The chief of Suffolk County homicide prosecutions yesterday told a Superior Court judge that the grand jury investigating the murder of Julissa Brisman and the armed robbery of another woman at downtown Boston hotels was not tainted by news articles the case and that its findings were not leaked to the media.

At a hearing called by attorneys for PHILIP MARKOFF (D.O.B. 2/12/86) of Quincy, Assistant District Attorney Edmond Zabin told Judge Frank Gaziano that “the grand jury heard about forensic links to the defendant, fingerprints, [and] information gleaned from internet service providers” and that, in light of the evidence grand jurors heard, “it is quite a stretch to say that the grand jury’s determination of probable cause [to indict Markoff] was tainted by media coverage of the case.”

Moreover, Zabin said, it would be pointless to shield grand jurors from news accounts of every crime that occurs within their jurisdiction.

“There is no practical way of telling grand jurors not to read media reports because, at some time in the course of their service, they’re going to see something about a case that they’re going to hear evidence about,” Zabin said.

The hearing was called by Markoff’s attorneys, who alleged in a motion not only that the grand jury’s indictment was tainted by extraneous information but also that information developed in the grand jury was leaked to the press.

“I can state for the Court that … no such information has made it into the public domain, nor was disseminated in any fashion,” Zabin said. The prosecutor also noted that at least half of the news stories supporting the defense motion have been proven partly or wholly incorrect.

Gaziano took the defense motion under advisement and will issue a ruling at a later date.

Also addressed at the hearing were three separate defense motions, including a motion to preserve evidence in the case – a motion to which prosecutors readily assented and which Gaziano allowed.

Gaziano denied a defense motion that would have taken prosecutors’ notices of discovery, which document the evidence turned over to defense counsel, and all future court filings away from public scrutiny. Prosecutors have filed two such notices to date in the Markoff case, one documenting grand jury proceedings and the other detailing more than 175 pages of investigative documents regarding forensic testing, witness statements, and police activity.

Gazianio allowed a motion precluding prosecutors from filing a statement of the case against Markoff. The Commonwealth’s statement of the case, customarily filed with every Suffolk Superior Court indictment, is a summary of the allegations against a given defendant and the evidence supporting those allegations. Gaziano rendered his decision without prejudice, meaning that it may be reconsidered at a later date.

Markoff is represented by attorney John Salsberg. His case will return to court on Aug. 11.