Christina's Story: Newspaper Articles

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Christina's Story - Newspaper Articles

The following links take you to various articles in Christina's story as it appeared in the South Florida media.

PLEASE DO NOT COPY THE INFORMATION ON THIS SITE BEFORE ASKING.

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*In Loving Memory Of* Christina Diane Holt May 23, 1987 - September 16, 1994 "Beautiful Child who has found love from the angels...RIP..."	(Not her actual headstone)
These pages contain all of the articles from the Palm Beach Post and The Sun-Sentinel throughout the years.

Zile Defense Likes Trial Odds In Bartow (8/12/96)
Retrial in John Zile Murder Case Starts Today (8/12/96)
Zile Team, State Spar Over Witness (8/13/96)
Reporter Must Testify In Zile Trial (8/14/96)
Zile Prosecution May Ask Reporter For Testimony (8/14/96)
Jury Selection Begins In Zile's Retrial (8/14/96)
Most In Jury Pool Say Zile Can Get Fair Trial (8/15/96)
Clerk's Words May Halt Jury Selection For Zile (8/16/96)
Zile Jury Selection May Go To Square One (8/16/96)
Defense Wants New Jury In Murder Case (8/17/96)

ZILE DEFENSE LIKES TRIAL ODDS IN BARTOW
RURAL TOWN CAN SEAT UNBIASED JURY, THEY SAY
Sun-Sentinel
August 12, 1996
Author: MIKE FOLKS Staff Writer

John Zile's defense team has finally gotten its way.

Today, Craig Wilson and Ed O'Hara take their defense case on the road. This time, they'll play to a new audience in Bartow, a rural Polk County community near Lakeland known for its phosphate mines and for being the corporate home of the Publix grocery chain.

Over and over, Wilson and O'Hara asked Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Roger Colton to move the case out of the county before the former restaurant worker's trial began in April.
A fair trial was impossible, they argued, citing the media frenzy surrounding South Florida's most despised stepdad, charged with killing his 7-year-old stepdaughter, Christina Holt, on Sept. 16, 1994.

Colton refused.

In June, however, Colton agreed to the move after he was forced to declare a mistrial on May 16 when the jury deadlocked 11-1 for first-degree murder.

Last week, the defense team was confident they could find an unbiased jury because the media exposure has been minuscule in Polk County.

"Most of the prospective jurors in John's first trial had been saturated with pretrial publicity," said Wilson, 56, the one-man legal firm who, along with O'Hara, was appointed by the court to represent Zile.

"I don't think the saturation level [in Bartow) is even close to what it's been here. That should give us a more level playing field."

O'Hara, 55, also a lone practioner, returned last week from Bartow. There, he set up a temporary office donated to him and Wilson by the Polk County Public Defender's Office.

"Polk County is a mix," O'Hara said, describing the community as more conservative and blue collar than Palm Beach County.

"My belief is we could get some fairly well-educated folks and some people with common sense. That's a positive," he said.

Before taking on the John Zile case, Wilson and O'Hara were known among their colleagues as hard-working, low-profile lawyers with years of trial experience.

The media-shy attorneys agree it's the most high-profile, and often taxing, case they've ever handled. It has bogged down their legal practices, forcing them to refer clients to other attorneys.

Wilson, born in Ohio and uprooted as a young boy when his family moved to Florida, considers himself a native.

When reporters throw questions his way, Wilson flashes a Cheshire cat grin framed by his salt-and-pepper beard and says as little as possible about his legal strategy.

Before going into private practice, the father of three grown sons and grandfather to three grandchildren worked for the Palm Beach County Solicitor's Office. Wilson estimates he's propably handled two dozen first-degree murder cases in his private practice.

O'Hara was born in Norristown, Pa., a rural, blue-collar community similar to Bartow. "It kind of reminds me of the part of the country I grew up in. I'm very comfortable there," he said.

The silver-haired, blue-eyed father of three girls - one an attorney practicing in Chicago - joined the legal game somewhat late in life, he said.

"I worked odd jobs and did some construction," before entering law school at age 37, O'Hara said. "My wife put me through law school."

