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Adacia Chambers: Judge Partially Lifts Gag Order, Keeps Health Records Sealed

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The judge overseeing the Oklahoma State University homecoming parade crash case partially lifted a gag order on court documents.

Associate District Judge Louis Duel ruled during the Nov. 9 arraignment of Adacia Chambers, the 25-year-old suspect in the crash, that everyone associated with the case could not discuss it out of court, The Tulsa World reported at the time.

At her arraignment, Chambers was charged with four counts of second-degree murder and 46 counts of felony assault, though Duel ordered a psychiatric evaluation to determine if she was competent for trial. The results of the evaluation are due at a Dec. 10 hearing.

Late last week, Chambers' attorney, Tony Coleman, revealed that a blood-alcohol test taken after the crash confirmed the suspect was not intoxicated, The World reported. The revelation supports Coleman's argument that Chambers is dealing with mental illness.

Both Coleman and the state will appoint psychiatrists to evaluate Chambers' state of mind at the time of the Oct. 24 crash.

On Monday, Duel lifted the gag order, but elected to keep court documents relating to Chambers' physical and mental health sealed, The World reported. At the center of the gag order request, initially filed by Payne County District Attorney Laura Austin Thomas, was a letter Coleman included with his competency evaluation request.

A psychologist named Dr. Shawn Roberson wrote in the letter he deemed Chambers "acutely psychotic." Thomas argued Coleman's letter was a ploy to manipulate potential jurors, as the state's psychiatric evaluation is not available.

"The documents filed in this case will be unsealed but for any and all documents containing information about the physical or mental health of the Defendant," Duel stated in his ruling, granting that the prosecution made a solid case for keeping the gag order. "New documents filed in this case will not be done so under seal unless they contain mental or physical health information."

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