Gag order sought for ‘Cartel Crew’ reality show star whose sister died by gun play in Miami

Salomé “Betty” Jackson boasts hundreds of thousands of followers on social media. She appears on VH1’s “Cartel Crew,” a reality show about the children of organized crime families. After her teenage sister was fatally shot at a Miami house party last year, in what authorities called an accidental shooting, she has used her fame to “raise awareness” about the case.

But on the show and social media, Jackson has also repeatedly ripped the justice system and judges, and police and prosecutors, suggesting they are going soft on Michael McGowan, the teen charged with manslaughter in her sister’s death. And McGowan, his defense lawyers say, has received “numerous death threats” because of her online posts.

Now, McGowan’s defense lawyers are asking a Miami-Dade judge to stop any evidence in the case from being shared with Jackson — and the public — and to issue a gag order that would stop her from talking to witnesses in the case before trial. The motion was filed days after VH1 broadcast an episode of Cartel Crew that showed Jackson speaking with one eyewitness in depth.

The motion would not seek to bar Jackson from speaking about the case on social media or on the show.

“While the First Amendment protects the freedom of the press and the right to free speech, reality TV stardom does not supersede the constitutional right to a fair trial by an unbiased, untainted jury of your peers,” defense attorneys Mycki Ratzan and Jude Faccidomo wrote in their motion to the court.

A hearing on the issue will be held Wednesday before Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Lody Jean. The Miami Herald is opposing the request, in part because it asks for all “discovery,” or evidence in the case, to be kept secret. The State Attorney’s Office has already turned over a significant amount of evidence to the defense.

“Discovery in criminal cases is a public record under Florida’s public records law,” said Miami lawyer Scott Ponce, who is representing the Herald. “It can be withheld from the public in only the rarest of cases. This is not one of those cases

The Herald, in a motion filed Monday, also called the move a “gag order” and said it would violate Jackson’s right to free speech.

“It’s pretty far out there to argue that a court can muzzle someone who is not before the court, especially a victim’s family,” Ponce said. “There’s just no basis for that kind of restriction on speech.”

Jackson did not respond to a request for comment. Her Miami attorney, Jasmine Rand, did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

But in a response filed to the court late Monday, Rand pointed out that in a county as large as Miami-Dade, it would be “facially implausible” to suggest that pretrial publicity or limiting the release of evidence in the case would hurt McGowan’s ability to get a fair trial.

“Avoiding prejudice and protecting the right to a fair trial does not mean ensuring that jurors have never read about or seen reports regarding these proceedings or discovery materials,” Rand wrote. “Florida courts and the United States Supreme Court have repeatedly held that the parties in criminal proceedings are entitled to impartial jurors, not ignorant jurors.”

The death was one of a series of accidental shootings of young people in Miami-Dade County in 2020, as the pandemic raged and young people were stuck at home.

Police say McGowan accidentally shot and killed Jackson’s sister, 17-year-old Giselle “Gigi” Rengifo, while hanging out with friends at an AirBnb rental studio in Miami’s Coral Way neighborhood on May 18, 2020. McGowan, who was 17 at the time, was later charged as an adult with manslaughter with a deadly weapon.

Since the death, Jackson has grieved very publicly, posting frequent remembrances and photos of her sister, which is not unusual for relatives of victims of violence. But Jackson’s reach is broader than most.

A singer who also appeared on “Love & Hip-Hop: Atlanta,” Jackson boasts over 262,000 followers on Instagram and over 17,600 on Twitter. She’s most known for appearing on Cartel Crew, where she’s talked about her father being part of the Cali Cartel. The show is currently airing its third season.

A major plot line on the show, and on Jackson’s social media accounts, has centered on “Justice for Gigi.” Jackson has touted an online Change.org petition — signed by nearly 40,000 people — that blasts Miami police for “ignoring all the evidence,” although it doesn’t specify what.

After McGowan was granted a bond and allowed to await trial at home last year, Jackson took to Twitter to angrily suggest the move was racially motivated. Jackson, who is of Colombian descent, is Black — as is McGowan.

“My sister is of color so she doesn’t get the same justice as a white girl that would get shot in the head by a black boy,” Jackson cried, in a video posted on Twitter. “The person gets to go home and f***ing be with their family! That is justice in America!”

In Florida, however, people accused of manslaughter are entitled to a bond. McGowan had no previous criminal history.

For McGowan’s defense lawyers, the most troubling part of the show was from the episode that aired this month. It showed Jackson meeting at a bayside park with Fernanda Gaitan, one of the eyewitnesses who saw McGowan playing with the gun. Set against dramatic music, Gaitan recounts what happened, then agrees with Jackson’s opinion that it wasn’t accidental.

“It’s not accidental ... it’s racist as hell,” Gaitan says of the charge.

But to prove second-degree murder, for example, prosecutors need to show “ill will, hatred or spite.” McGowan admitted he was holding the gun when “it was discharged accidentally,” and the three eyewitness — including Gaitan — “corroborated” his statement, according to an arrest report.

“This is an accidental shooting by a juvenile. Michael was immediately direct filed and charged as an adult,” Faccidomo, McGowan’s lawyer said. “To suggest that the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office is not aggressively prosecuting this case is misguided.”

Asked for comment, the State Attorneys’ Office declined to outline its position yet.

“Any pertinent responses are best articulated only in the proper courtroom setting,” State Attorney’s spokesman Ed Griffith said.

Jackson is not a listed witness or party in the case, but as the next of kin to the victim, has a right to attend and speak at legal proceedings under a Florida law known as “Marsy’s Law.”

According to its motion filed in court, McGowan’s defense lawyers also suggest that Jackson speaking to Gaitan and others in the AirBnB that night could amount to witness tampering. “Ms. Gaitan, a listed state witness, indicates that she will comply with any instruction or direction given to her by the next of kin regarding her role as a witness in the state’s case,” the motion said.

McGowan’s lawyers have now sent a subpoena to VH1 to get any other video. Gaitan’s statements on the show — and any differences in her original testimony to detectives — could be highlighted by the defense at a future trial.

In her response on Monday night, Jackson’s lawyer denied that interviewing Gaitan was witness tampering. But Rand agreed that Jackson and her relatives would not contact any more witnesses in the case.

This story was originally published June 15, 2021 at 7:00 AM.