A state judge has granted a request by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser to release the transcripts of closed court proceedings before she declared a mistrial in federal agent Christopher Deedy’s murder case.
The transcripts involved a report by the jury foreman who expressed concerns because he saw a juror shaking hands with a man associated with one of the two sides in the courtroom.
But the juror said he had worked with the man seven years ago, didn’t see him in court and said the handshake didn’t affect his judgment, according to the transcripts.
Circuit Judge Karen Ahn had sealed the transcripts, but said in her ruling Monday that "a substantial part" of the court’s concerns about keeping the document secret "no longer apply" because the jurors have been discharged.
Jeffrey Portnoy, lawyer for the newspaper and Hawaii News Now, which joined in the request, said they are "obviously very pleased" with the release.
But he said it’s clear that the transcripts should have been released the day after the mistrial was declared six months ago on Aug. 26.
"There is nothing in the transcript that could possibly prejudice the parties or any subsequent jury," he said. "The issue that was being discussed was very unique, isolated to a single juror and had nothing to do with the evidence. It is not clear to me why it wasn’t released immediately."
He added, "The bottom line is it turned out to be nothing."
Deedy, a State Department special agent, is charged in the highly publicized case with murdering Kollin Elderts of Kailua in a 2011 shooting at a Waikiki McDonald’s restaurant.
After 20 days of testimony and five days of deliberations, the jury ended up deadlocked, unable to decide whether Deedy should be acquitted or convicted of murder.
The jury foreman later reported the panel was split 8-4 in favor of acquittal.
Ahn is scheduled to preside over a retrial. Jury selection is set for June.
Prior to the mistrial, Ahn held private sessions in her chambers and in the courtroom.
According to the transcripts, the sessions dealt with a discussion among the judge and lawyers for Deedy and the prosecution about a report that the foreman saw a man shake a juror’s hand and sit on one side of the courtroom.
During the trial, Deedy’s family sat in the gallery behind the defendant, while Elderts’ family was on the other side sitting behind the prosecution.
The foreman also said he saw the man eating lunch with one of the families at Restaurant Row, according to the transcript.
The transcript was redacted to keep confidential the names of the foreman and the juror and the identity of the family.
The juror said he shook hands with a man as he was walking by him and might have seen him another time at the courthouse, according to the transcript.
But the juror said he never talked to the man and didn’t notice him in the courtroom.
During the last closed session of the trial, Deedy’s attorney Brook Hart wanted the juror to be questioned more extensively.
But Ahn opened the courtroom, called the jury back and asked each juror whether more deliberations would help them reach a verdict.
After they all asserted more time would not help them, she declared the mistrial, but the transcripts remained sealed.
The Star-Advertiser and HNN asked the Hawaii Supreme Court for court orders unsealing the transcripts and directing Ahn not to hold closed sessions without giving the public a chance to object.
The high court sent the case back to Ahn on the issue of whether the transcripts should be unsealed.
In her ruling Monday, Ahn said during discussions with deliberating jurors, the judge must avoid intruding into the deliberations and exposing jurors to improper influences.
She said in a case of high public interest, a juror answering questions in front of family and friends of the parties in the case and in front of the news media might expose the juror to pressure and jeopardize the judges’ quest for candid answers.
She said "public access would not play a significant public role in the functioning of this process."
The case will now return to the high court regarding the still-pending request for an order to set guidelines for judges as to when they can close court proceedings.
Although the transcripts are released, "it doesn’t get to the seminal issue of under what circumstances can a judge close the courtroom and seal the transcript," Portnoy said.
The online news site Civil Beat, other television stations, the Associated Press and other media and news organizations filed a brief in support of the request by the newspaper and HNN.
