An Anaconda judge on Wednesday denied an attempt by six Montana media organizations, including the Montana Free Press, to make public all of the court documents in the murder case against Michael Brown, the man police say shot and killed four people in Anaconda last summer.
The shooting took place inside The Owl Bar in the town of about 9,000 in southwestern Montana. The victims were Nancy Lauretta Kelley, 64; Daniel Edwin Baillie, 59; David Allen Leach, 70; and Tony Wayne Palm, 74. Immediately following their deaths, Brown hid in the mountains outside city limits for a week before he was apprehended by law enforcement. Charges against Brown include four counts of deliberate homicide, as well as arson, theft and intentionally evading law enforcement.
During the time that Brown hid from police, District Court Judge Jeffrey Dahood granted a motion to seal all documents in the case, a move that was later lifted for some — but not all — of the case records.
The press had sought to become a part of the criminal case against Brown in a very limited scope, only to ask that the documents be unsealed. Dahood rejected that request on Wednesday, saying the media outlets did not show why they would have authority to become a part of the case.
Though Dahood unsealed many of the documents in late August, some remained inaccessible at the request of Smith. Smith argued that because of the “extensive media coverage and public engagement in this case,” the court should continue to seal “numerous documents” to protect Brown’s right to a fair trial.
“Many of the facts and evidence within the State’s possession have not been disseminated publicly and will be crucial to the State’s prosecution of this matter,” Smith wrote. “The details surrounding the commission of the crimes alleged in this case, should they be subject to public dissemination, would greatly prejudice the prospective jury pool and taint the ability to impanel an impartial jury.”
The media coalition includes Montana Free Press; Montana Newspaper Association; Montana Broadcasters Association; Montana Freedom of Information Hotline; Lee Enterprises, which owns five in-state newspapers; and States Newsroom, which operates the Daily Montanan.
In their motion, attorneys for the media outlets cited the state Constitution’s right-to-know clause, which entitles the public to view the documents and proceedings of public entities, “except in cases in which the demand of individual privacy clearly exceeds the merits of public disclosure.” The media coalition argued the court cannot justify the lack of public access and was errant when it did not allow the press to object to the sealing of the documents before that happened.
President of the Montana Newspaper Association Jim Strauss, who is part of the legal effort to unseal documents, declined Thursday to comment on the motion’s denial prior to speaking with counsel on Friday.
In a Jan. 21 interview, Strauss said the motion was intended to prevent a legal precedent of sealed documents.
“The press is statutorily entitled to be heard before documents are sealed,” Strauss said. “That did not happen.”
John Adams, executive director of Montana Free Press, said unsealing the documents “allows journalists to accurately report on what the court is doing, rather than try to explain a case that’s unfolding largely out of public view.”
“This isn’t just about one case. It’s about whether Montana’s transparency laws mean what they say,” Adams wrote in response to emailed questions. “If court records can be sealed wholesale without notice or findings, that affects every newsroom and every Montanan who relies on open courts to understand how justice is administered in our state.”
Neither Smith nor Brown’s public defenders responded to requests for comment about the motion.
In mid-December, the court rescheduled Brown’s upcoming January trial because Brown “lacks fitness to proceed,” according to a joint motion from the state and defense that was accompanied by a psychologist’s assessment. Brown is currently undergoing a 90-day psychological evaluation with the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services that will conclude in March.
Montana Free Press is a party to the lawsuit reported on in this story.
This story was originally published by Montana Free Press at montanafreepress.org.
