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6d ago

DeGuerin Reaches Deal to Amend Gag Order, Avoids Contempt Hearing

The judge took the parties’ proposed change under advisement to remove a blanket media ban and add Texas ethics Rule 3.07 to clarify permissible lawyer comments to reporters.

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Defense Attorney Brian Wice, left, talks to the media with his client Dick DeGuerin, after he appeared before Judge Peyton Peebles in the 497th District Court in Houston, Aug. 3, 2026. DeGuerin appeared before the court to be heard if he should be held in contempt of court for media interviews related Lee Gilley, who fled to Italy.
Defense Attorney Brian Wice, right, talks to the media with his client Dick DeGuerin, after he appeared before Judge Peyton Peebles in the 497th District Court in Houston, Aug. 3, 2026. DeGuerin appeared before the court to be heard if he should be held in contempt of court for media interviews related to Lee Gilley, who fled to Italy.
Defense Attorney Brian Wice, right, talks to the media with his client Dick DeGuerin, after he appeared before Judge Peyton Peebles in the 497th District Court in Houston, Aug. 3, 2026. DeGuerin appeared before the court to be heard if he should be held in contempt of court for media interviews related Lee Gilley, who fled to Italy.

Overview

  • On Monday the Harris County District Attorney’s Office and defense attorneys agreed to a rewrite of the court’s gag order, ending plans for a show‑cause hearing that could have led to contempt charges against Dick DeGuerin.
  • The proposed amendment would strike the paragraph that banned any lawyer contact with the media and add language based on Texas Disciplinary Rule 3.07 to spell out what attorneys may ethically say.
  • Prosecutors had accused DeGuerin of violating the May gag order after he spoke to news outlets about Lee Gilley’s extradition and possible punishments if returned to Texas.
  • Lee Gilley remains detained in Turin, Italy, where courts have paused extradition while seeking assurances about whether he could face the death penalty or life without parole if convicted in Texas.
  • The change to the gag order could affect what attorneys tell reporters, influence public perceptions ahead of trial, and shape diplomatic and legal steps in the still‑pending extradition process.