Circuit Judge Karen Ahn has formally opposed the media’s request for a court order prohibiting her from holding closed court sessions in the Christopher Deedy murder case without first giving the public a chance to object, clearing the way for the Hawaii Supreme Court to rule.
In papers filed with the state Supreme Court on Friday, state attorneys said Ahn also opposed the request by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser and Hawaii News Now for an order unsealing the transcripts of closed court proceedings held prior to declaring a mistrial in the case in August, the lawyers said.
The judge’s response to the request clears the way for the high court to rule in one of the most significant cases in Hawaii dealing with the public’s access to criminal court proceedings.
The five-member court can now issue a ruling, ask for more legal briefs or conduct a hearing before making a decision.
The Deedy murder trial, which got underway in July, was one of the state’s most highly publicized in years. Deedy, a State Department special agent from Virginia, is charged with murdering Kollin Elderts in a 2011 shooting at a McDonald’s restaurant in Waikiki.
After calling the lawyers to court Aug. 26, Ahn announced that the jury could not reach a verdict.
When Deedy’s attorney Brook Hart said his client objected to a mistrial, the judge held a 20-minute private bench conference in front of a packed gallery, but with the jury out of the courtroom.
After the conference, Ahn cleared the courtroom. When she later reopened it, Ahn questioned the jurors and then declared the mistrial.
Ahn had also earlier in the day held three sessions in her private chambers in the secured area of the courthouse.
The judge sealed the transcripts of the day’s closed sessions.
The Star-Advertiser and television stations KHNL and KGMB, which do business as Hawaii News Now, filed their request last month. They argued that Ahn violated the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment.
In their opposition, state attorneys disclosed that the closed proceedings were "to address matters relating to the jury" and that two jurors were "interviewed by the court twice, separately."
The state lawyers said the media’s request should be denied because they did not object to the closures, and that the issue of unsealing the transcripts should first be heard by the judge.
Jeffrey Portnoy, the media’s attorney, said Friday there is no constitutional requirement that the media object.
The media’s contention is that before the judge closes the courtroom, the judge must give the media and public a chance to be heard, Portnoy said.
Portnoy also said the media had earlier in the trial expressed their concerns to the judge about private bench conferences with the jury out of the courtroom.
Major news outlets and other media organizations filed a "friend-of-the-court" brief supporting the request. They include Civil Beat, the online news website; The Associated Press; other television stations; and the Hawaii chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.
The Hawaii Supreme Court issued an order Sept. 20 directing the judge, the defense and prosecutors to respond to the media’s request within 20 days, which expired Thursday.
State lawyers filed Ahn’s response Friday morning.
Deedy’s lawyer earlier in the week filed papers in support of the media’s request. City prosecutors said they oppose the request.
Ahn scheduled jury selection for Deedy’s retrial for June.
