N.L. premier wins injunction preventing reporting on documents in murder case

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador’s premier has won an interim injunction blocking media from reporting on court documents in a St. John’s murder trial.

The documents relate to the trial of Brandon Phillips in the death of 63-year-old Lawrence Wellman following a botched hotel robbery in October, 2015.

Premier Dwight Ball’s daughter, Jade Ball, was dating Phillips at the time.

Ball won an interim injunction this week in the province’s Supreme Court preventing media outlets from publishing a story about the documents, pending a Dec. 19 hearing.

In a statement, the premier’s lawyer said that Ball “as a private citizen, provided information of his own accord to the police regarding a homicide” in October 2015.

The statement says the premier recognizes his actions “are now arguably a matter of public interest,” but says “as a father, he has acted to protect the privacy of an innocent person” and he could not comment further on the matter.

The documents in question were not provided to the jury, which was deliberating a verdict Wednesday.

Ball had told reporters he would be willing to take the stand at the murder trial but was never called to testify.