a public defender

Yesterday, Judge Damiani ruled that redacted versions of the 11 search warrants used by police to investigate the Cheshire killings be unsealed. The Hartford Courant sought to have the warrants unsealed, presumably to keep publishing sensational stories.

The defense’s argument is a logical one: Given the existing media coverage, it will be difficult to find an impartial jury. If further details from the warrants are made public, specifically the alleged confessions, the task gets even more arduous. Judge Damiani’s response was to have portions of the warrants redacted. Which portions? We do not know.

Tom Ullman showed up at the last hearing with a thick binder with contained all the media coverage of the killings up to that point, documenting the extreme reactions of the people of Connecticut. That folder is about to get thicker.

Besides the fact that this would be a cash cow for the press, I cannot think of another reason why the Courant is so invested in having these warrants unsealed. Their argument that “the citizens want to know” or “have a right to know” or some such nonsense doesn’t outweigh the defendant’s right to have a fair trial by an impartial jury.

This will just make the already difficult task of picking a jury for a capital trial that much more difficult.