You may not hear much about the Oak Fire arson case against Ed Wackerman until it goes to trial sometime later this summer.
That’s because Mariposa County Superior Court Judge Michael Fagalde imposed a broad gag order last week, prohibiting attorneys, victims, witnesses, law enforcement and CAL FIRE from making any comment about the case.
Under the order, which had been rumored to be coming for weeks, those parties are prohibited from expressing an opinion or making any comment “as to the weight, value or effect of any evidence as tending to establish guilt or innocence.”
The restrictions even apply to bailiffs and courthouse staff.
Any violation of the order signed April 21 “may result in a contempt action for any offender within the jurisdiction of this court.”
In January, Judge Fagalde granted a change in venue and announced that Wackerman’s trial will be held in Fresno. The defense asked for a change of venue because of pretrial publicity.
Wackerman, 73, is charged with 17 counts of felony arson connected to the 2022 Oak Fire.
Because of multiple health issues, Wackerman was released from the Mariposa County Jail in December and allowed to return home where he is under house arrest and in the care of his daughter. He must wear a GPS monitoring ankle bracelet.
Mariposa County District Attorney Walter Wall referred the case in September to the California Attorney General to avoid a potential conflict of interest since he took Wackerman’s alleged confession before his June 2023 arrest.
But after conducting a legal analysis, the California Attorney General handed the case back to the Mariposa County DA.
Wall has acknowledged that Wackerman’s defense attorney, Ric Squaglia, will likely call him as a witness in the case. It could create the unusual scene of Wall testifying in a case he is also prosecuting.
Wall has previously said that Wackerman specifically asked for him to come to the Mariposa County Jail to take the confession.
But Squaglia has suggested in court that the purported confession is in fact not a confession at all and its contents have been misrepresented.
Wackerman waved a pretrial hearing, a common strategy when the defense doesn’t want to reveal its hand to prosecutors. Squaglia has said the quantity of forensic evidence in the case is massive.
Wall has said he expects to call 60 witnesses in the case and he anticipated the trial in Fresno will take at least three weeks.
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