From there, O'Hara worked as a prosecutor in Blair County, Pa., before moving to Palm Beach County. After working as public defender for nearly three years, he opened his own civil and criminal law practice.

While O'Hara is a familiar face in the criminal courtrooms, he's also known for his pro bono work in the case of Samantha Buchholz. O'Hara donated his legal services to help the troubled teen-ager, who waged a four-year legal battle with the State Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services to win the right to be adopted by her brother's adoptive father.

Both attorneys predict the state probably will present the same prosecution theory that they used in Zile's first trial when the retrial gets under way after jury selection.

They expect that the prosecution again will argue that Zile, 34, should be convicted of first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse because he beat Christina, causing her to collapse and die, while his wife Pauline watched and did nothing.

The defense attorneys speculate that the prosecution again will present evidence of how the couple hid the child's body in a closet for four days before John Zile buried her behind a Kmart in Tequesta. And there will be limited evidence of the Ziles' ruse to cover up the crime, with Pauline claiming Christina was abducted from the Swap Shop west of Fort Lauderdale.

Pauline Zile, serving a life sentence after her April 1995 convictions for first-degree murder and child abuse, is appealing her case.

During John Zile's trial, his attorneys countered that Christina suffered from a seizure disorder, shared by her mother, grandmother and uncle.

As John Zile beat Christina while questioning her about his suspicions that she had been abused sexually while living with relatives in Maryland, she fell into a seizure and choked on her vomit, the defense maintained.

Their client's attempts to revive the child may have inadvertently contributed to her death, they said.

Wilson was tight-lipped about his retrial strategy, but said the accidental death theory could play well before a Polk County jury that is likely to be blue collar with a conservative perspective.

"We're not talking about a white-collar crime," he said. "The facts here are, was it an accident or something in between?"

O'Hara, a little more forthcoming, said the defense again will argue that a seizure, not the beating, is what killed Christina. The team has contacted two additional seizure disorder experts, but has not decided whether they will call them to testify.

"Our argument is it's an accidental death, just a plain old accident that couldn't be avoided. Absent the coverup, it's manslaughter at best," said O'Hara. "I don't know if [the Polk County jury) will accept this or reject this notion that it was an accident.

"That's something we'll find out."

RETRIAL IN JOHN ZILE MURDER CASE STARTS TODAY
Miami Herald, The (FL)
August 12, 1996
Author: BRUCE TAYLOR SEEMAN Herald Staff Writer

Prosecutors will reopen their case against John Zile today, hoping to avoid another mistrial in a murder case that began with a fake flea-market abduction and ended with a 7-year-old buried behind a Tequesta Kmart.
Zile's wife, Pauline Zile, already has been convicted in the killing of her daughter. She's serving a life sentence for murder and aggravated child abuse in the death of Christina Holt in 1994.

But John Zile, the girl's stepfather, sidestepped prison in May when a Palm Beach County jury deadlocked on his charges. Eleven jurors voted Zile guilty of first-degree murder. One held out for murder in the second degree.

Today's trial will hinge on much of the same evidence -- a bruised child's corpse, John Zile's taped confession and his admissions that he tried to conceal the girl's death.

But defense attorneys said Zile would benefit from a change of venue, predicting a jury in Bartow -- east of Tampa -- would be freer to judge the case without the influence of pretrial publicity.

"They'll be hearing this from a fresh perspective," said Ed O'Hara, one of Zile's Palm Beach lawyers. "The previous jury knew everything -- they knew about the Swap Shop, that the body was buried, that the wife was serving time in prison."

Defense lawyers contend Zile did not confess to murder. His account to police, they say, connects him only to an accidental death that occurred when beatings triggered an epileptic seizure.

Zile said he tried to cover up the girl's death because he panicked.

"There was not one sign of blunt trauma to the child," O'Hara said.

But prosecutors, who declined to discuss the upcoming trial, argued in May that Zile's repeated beatings of the girl amounted to him using his 39-pound stepdaughter as a "punching bag."

