The 4th District Court of Appeal has refused to hear an appeal from Austin Harrouff's attorneys to stop the release of the interview he gave Dr. Phil.
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As a result, the State Attorney will release the interview around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Harrouff is the teenager the sheriff's office believes ambushed and killed a Martin County couple and then chewed on the flesh of one of his victims.
The interview happened just days before he was released from the hospital and arrested.
Dr. Phil decided at the last minute not to air the conversation.
Our sister station, WPTV went to court demanding the interview because the station believes what Harrouff said prior to his arrest is important.
While details of the content discussed in the interview have not yet been made public it has been filed as discovery evidence.
Defense attorneys for Harrouff unsuccessfully argued that releasing the interview could hurt his right to a fair trial.
Below is the full statement from Harrouff's lawyers regarding the video:
The legal defense team representing 19-year old Austin Harrouff says a video-recorded interview between their client and CBS television personality Phillip McGraw, known to audiences as Dr. Phil, represents “just one of many pieces of evidence demonstrating the deterioration of Austin’s mental health.” The video “shows Austin when he was in a vulnerable state, recovering from acute medical and psychological trauma in the sanctity of his hospital room,” attorney Nellie King said. Although defense counsel agrees with the trial court's ruling that nothing in the video clip provided is prejudicial to Austin Harrouff, “sensationalizing the details of this case pre-trial does nothing to advance justice in the courtroom,” King said. “Nor does this pre-trial discovery information help those suffering from this tragedy, including the family members of Mr. Stevens and Ms. Mischcon,” she added. The circumstances of how Harrouff came to be videotaped in the hospital, while under guard by Martin County Sheriff’s Deputies, and without the knowledge of lawyers representing him, is still under investigation.
