VIRGINIA — A Cass County judge on Wednesday refused to dismiss a case brought by the parents of the late Steven P. Watkins, who want a court order granting visitation with the daughter of their deceased son.
Watkins was gunned down from behind on Nov. 25, 2008, when he went to the Ashland home of his estranged wife, Jennifer Watkins, to pick up Sidney, the couple’s two-year-old daughter, for a court-ordered visit.
Shirley Skinner, who shared the home with Watkins’ estranged wife, has been charged with first-degree murder. She is scheduled for trial in Quincy in May.
Attorneys for Jennifer Watkins, whom prosecutors have labeled a possible suspect in the killing, told Cass County Circuit Judge Robert Hardwick Jr. on Wednesday that Watkins’ parents, Dale and Penny Watkins, have not shown the girl will suffer any harm without visitation from them. They added that the law presumes that Jennifer Watkins, as the mother, has the right to decide who associates with her daugher.
“When two parents are having a dispute, the scales are equal,” said Michael Goldberg, an attorney for Jennifer Watkins. “When a grandparent and a parent are having a dispute, the scales are tipped.”
Goldberg also argued that the law is meant for situations in which grandparents had acted as daily caretakers before the death of a parent
“They have to convince the court that there is this emotional bond you have to protect,” Goldberg said.
Michael Metnick, attorney for Dale and Penny Watkins, told the judge that proof will come at trial.
“We know what we have to prove,” Metnick said.
In deciding the case will go forward, Hardwick said testimony from lay witnesses and experts could last for days, and it’s impossible to say which way the case will go.
“My crystal ball is fuzzy there,” Hardwick said. “I don’t know what they’re going to prove.”
Hardwick on Wednesday also set a hearing for late April to decide a request by Jennifer Watkins for a gag order in the case.
She has asked the court to bar both attorneys and parties in the case from commenting publicly in any way about the proceedings or visitation issues. The request covers comments to the media, as well as statements made on Facebook, Myspace and Twitter.
“To state that Penny and Dale Watkins should be limited to what they can say to anyone is absurd,” Metnick said. “To say that grandparents can’t talk about the grandchild in Facebook or Twitter or to a stranger at a bus stop is absurd.”
Roland Cross, an attorney for Jennifer Watkins, said she is concerned about publicity, especially photographs of her daughter appearing in the media.
“Her view is that can’t be a good thing,” Cross said in a post-hearing interview. “At some point, that can be harmful to her (Sidney Watkins).”
When Hardwick proposed an April 29 hearing to decide the gag-order issue, Metnick told the judge that jury selection in Shirley Skinner’s murder trial is set for the same day in Quincy.
The judge turned his attention to Jennifer Watkins and told her that he presumed she would want to be present for the criminal case.
“No, I’m not going,” Jennifer Watkns said. “I will be here for this.”
Adams County Circuit Judge Mark Schuering in December ordered the trial moved because of pre-trial publicity and because of demonstrations of support for the victim that have taken place in the Virginia area.
Bruce Rushton can be reached at 788-1542.
Court schedule April 29
*VIRGINIA — A hearing will be held in Cass County Circuit Court April 29 to hear Jennifer Watkins’ request for a gag order in a dispute over whether the parents of murder victim Steven Watkins should be able to visit his daughter, Sidney, age 2.
*QUINCY — Jury selection in the murder trial of Shirley Skinner, grandmother of Jennifer Watkins, will begin in Adams County Circuit Court on April 29. Skinner is accused of shooting to death her granddaughter’s estranged husband on Nov. 25, 2008.
Read the original article from The State Journal-Register.
