UPDATE: March 1, 2012

A Barton County judge is expected to rule Friday, March 9 whether proceedings in a capital murder trial will be closed to the public.

Defense attorneys for Adam Longoria filed the last minute motion to close the hearing. The motions to be discussed have been sealed to the public since the court case began more than a year ago.

Members of the media, including KAKE's Jared Cerullo objected in open court to the possibility that Judge Kitts would close the hearing.

The hearing will be rescheduled for a later date. Longoria's trial is scheduled for March 26.

March 1, 2012

In a last minute effort, the defense for Adam Longoria filed a motion to close today's court hearing in his capital murder case in Barton County District Court.

The motions to be discussed have been sealed to the public since the court case began more than a year ago. Today's hearing was scheduled to discuss those motions in which Judge Hannalore Kitts is expected to rule.

Members of the media, including KAKE's Jared Cerullo objected in open court to the possibility that Judge Kitts would close the hearing.

"At this time, we are not prepared to argue against this motion," said Cerullo. "Due to the issue being brought up late yesterday afternoon. As an unqualified representative of the court, I would ask you to consider the long history of free and open courts in the United States. While the motions may be sealed on paper, I believe the public has a right to hear this case in the setting designed for this purpose."

"I would first ask that you continue with this proceeding openly today. If the court is considering granting this motion, I would ask that you delay this hearing in order to prepare legal arguments against it," Cerullo said.

Judge Kitts agreed to allow time for local media outlets to either get an attorney into the courtroom or fax an argument to the court. She is scheduled to return to the courtroom at 1 p.m. to make a decision on whether to clear the courtroom of the public or continue with the closed proceeding.

In other motions, Longoria attempted to deny the allowance of crime scene photos and text messages between him and Debolt in the days leading up to the murder.

The defense argued that the text messages should be considered hearsay only, and not factual truth.

The state told the judge that Debolt had no incentive to falsify the information within her texts and that they testify to how Longoria knew her and also of his sexual intentions with her.

As to the photos, the state argued that "gruesome crimes result in gruesome photos" and that they should be allowed at trial to show the jury the teens charred body.

Kitts ultimately ruled against both defense motions, which clears the way for the text messages and crime scene photos to be shown and described for the jury at trial.

Previously, the state dropped its bid to seek the death penalty against Longoria, meaning he would face life sentence without parole if he is convicted. His trial is currently scheduled for March 26.