"She had bruises on her buttocks," Zile told police. "She had the bruise on the side of her face. It looked like, I mean, I just didn't know what to do."

The case received mass exposure when Pauline and John Zile said their daughter had been abducted from the Fort Lauderdale Swap Shop.

Pauline Zile later failed a lie detector test, then blamed the girl's death on her husband. John Zile gave his statement to police after confronted with his wife's allegations.

Mike Edmondson, a spokesman for the state attorney's office in Palm Beach County, said the only difference in the prosecution's strategy is a plan to call Herald reporter David Kidwell to testify. Kidwell interviewed John Zile in jail after his arrest.

In the interview published in The Herald, Zile admitted to beating the girl, hiding her body in a closet, then burying her behind a Kmart in Tequesta, near Jupiter. He also accused his wife of beating the girl.

Kidwell was subpoenaed in the first trial but not called to testify. The prosecution subpoenaed him in the retrial.

Herald attorney Jerry Budney said Kidwell should not be forced to testify.

"The First Amendment protects the ability of the press to get access to news and get interviews," Budney said. "Reporters can't be dragged into court on every story they cover. A reporter can only be made to testify if there's a compelling need for the testimony and there's no other source for the information."

Jury selection is scheduled to begin as early as Tuesday.

ZILE TEAM, STATE SPAR OVER WITNESS
DEFENSE ATTORNEY SAYS HE WILL TAKE THE STAND IF PAWNBROKER TESTIFIES AGAIN
Sun-Sentinel
August 13, 1996
Author: STEPHANIE SMITH Staff Writer

One of John Zile's defense attorneys on Monday threatened to quit to become a defense witness if the state calls a pawnbroker who he claims changed his testimony at Zile's first trial.

Jury selection starts today in the retrial of Zile, 34, accused of beating his stepdaughter Christina Holt, 7, until she convulsed and died as the mother of the child watched.

Zile's first trial on charges of first-degree murder ended in a mistrial in May when a single juror held out for second-degree murder.

The retrial was moved to Polk County after Palm Beach Circuit Court Judge Roger Colton ruled getting an impartial local jury for a second time would be too difficult.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys are expected to individually question 50 of the 150 potential jurors on whether they could cope with the hardship of a monthlong trial and whether they know anything about the case.

But before moving onto jury selection, the prosecution and defense sparred over whether the pawnbroker's testimony would be allowed.

In May, state witness David Muller testified that Zile came to his pawn shop with Christina, 7, in the summer of 1994. When Christina acted up in the store, Zile quieted the girl by saying, "Knock it off or you're going to end up back on Tamarind Avenue again," Muller said, referring to a crime-riddled neighborhood in West Palm Beach.

Assistant State Attorney Scott Cupp asked that a new jury in Bartow be given transcripts of Muller's previous testimony to show a pattern of abuse that led to Christina's death.

Ed O'Hara, one of Zile's court-appointed attorneys, said Muller's testimony should not be allowed because Muller earlier had told defense attorneys he did not remember Zile or Christina Holt, only to switch his testimony on the witness stand.

Colton ruled that the prosecution can put Muller on the witness stand, in person, to discredit Zile if Zile takes the stand again. If O'Hara wants to become a witness at that time, it is up to O'Hara, Colton said.

"If Mr. Muller testifies, I will be a witness," O'Hara said.

Colton also denied a state request to question prospective jurors about their position on the death penalty because the judge alone will decide Zile's punishment if he is convicted.

Zile's defense attorneys waived the second phase of the trial, as they did in the first trial, that allows the jury to recommend a sentence.

The only penalties for first-degree murder are life in prison or the death penalty.

REPORTER MUST TESTIFY IN ZILE TRIAL
PROSECUTORS WANT TO CONFIRM ZILE'S MOOD ON NIGHT STEPDAUGHTER DIED
The Palm Beach Post
August 14, 1996
Author: VAL ELLICOTT
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

A reporter for The Miami Herald who interviewed John Zile in jail has no special right to escape testifying for prosecutors about the interview, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Circuit Judge Roger Colton told an attorney for the Herald that, based on a ruling by the 4th District Court of Appeal on a similar case this year, reporter David Kidwell must testify in the state's murder case against Zile, attorneys said.
But Colton also told prosecutors Scott Cupp and Jill Estey that they may not call Kidwell to the stand without first making him available to Zile's attorneys, Craig Wilson and Ed O'Hara, to provide a sworn statement, O'Hara said.

