St. Louis Post-Dispatch barred from publishing mistakenly released report

A Missouri judge did not renew the preliminary injunction barring the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and its reporter Katie Kull from publishing on materials related to the defendant in a criminal trial after the injunction expired on May 1, 2024. Kull published an article on those materials a day later.

A copy of a mental health report for Thomas J. Kinworthy Jr., who is on trial for allegedly killing a police officer in 2020, was mistakenly made available to the public when it was filed in St. Louis City Circuit Court in May 2023. Kull contacted Kinworthy’s attorney for comment about the report; the attorney then applied to the court for a temporary restraining order preventing Kull from writing about it.

The judge granted the request, agreeing with Kinworthy’s attorney that his right to a fair trial depended on keeping the mental health records confidential. She later expanded the temporary order to a preliminary injunction.

The presentation of evidence at the trial concluded on May 1. On May 2, Kull published an article on the trial’s proceedings and described testimony for the prosecution by the forensic clinical expert who wrote the mistakenly released report. The expert testified that Kinworthy faked symptoms of severe mental illness in order to avoid a conviction, Kull reported.

The jury returned a guilty verdict May 2, according to court records.

Benjamin Wilson, a fellow at Washington University in St. Louis School of Law’s First Amendment Clinic, applauded the end of the injunction and Kull’s tenacity. “In our climate of distrust of the media, distrust of news, and a struggling news industry, this was an example of fantastic, dogged reporting,” he told the Tracker.

“Governments and courts seeking to contain information and limit the press always warn about terrible things that might happen,” Wilson said. “Those fears tend not to materialize.”

A Missouri judge on Sept. 15, 2023, issued a preliminary injunction barring the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and one of its reporters from publishing details about the defendant in a criminal trial, according to court documents reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. The judge ruled that the injunction would stay in place until all evidence in the criminal trial had been presented.

Post-Dispatch reporter Katie Kull had obtained a copy of a mental health report for Thomas J. Kinworthy Jr., on trial for allegedly killing a police officer in 2020, when it was filed in St. Louis City Circuit Court in May and mistakenly made available to the public.

Kinworthy’s attorney won a temporary restraining order in May against Kull and the paper after she contacted him for comment on the report, barring them from publishing about it. The judge then extended the temporary restraining order in July and held a hearing in August on the preliminary injunction, where the defendant’s attorney argued that the report’s release before the trial would cause insurmountable prejudice to his client.

The judge agreed that protecting the confidentiality of mental health records would in turn protect the defendant’s right to a fair trial, and therefore the prior restraint was justified.

“This is an overreach, and we strongly disagree with the arguments made to justify the decision,” Post-Dispatch Executive Editor Alan Achkar said. “This was a loss not just for us, but for press freedom and those First Amendment rights.”

Freedom of the Press Foundation, which oversees the operation of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, also condemned the injunction.

“Missouri Circuit Judge Elizabeth Hogan is trying to put the genie back in the bottle through an unjustified prior restraint,” said Deputy Advocacy Director Caitlin Vogus. “Prior restraints on the press threaten our democracy by allowing the government to control the media landscape.”