CASS COUNTY, Ind. -- Daniel and Kristin Muir walked back into the Cass County Courthouse Thursday, hoping to get a no-contact order for their son modified.
The former Colts player and his wife hadn't seen their son since an Indiana State Police raid on their Cass County property on July 3.
The hearing began a few minutes after 1 p.m. with Kristin Muir's attorney, Jerry Shoup, requesting Judge Kitts to remove cameras from the courtroom citing concerns the Muirs will have a hard time getting a fair trial.
”Given all the media that is covering and the threats that they have received and so forth," Shoup said. "I would ask the court to ask the cameraman to leave with his camera."
Judge Kitts ruled the camera could stay since the case was in the public eye before it got to him.
The next order for the hearing involved discussing the no-contact order between the Muirs and their son.
The child has been in DCS custody since ISP found him during the July 3 raid of the Muir's property. He had been considered missing and endangered before that.
That same day, Daniel and Kristin Muir were arrested, and both were charged with obstruction of justice for not cooperating with the ISP investigation. Daniel was also charged with domestic battery.
Attorneys for the parents did not request the child be released to Daniel and Kristin; instead, they asked for the same order the couple got from the Department of Child Services a few weeks before in a hearing in Miami County – supervised visits.
”I would just ask the court allow a modification that parallels the order in the DCS case," said Nathan Vining, Daniel Muir's defense attorney.
The Muirs' child was not in court today but an attorney for him had this to say on his behalf.
"The minor child does wish to see his parents and have the no contact order lifted. I would agree that it should merely parallel the Department of Child Services case," Vining said.
On the opposite end, Prosecutor Noah Shafer argued the no-contact order should not be lifted to prevent the parents and child from talking about the case.
”I'm interested in protecting the integrity of this case which is why we've requested and the court has granted a no-contact order," said Schafer.
After a few minutes of discussion, Judge Kitts decided to match the DCS order and allow the Muirs to see their son under supervision.
”Among the obligation of the supervisor is to prevent the conversations about which Mr. Schafer has reasonable concerns," said Judge Kitts. "Because he's tip-toeing because of his polite nature around saying, 'We don't need witness tampering in this case.'"
Neither the prosecutor or defense attorneys had any comment after the hearing concluded.
As of right now, the Muirs back in court for more than two months. A final motions hearing is scheduled for Oct. 10. A jury trial is set for November 4.