What will happen to Marcus' siblings?

Arguments heard over Fiesel access
McLaughlin, Sheila. Cincinnati Enquirer, Dec. 21, 2006, pg. B2.

A Butler County juvenile court magistrate will decide in the new year whether the media can have access to hearings to determine if the siblings of a boy who died in foster care will be returned to their mother. Magistrate Richard Landis heard arguments Wednesday for and against keeping the hearings secret.

The Enquirer is fighting attempts by the children's attorney, Debra Rothstein, to keep reporters out. Greg Taliaferro, a Cincinnati psychologist who examined 11-year-old Michael after his brother Marcus Fiesel's death, said that press coverage of the proceedings might traumatize the child. But, he said, adverse effects were not inevitable.

Rothstein wants Landis to conduct a private interview with the boy before he decides the issue. Peaches, at a year old, is too young. Both children are in a foster home.

If Landis decides to open the hearings, Rothstein wants most personal information about the children - including their names and feelings about their mother and reunification with her - to be excluded from public disclosure.

The Enquirer's lawyer, Jack Greiner, objected. He said excluding that information would amount to closing the hearing.

Jill Meyer, an attorney representing several area television stations and newspapers, argued that the public has the right to know that the court's handling of the Fiesel children's custody will be done properly. "We know that it didn't work out for Marcus," she said.

His foster parents, Liz and David Carroll, are jailed on murder and other charges involving the 3-year-old boy's death.