Despite changes instituted by the Winston-Salem Police Department to help ensure they have the right man, District Attorney Tom Keith realizes the shooting death of Sgt. Howard Plouff could be a racially-charged cased. So he’s asking for a gag order following comments by defense attorney Mark Rabil questionning whether or not the police department should be investigating the death of an officer.

Both attorneys realize that media scrutiny is heightened following the constroversy (to say the least) surrounding the Duke lacrosse case:

When reached by phone last night, Keith declined to comment about the motion.

“I don’t want to talk to the media about anything,” he said….

Rabil also acknowledged Friday that there is “heightened sensitivity” to comments made about court cases because of the allegations against Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong.

Nifong faces ethics charges brought by the N.C. State Bar in part because of comments he made to the media early in the case involving allegations of a sexual assault made against players for the Duke lacrosse team last year.

Again, it will be interesting to see how police so quickly tied Carter to the murder weapon among a frantic crowd people in a club parking lot.