Gregg Thomas, an attorney for the Herald, said that the newspaper has not yet decided whether to appeal Colton's decision.

Prosecutors want Kidwell to verify that, as he reported in his Nov. 5, 1994, story, Zile had described his own mood as "furious" just before he began disciplining his stepdaughter, Christina Holt, the night she died.

Zile, 34, is charged with first-degree murder and three counts of aggravated child abuse in Christina's death about midnight on Sept. 16, 1994.

His first trial in May ended with a deadlocked jury when one juror refused to vote for a conviction on first-degree murder.

Zile's retrial began Tuesday as attorneys began questioning potential jurors in Bartow in Polk County, where the trial was moved because of extensive publicity in Palm Beach County.

Attorneys hope to select a panel of 12 jurors by Monday and could deliver opening statements on Tuesday, O'Hara said.

Colton told prosecutors on Monday that they may not ask potential jurors at the trial how they view the death penalty.

Prosecutors had hoped to strike jury candidates who strongly oppose the death penalty, a reaction to reports that the holdout juror at Zile's first trial had refused to convict him of first-degree murder partly because she worried that he might be sentenced to death.

ZILE PROSECUTION MAY ASK REPORTER FOR TESTIMONY
Sun-Sentinel
August 14, 1996
Author: STEPHANIE SMITH Staff Writer

A Miami Herald reporter who conducted a jailhouse interview with John Zile shortly after Zile's November 1994 arrest in the murder of his stepdaughter could be a called as a witness for the prosecution.

Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Roger Colton, who is presiding over Zile's retrial in Polk County, ruled on Tuesday that reporter David Kidwell is not protected by the First Amendment from taking the witness stand because Zile was not a confidential source. The Herald and Kidwell asked that he not be forced to testify.
On Nov. 4, 1995, Kidwell interviewed Zile for 75 minutes at the Palm Beach County jail about the roles Zile and his wife, Pauline Zile, had in the death of Christina Holt, 7. The story, with the headline "John Zile: We both beat girl. Stepdad: How she died; why we lied," ran on the front page the next day.

Colton said information in the article - such as Zile's admissions that he beat Christina until she was "black and blue" and the parent's decision to not call for help when the child collapsed, went into seizures and died - was relevant, necessary for prosecution and not available elsewhere.

The judge also said the prosecution's failure to get a conviction in the first trial with a jury deadlocked 11-1 for a first-degree murder conviction was a strong reason for requiring Kidwell's testimony.

"Last time, this information was not utilized. Also, it was a hung jury," Colton said.

Zile's court-appointed attorneys Craig Wilson and Ed O'Hara objected to Kidwell's testimony, contending it was an effort by the state to further demonize their client.

After the judge's ruling, Zile's attorneys said they were not certain how much damage Kidwell's testimony will do to the defense. O'Hara said they are not sure Kidwell will show up for pretrial interviews with the defense at all, even if failure to appear means jail.

Unless Kidwell is interviewed before trial, he will not be allowed to testify, the judge said.

Douglas Clifton, the Herald's executive editor, said on Tuesday that the newspaper will use all legal recourse to avoid having Kidwell testify. "We are resisting it," Clifton said.

Even if Kidwell does testify at the trial, the defense can attack the reporter's credibility because Kidwell used the ruse of being a family member to get inside the jail, O'Hara said.

"We'll just have to sit back and see what's next," O'Hara said.

Clifton disputed the defense's contention that Kidwell lied about his relationship with Zile to get inside the jail. "That simply isn't true. His credibility is unquestioned," Clifton said.

At Zile's first trial in May, prosecutors listed Kidwell as a witness but did not call him to testify. This time, Assistant State Attorney Scott Cupp, the chief prosecutor at both trials, said Kidwell will probably be called as the first prosecution witness.

