City prosecutors are opposing a request by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser and other news organizations asking the Hawaii Supreme Court to unseal transcripts of closed proceedings in federal agent Christopher Deedy’s murder case.
The newspaper and Hawaii News Now also asked the high court to prohibit Circuit Judge Karen Ahn from closing future court proceedings in the case without first giving the public a chance to object.
In their opposition filed with the court Thursday, city prosecutors said the media’s request is "premature" because they never asked Ahn about unsealing the transcript or ending closed court sessions.
The filing complied with the high court’s order issued Sept. 20 directing Ahn, city prosecutors and Deedy to respond to the request within 20 days.
By the 4:30 p.m. close of business Thursday, Ahn had not filed a response.
Deedy’s lawyer earlier this week filed a response saying Deedy joins in the media’s request.
Ahn held the closed sessions before she reopened the court and declared a mistrial Aug. 26 after the jury reported it could not reach a verdict in Deedy’s murder trial.
Ahn held a 20-minute bench conference with the jury not present, then cleared the courtroom before reopening it for her mistrial ruling.
Deedy was charged with murdering Kollin Elderts in the 2011 shooting at a Waikiki McDonald’s restaurant.
Ahn scheduled jury selection for June for Deedy’s retrial.
The high court’s options include ruling on the media’s request, asking for more legal briefs or scheduling a hearing before rendering a decision.
The prosecutors said in their filing that the media have not shown that court proceedings have been "historically open to the public" when they relate to jury deliberations and when they occur during the deliberations.
The media’s request is "extremely unreasonable," the prosecutors said.
The request, the prosecutors said, "ignores the realities of criminal trials and the unforeseeable situations that may legitimately require immediate courtroom closure."
In their request, the Star-Advertiser and Hawaii News Now said Ahn violated the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment.
She excluded the public and media from court proceedings they presumptively had a right to attend and denied them access to transcripts they presumptively have a right to view, the news organizations said.
A variety of other news and media organizations filed a brief supporting the request.
They include Civil Beat, the online news website; television stations KITV and KHON; The Associated Press; Hawaii Public Radio; Hawaii Reporter; the Hawaii chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists; Media Council Hawaii; and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
