office shows Schemitz and her mother leaving the restaurant after spotting Pearson, who they say had stalked her since their breakup. A different camera angle shows Pearson running across the parking lot and grabbing Schemitz. The actual stabbing is largely blocked by a vehicle.
Reports say after the attack, Pearson repeatedly slit his own throat with the knife. He was hospitalized for several days and his booking photo shows thick stitches across his neck. Three days later, the Sheriff’s Office released the video.
“On or about July 13 ... the state released to media outlets a compilation of surveillance videos from the scene of the alleged crimes depicting the events giving rise to this case,” Pearson’s attorney Matt Kachergus wrote in his motion for protective order. “The video was broadcast on virtually every media outlet and platform in Northeast Florida.”
The motion continued, “The disclosure of such video violated Florida law as such video was exempt from disclosure under Florida’s Public Records Act and should not have been released until Defendant was provided a copy after invoking discovery.”
The Public Records Act governs the availability of government agency records. The presumption in Florida is that records generated by a public agency should be accessible by the public and the media. However, state lawmakers have created more than a thousand exemptions to the law. One exemption is for material that is part of an “active investigation.”
That exemption is usually cited by law enforcement agencies in response to media requests. Local law enforcement can, and does, release case information when it chooses – for instance, photos of a weapon used by a suspect in a police shooting. In most cases, however, information about a criminal investigation only becomes public after prosecutors turn it over to a defendant, a process known as discovery.
In his motion, Kachergus suggests the “active investigation” designation isn’t simply an exemption but an obligation. He cited a case from the 4th District Court of Appeals that found “the media should not be granted disclosure before the State Attorney’s Office complies with the defendant’s discovery request.”
Kachergus’ motion also notes that he wasn’t alerted when the State Attorney’s Office filed formal charges and added two additional aggravated battery charges, so he missed his client’s first appearance on those charges.
The motion asks the judge to order the state not to disclose any other information prior to its formal discovery disclosure to Pearson.
First Coast News reached out to the State Attorney’s Office, which declined to comment, and the Sheriff’s Office, which is working on a response.
Pearson is due back in court Friday.