AJC seeks to unseal records in Ellis trial
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Channel 2 Action News have asked the judge in the trial of former DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis to unseal more than two dozen documents that have been hidden from public view because of concerns about pretrial publicity.
The motion, filed Monday, said that the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution gives the public and the press the right to view trial records, and that a hearing should have been held before documents were sealed.
The sealed documents include allegations of contempt of court, discovery violations and various undefined motions.
Senior Assistant District Attorney Christopher Timmons had requested that the records be restricted from public view.
“The state is concerned that if the motions, responses and notices are filed publicly, the media may publish arguments and inadmissible evidence that would taint potential jurors without sufficient time for either party to recover from the taint,” Timmons wrote Aug. 22.
Superior Court Judge Courtney Johnson approved the request Aug. 25, writing that the potential harm to the jury pool outweighs the public’s interest in accessing documents.
But attorneys for the AJC and Channel 2 wrote that the public has a right to access records.
“The United States Supreme Court has emphasized that public access to judicial records and proceedings is critical to the effective functioning not only of the particular proceeding in question, but to our entire system of self-government,” wrote Thomas Clyde and Lesli Gaither of Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton.
The AJC and Channel 2 are owned by Cox Media Group.
About the Author
Mark Niesse is an enterprise reporter and covers elections and Georgia government for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and is considered an expert on elections and voting. Before joining the AJC, he worked for The Associated Press in Atlanta, Honolulu and Montgomery, Alabama. He also reported for The Daily Report and The Santiago Times in Chile.