Cupp is being assisted by Assistant State Attorney Jill Estey, who joined the Zile prosecution team two weeks ago, after Mary Ann Duggan, head of the major crimes unit, asked to be removed from the case. Duggan said she asked to be taken off the case because of a personal conflict that prevents her from traveling to Bartow.

"I requested this for personal reasons," she said. "I've had something very positive happen in my personal life ... completely positive and completely personal."

The hearing on Kidwell capped a day of jury selection in which six of the 26 jurors interviewed were excused because they knew too much about the case and said they could not keep an open mind.

Attorneys hope to select 12 jurors and two alternates by the end of the week. Testimony is expected to take three weeks.

Wilson, one of Zile's attorneys, said he feared jury selection in Polk County will be just as plodding and difficult as in the first trial that took 11 days.

"It's going about the same speed," Wilson said.

The jury prospects who knew about the case were adamant that they couldn't be fair.

"Really, no, I don't think so," and, "From what I've heard, I would think he's guilty," were some of the comments from prospective jurors who were excused.

Wilson said he was concerned about recent media coverage in local newspapers, especially an article in The Ledger in Lakeland that raised comparisons to other high-profile cases such as the trial of the Palm Bay shopping center killer in 1989.

Polk County was also the home of Bradley McGee, 2, whose brutal death caused outrage statewide. The child died from head injuries after his stepfather dunked him in a toilet bowl for soiling his diapers.

William Cruse, a former librarian sentenced to death for the killing of six people including two police officers, was put on trial in Polk County after the case was moved from the Titusville area.

Mary Honeycutt, a prospective juror who was retained for more questioning, said she understood the enormity of her responsibility should she be picked as a juror.

"This is really big," Honeycutt said. "This is big-time for a small town."

JURY SELECTION BEGINS IN ZILE'S RETRIAL
Miami Herald, The (FL)
August 14, 1996
Author: Associated Press

Jury selection began Tuesday in the retrial of John Zile in the kidnapping-murder of his 7-year-old stepdaughter.
Zile's first-degree murder trial last May in West Palm Beach ended in a hung jury after a lone juror held out for conviction on a lesser charge of second-degree murder.

Christina Holt's beaten body was unearthed in a shallow grave near a convenience store in October 1994.

The state contends Zile, 34, and his wife, Pauline, concocted a hoax abduction to cover up the second-grader's September 1994 death. She was Pauline Zile's daughter from an earlier marriage.

Pauline Zile is serving a life sentence for her part in Christina's death.

Tuesday, Zile took notes and conferred with his attorneys as prospective jurors were screened in a courtroom in West Central Florida. Proceedings were moved halfway across the state
because of intense publicity.

Among the questions put to jury candidates were if they ever had heard of the case, what newspapers they read, how regularly, and what other media habits they have.

Circuit Judge Roger B. Colton was prepared to admonish potential jurors not to read or watch coverage of the case.

A pool of 150 jury prospects has been summoned for the trial. Picking a panel of 12 members and four alternates could take the rest of the week. If so, opening arguments in the case would be scheduled for next Monday.

MOST IN JURY POOL SAY ZILE CAN GET FAIR TRIAL
Sun-Sentinel
August 15, 1996
Author: STEPHANIE SMITH Staff Writer

Opening statements in John Zile's second murder trial are expected to take place on Monday, with jury selection in Polk County going twice as fast as Zile's first trial, in Palm Beach County.

In two days, 43 of 67 prospective jurors have said they could give Zile a fair trial and that sitting as a juror for a three-week trial would not cause a hardship.
Jury selection in Zile's first trial, in May, took 11 days and involved interviews of 180 people. A mistrial was declared when jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict.

Attorneys in the case said they have been surprised by the willingness of Polk County residents to fulfill their civic duty and serve as jurors.

Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Roger Colton said he wants 60 prospective jurors by the end of today for attorneys to pick a 12-member jury and two alternates on Monday.

Zile is accused of beating his stepdaughter, Christina Holt, 7, until she collapsed into convulsions and died.

