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VALLEY BROADCASTING COMPANY, Petitioner,
v.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR the DISTRICT OF NEVADA, Respondent,
United States of America, Anthony Spilotro, et al., Real Parties
in Interest.
798 F.2d 1289
No. 86-7103.
United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.
Submitted March 21, 1986.
Decided Sept. 2, 1986.
Counsel
Janet Frasier Phillips, Las Vegas, Nev., for petitioner.
L.J. O'Neale, Dept. of Justice, Washington, D.C., for respondent.
Mandamus from the United States District Court for the District
of Nevada.
CYNTHIA HOLCOMB HALL, Circuit Judge:
This case requires us to decide whether the public's common
law right to copy and inspect public records and documents includes
the right to copy audio and videotape exhibits as they are received
in evidence during a criminal trial.
Valley Broadcasting Company (Valley Broadcasting) brought
this petition for writ of mandamus after the district court denied
its request to copy certain audio and video tapes as they were
admitted into evidence in United States v. Spilotro, et. al.,
CR-LV-83-11-LDG (Spilotro), a prominent RICO conspiracy case
now underway in Nevada. That case arises from a 1983 indictment
alleging that Anthony Spilotro and numerous others engaged in
various racketeering enterprises associated with the so-called
"Hole-in-the-Wall Gang." [FN1] The indictment alleges
that Spilotro and others planned and conducted a series of residential
burglaries and distributed the stolen proceeds through a fencing
network.
FN1. We take judicial notice of the widely-publicized death
of Anthony Spilotro and his brother Michael that has undoubtedly
heightened the public awareness of the instant proceeding. See
Fed.R.Evid. 201. Both Anthony Spilotro and his brother were found
buried in a northwest Indiana cornfield in June 1986. See Los
Angeles Times, June 24, 1986, at 1, col. 5.
On January 31, 1985, Valley Broadcasting's television station,
KVBC-TV, filed an application to permit its correspondents to
attend all judicial proceedings in the case and to copy all evidence,
including audio and video tapes, after admission into evidence.
On June 17, 1985, the district court granted the application.
On January 14, 1986, after three weeks of voir dire, the jury
was empaneled, and the Spilotro trial commenced. On February
6, 1986, several exhibits consisting of black and white photographs
were admitted into evidence and displayed in open court. The
district court denied KVBC-TV access to the exhibits and informed
its counsel that the district court's prior order granting access
to all exhibits had been temporarily restrained. On February
21, the district court lifted its restrictions on access to all
exhibits except for certain audio and video tapes. It is access
to these items of evidence that Valley Broadcasting now seeks
in its petition for writ of mandamus. [FN2]
FN2. During our consideration of this matter, the Spilotro
case suffered a mistrial. A new trial has now commenced. Because
Valley Broadcasting continues to seek access to the tapes and
because that access is still being denied by the district court,
this petition is not mooted by the mistrial. See generally Southern
Pacific Terminal Co. v. ICC, 219 U.S. 498, 31 S.Ct. 279, 55 L.Ed.
310 (1911).
In denying Valley Broadcasting's request for access to the
tapes, the district court relied upon the Fifth Circuit's opinion
in Belo Broadcasting Corp. v. Clark, 654 F.2d 423, 434 (5th Cir.1981).
The district court held that Valley Broadcasting's common law
right of physical access to the tapes in evidence was outweighed
by: (a) the administrative and mechanical difficulties attending
inspection and copying of the tapes, including the possibility
of erasure or loss of the originals; (b) the difficulty of selecting
jurors in related but yet untried cases; and (c) the danger that
jurors in the Spilotro trial itself might be exposed to press
reports and that a mistrial might result.
In response to an order of this court to supplement the record,
the government has submitted copies of the indictments in the
cases the government contends bear some relation to the evidence
sought to be copied by Valley Broadcasting. One of those cases,
United States v. Spilotro, et al., CR-LV-83-116-LDG (the "witness"
case), is based on an indictment alleging that Anthony Spilotro
along with Wayne Matecki conspired to obstruct justice and to
interfere with the civil rights of Sherwin Lister, a government
informant and witness, by causing or conspiring to cause his
death. The other criminal action, United States v. Spilotro,
et al., CR-LV-81-92-HEC (the "jewelry" case), involves
an indictment alleging that Spilotro along with several others
operated a racketeering scheme for the distribution of jewelry
stolen from Illinois and New York establishments. Among the defendants
in that action is Joseph C. Blasko, a former detective with the
Organized Crime Bureau of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
The government has also provided us with the transcripts of
the audio and video tapes which may be introduced in the Spilotro
trial. These tapes generally record conversations occurring during
the planning or commission of residential burglaries. The district
court also has confirmed that copies of the original audio and
video tapes are in existence and are in the possession of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
MANDAMUS
[1] Mandamus is an "extraordinary remedy" that should
be invoked only in "exceptional circumstances," Will
v. United States, 389 U.S. 90, 95, 88 S.Ct. 269, 273, 19 L.Ed.2d
305 (1967), and we have articulated several objective criteria
designed to guide us in the exercise of our power to issue such
a writ. In considering whether to grant a petition for writ of
mandamus we must determine whether:
(1) The party seeking the writ has no other adequate means,
such as a direct appeal, to attain the relief he or she desires.
