THE NEWS IN BRIEF: Judge Rejects Request from Matthew Thomas’ Lawyer To Place a Gag Order on Middlesex District Attorney

The judge in the assault case of suspended football captain Matthew C. Thomas ’06–’07 has rejected a request from Thomas’ lawyer to place a gag order on the Middlesex District Attorneys Office, according to DA spokeswoman Melissa Sherman.

Pointing to coverage of Thomas’ arrest in news outlets including The Boston Globe, The Associated Press, and The Crimson, Thomas’ lawyer, Michael J. McHugh ’73, requested the gag order during a pre-trial hearing on July 19, 2006.

The judge in the case, George R. Sprague ’60, expressed first amendment concerns about McHugh’s request at last week’s hearing.

Sherman said yesterday that the next stage of the case will occur on Monday, when motions relating to the discovery portion of the trial will be heard in Cambridge District Court.

Thomas is charged with assault and battery, breaking and entering, and destruction of property relating to the alleged assault of his ex-girlfriend in her Currier House room.

According to the released police report, a heavily inebriated Thomas entered his ex-girlfriend’s dorm room on June 5 by breaking the door down. When the ex-girlfriend returned to her room, they began to fight, and witnesses found Thomas “strangling her with one hand.” He then “suddenly lifted her and drove his knee into her chest,” according to the report, and the ex-girlfriend was later taken to Mt. Auburn Hospital to be examined.

—EVAN H. JACOBS