Court asked to block lawyer's actions

In a repudiation of their client's prior defense lawyer, the legal team led by Jeffrey A. Denner filed a motion asking Superior Court Judge Frank Gaziano to exclude statements made by Stephen B. Hrones, the flamboyant defense attorney who represented Rockefeller for the first three months after his Aug. 2 arrest.

In the immediate aftermath of the arrest, Hrones made numerous comments to reporters that drew widespread scorn in legal circles.

Hrones told reporters in various interviews that his client speaks German but does not remember growing up in Germany and that Rockefeller remembered "bits and pieces" of his childhood, a Scottish nanny, and a visit to Mount Rushmore in a station wagon. Authorities say Rockefeller is really a native of Germany named Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter.

In another move that raised eyebrows among defense lawyers, Hrones agreed to let his client be interviewed at the Nashua Street jail last August by three reporters from the Globe and, separately, by Natalie Morales, a reporter for NBC's "Today Show."

Hrones could not be reached for comment yesterday. Last month, he defended his actions in a Globe interview.

"The initial media reporting was all negative," he said. "I was forced to go out and defend him. The only thing to do was to fight fire with fire."

Denner declined to comment yesterday except to say, "The motions speak for themselves."

Suffolk County prosecutors have subpoenaed tape-recorded statements that Rockefeller made to the Globe reporters and to the television reporter. In addition, prosecutors subpoenaed Globe reporters Maria Cramer, John Ellement, and Michael Levenson yesterday as potential witnesses at the trial, scheduled to start June 26. Lawyers for the Globe are reviewing the subpoenas.

Assistant District Attorney David Deakin declined to discuss why he wants to subpoena the reporters. But legal specialists said his goal would probably be to introduce an audiotape of their interview of Rockefeller as well as to question them about the defendant's behavior.

Rockefeller contends he was legally insane when he abducted his 7-year-old daughter during a supervised visit in Boston last July after losing custody to his former wife, Sandra Boss of London.

Robert A. George, a Boston defense lawyer, said Deakin will probably ask reporters about Rockefeller's demeanor during the jailhouse interview. "Did he make sense? Was he twitching? Did he understand the questions you were putting to him?," George said of the likely line of inquiry.

Denner is also seeking to prevent prosecutors from admitting into evidence an emotional plea made by Boss that was widely reported, and other allegations, including that California authorities have labeled Rockefeller a person of interest in the disappearance of a San Marino couple in the 1980s.

Saltzman can be reached at jsaltzman@globe.com

Correction: Because of an editing error, a story in yesterday's Metro section about a defense motion filed for the man who calls himself Clark Rockefeller gave an incorrect date for when his trial is scheduled to begin. It is May 26.