Astroworld Tragedy Update: Judge Issues Gag Order During 1st-Ever Court Hearing

A court hearing about Astroworld Festival's tragedy looked into the current issues surrounding the probe.

On Tuesday, the lawyers, who currently handle nearly 500 lawsuits, appeared together for the first time after the cases were combined and consolidated before one judge. During the discussion, the judge and attendees exchanged thoughts about the probe's conflicts, including media publicity and an alleged concern over a lack of diversity among the legal representatives.

Fox News confirmed that District Judge Kristen Hawkins issued a gag order in the case. According to the Legal Information Institute, a gag order occurs when a judge prohibits attorneys and all people related to a pending lawsuit from talking about the legal issue in public.

Hawkins said that her order on Tuesday, however, allows lawyers to tell the media about factual issues that happen in court. Still, she clarified that she did not want the attorneys to turn their cases based on public opinion and influence the jury.

"This case should be tried in the courtroom and not on social media or with press releases or other statements to the media," Hawkins said.

Hawkins was appointed by a judicial panel controlled by the Texas Supreme Court. She was assigned to handle all pretrial processes in the lawsuits.

Astroworld Festival's Hearing Has Issues

Following the court hearing, the attorney who is representing 1,500 attendees Brent Coon, said that he understands what Hawkins wants. However, he noted that the ongoing lawsuit is a case of public import.

Aside from the gag order, people present during the court hearing also discussed how to proceed with the case. They also suggested having a leadership structure to represent the victims orderly.

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Hawkins, on the other hand, revealed that she planned to have monthly hearings. For the following discussion, she wants the lawyers to give her a breakdown of all the lawsuits related to Astroworld and categorize it into four groups -- deaths, bodily injuries, brain injuries, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Amid the scheduled hearings, the Houston Police are still processing the criminal investigation into the tragedy.

The court hearing came months after the House Oversight Committee launched a bipartisan probe to discover what led to the tragedy. They already sent a letter to Live Nation's CEO Michael Rapino regarding the decision. 

The Congress is yet to release their findings in the separate investigation. The authorities, meanwhile, are currently processing the results of their initial investigation. 

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