The case was moved because of the difficulty in securing an impartial jury in Palm Beach County.

CLERK'S WORDS MAY HALT JURY SELECTION FOR ZILE
REMARK MAY HAVE SUGGESTED `TONS' OF EVIDENCE
Sun-Sentinel
August 16, 1996
Author: STEPHANIE SMITH Staff Writer

Sixty-nine prospective jurors selected for John Zile's murder retrial could be sent home and jury selection started from scratch because of comments made by Polk County's circuit court clerk.

Zile's attorneys on Thursday said the entire jury pool, culled from three days of interviews, was contaminated because of remarks Circuit Clerk E.D. Dixon made about "tons" of evidence.

Zile's attorneys said Dixon's comment suggested that the prosecution's case is overwhelming against Zile, who is charged with aggravated child abuse and first-degree murder in the death of his stepdaughter, Christina Holt, 7.
"It's crazy, said Ed O'Hara, one of Zile's court-appointed attorneys. "That clearly implies the evidence is against our client."

Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Roger Colton said prospective jurors could have interpreted that the evidence could have been from the defense as well.

Colton said he will rule on Monday whether jury selection should start over.

Colton and lawyers in the case had hoped to seat a jury of 12 and two alternates on Monday and begin opening statements. This is Zile's second trial. His first trial, in May, ended in a mistrial, with a Palm Beach County jury split 11-1 for a first-degree murder conviction.

Zile's defense attorneys learned of Dixon's comment late on Thursday when a juror said Dixon told 120 people during jury orientation on Tuesday that they should expect to serve three weeks if they were picked for a Palm Beach County murder trial that was moved to Bartow.

Dixon told them there was "tons" of evidence in the case, potential jurors said. "He said it's taken us a couple of days to unload the evidence from the huge U-Haul from West Palm Beach," prospective juror Nancy Peterson said.

Colton called Dixon to the witness stand in an emergency hearing late on Thursday for an explanation. Dixon, who has been circuit court clerk for 231/2 years and has drawn an election opponent for the first time, was called away from his vacation to appear in court.

Dixon said he did not recall saying anything about a retrial or a capital case or that it took several days to inventory the evidence, as some of the prospective jurors remembered, but said he did make the comment about the U-Haul truck.

"I remember vividly saying something regarding a considerable amount of evidence brought up in a U-Haul truck," Dixon testified.

Zile's attorneys then called Palm Beach County deputy clerk Beth Jennings, who testified that she, along with a bonded courier, used a minivan to take the evidence to Bartow and that it took an hour to inventory the items.

Also on Thursday, Colton gave The Miami Herald until noon today to appeal his order requiring a reporter called as a state witness to be interviewed by attorneys in the case.

If the order is not halted by an appeals court, reporter David Kidwell will have to appear for interviews by Zile's defense attorneys at 2 p.m. today.

Herald attorney Gregg Thomas of Tampa said Kidwell will show for the interview if the appeal is not granted, but he did not know whether Kidwell would answer any questions.

"Mr. Kidwell is weighing heavily what he plans to do. It's ultimately his decision whether or not he goes to jail," Thomas said.

Prosecutors have called Kidwell as a witness because he wrote a story Nov. 5, 1994, that quoted Zile as saying he was "furious" the night he beat his stepdaughter and the child went into convulsions and died. Zile said in the story that there was no excuse for what he had done.

Zile's attorneys contend that Kidwell used deception to get into the Palm Beach County Jail for the interview. Thomas denied that, saying Kidwell showed jail officials his driver's license, although he may not have identified himself as a newspaper reporter.

Similar allegations were brought against Kidwell in Broward County, in the case of a woman accused of strangling her 18-month-old grandmother and stuffing the body in the freezer compartment of a refrigerator.

Broward County Assistant Public Defender Ed Hoag said on Thursday that Kidwell misrepresented himself to get into the jail to meet his client, Christine Sharrow, in jail.

"He lied, he went in and posed as a friend," Hoag said. "This is a woman who tried to commit suicide 30 times. She is really mentally ill, and he took advantage of her," Hoag said.

Zile's attorneys said they want to question Kidwell about his journalistic ethics in both cases.

Prosecutors asked that the judge be available for a contempt hearing if Kidwell refuses to answer questions today.

ZILE JURY SELECTION MAY GO TO SQUARE ONE
Sun-Sentinel
August 16, 1996
Author: STEPHANIE SMITH Staff Writer

Sixty-nine prospective jurors selected for John Zile's murder retrial could be sent home and jury selection started from scratch because of comments made by Polk County's circuit court clerk.

Zile's attorneys on Thursday said the entire jury pool, culled from three days of interviews, was contaminated because of remarks Circuit Clerk E.D. Dixon made about "tons" of evidence.
Zile's attorneys said Dixon's comment suggested that the prosecution's case is overwhelming against Zile, who is charged with aggravated child abuse and first-degree murder in the death of his stepdaughter, Christina Holt, 7.

Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Roger Colton said prospective jurors could have interpreted that the evidence could have been from the defense as well.

Colton said he will rule on the matter on Monday.

Colton and lawyers in the case had hoped to seat a jury of 12 and two alternates on Monday and begin opening statements. Zile's first trial, in May, ended in a mistrial.

Colton called Dixon to the witness stand in an emergency hearing late on Thursday for an explanation.

"I remember vividly saying something regarding a considerable amount of evidence brought up in a U-Haul truck," Dixon testified.

Also on Thursday, Colton gave The Miami Herald until noon today to appeal his order requiring a reporter called as a state witness to be interviewed.

If the order is not halted by an appeals court, reporter David Kidwell will have to appear for interviews by Zile's defense attorneys at 2 p.m. today.

Herald attorney Gregg Thomas of Tampa said Kidwell will show for the interview if the appeal is not granted.

"Mr. Kidwell is weighing heavily what he plans to do. It's ultimately his decision whether or not he goes to jail," Thomas said.

DEFENSE WANTS NEW JURY IN MURDER CASE
The Palm Beach Post
August 17, 1996
Author: VAL ELLICOTT
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Attorneys for John Zile will argue Monday that a court official's comment has tainted the jury pool at Zile's second murder trial and jury selection in Polk County should start over.

But Circuit Judge Roger Colton already has told the defense attorneys, Ed O'Hara and Craig Wilson, that he will not excuse the jury pool, O'Hara said Friday.
Attorneys at Zile's retrial learned Thursday while questioning a potential juror that Polk County Court Clerk E.D. Dixon told jury candidates Tuesday there is "a ton" of evidence in the case and that it took 1 1/2 days to unload the trucks that brought the evidence from West Palm Beach to Bartow.

"It was like somebody shot me in the back," O'Hara recalled of his reaction when he learned of Dixon's comments.

Other jury candidates confirmed Dixon had made the comments, O'Hara said. He said Dixon later testified he had told jury candidates a U-Haul truck was used to deliver the evidence, but testified that he didn't recall saying it had taken 1 1/2 days to unload it.

Zile, 34, is charged with first-degree murder in the 1994 death of his stepdaughter, Christina Holt, plus three counts of aggravated child abuse.

Zile's first trial ended in a hung jury when one juror refused to vote for a conviction on first-degree murder. The retrial was moved to Bartow because of extensive pretrial publicity in Palm Beach County.

Colton told O'Hara and Wilson that they may argue again Monday that jury selection should start over. If the judge sticks by his refusal to dismiss the current jury pool and if Zile is convicted, O'Hara said he and Wilson will argue the issue on appeal.

The defense attorneys also want to call back 26 jury candidates who were excused for hardship reasons by a Polk County circuit judge who was acting at Colton's direction, O'Hara said.

If jury selection at the retrial continues as planned, attorneys should make opening statements Tuesday, O'Hara said.

Also Friday, attorneys for The Miami Herald appealed Colton's ruling ordering reporter David Kidwell to testify about his 1994 jailhouse interview with Zile. The appeal canceled, at least temporarily, a deposition Kidwell was to give Friday.