(2) The petitioner will be damaged or prejudiced in a way not
correctable on appeal.... (3) The district court's order is clearly
erroneous as a matter of law. (4) The district court's order
is an oft-repeated error, or manifests a persistent disregard
of the federal rules. (5) The district court's order raises new
and important problems, or issues of law of first impression.
Bauman v. United States District Court, 557 F.2d 650, 654-55
(9th Cir.1977).
These factors are to be considered in the aggregate and often
require a careful weighing before an appellate court can determine
whether a writ should issue. [FN3] Nonetheless, the factors are
not intended to "supplant reasoned and independent analysis"
but rather "serve only as a useful starting point, an analytic
framework for determinations regarding the propriety of mandamus
relief." In re Cement Antitrust Litigation, 688 F.2d 1297,
1301 (9th Cir.1982), aff'd sub nom. Arizona v. United States
District Court, 459 U.S. 1191, 103 S.Ct. 1173, 75 L.Ed.2d 425
(1983).
FN3. While we have not issued a writ based upon a finding
that only one of the criteria was satisfied or when the majority
of the factors militated against issuance of the writ, satisfaction
of all of the factors is not required. See Bauman, 557 F.2d at
655-56; United States v. Harper, 729 F.2d 1216, 1222 (9th Cir.1984).
In fact, it is difficult to envision a case that involves both
an oft-repeated error as well as an issue of law of first impression.
Valley Broadcasting cannot attain the requested relief on
direct appeal because the tapes it seeks to copy will lose much
of their newsworthiness during the pendency of the trial. Furthermore,
because KVBC-TV seeks to obtain the tapes for contemporaneous
broadcast, when presumably they will pack the greatest punch,
delay will prejudice its application "in a way not correctable
on appeal." Bauman, 557 F.2d at 654. Finally, this case
raises a question of first impression in this circuit. Accordingly,
we find that KVBC-TV's petition satisfies three of the five Bauman
factors. In these circumstances, we believe that whether mandamus
should issue turns on whether the district court's denial of
Valley Broadcasting's application for immediate access to the
tapes was "clearly erroneous as a matter of law." Id.
PRECEDENT
The issue of when members of the public or the news media
have the right to copy and inspect judicial records has never
been fully addressed by the Supreme Court. See Nixon v. Warner
Communications, Inc., 435 U.S. 589, 598, 98 S.Ct. 1306, 1312,
55 L.Ed.2d 570 (1978). The question, however, has been considered
recently by several courts of appeals. See, e.g., United States
v. Beckham, 789 F.2d 401 (6th Cir.1986); United States v. Guzzino
(In re CBS, Inc.), 766 F.2d 302 (7th Cir.1985); United States
v. Edwards (In re Video-Indiana, Inc.), 672 F.2d 1289 (7th Cir.1982);
United States v. Criden (In re National Broadcasting Co.), 648
F.2d 814 (3d Cir.1981). At the outset, it is important for us
to delineate which rights are implicated by this question and
which are not.
[2] The first and fourteenth amendments secure the public's
constitutional right to attend criminal trials, [FN4] see Globe
Newspaper Co. v. Superior Court, 457 U.S. 596, 102 S.Ct. 2613,
73 L.Ed.2d 248 (1982); Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Virginia,
448 U.S. 555, 100 S.Ct. 2814, 65 L.Ed.2d 973 (1980). See also
Radio and T.V. News Association v. United States District Court,
781 F.2d 1443, 1446-47 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----,
106 S.Ct. 2276, 90 L.Ed.2d 719 (1986), a right which is essential
to publicizing the workings of criminal justice. United States
v. Mouzin, 559 F.Supp. 463, 466 (C.D.Cal.1983). Because courtroom
space is inherently limited, and because the public is dispersed,
the media plays an indispensable representative role in gathering
and disseminating to the public current information on trials.
Richmond Newspapers, 448 U.S. at 573, 581-82 n. 18, 100 S.Ct.
at 2829-30 n. 18; Beckham, 789 F.2d at 406. In this case, however,
KVBC-TV was granted access to the proceedings themselves and
was provided with transcripts of the exhibits admitted into evidence.
Any first amendment rights to which existing case law entitled
Valley Broadcasting were amply satisfied by the district court's
provision for media access to the trial itself.
FN4. This right to attend criminal proceedings is not absolute
and may be overcome by "an overriding [state] interest articulated
in findings." Richmond Newspapers, 448 U.S. at 581, 100
S.Ct. at 2829 (plurality opinion). Likewise, judicial nondisclosure
of sensitive information may be upheld when the interest sought
to be protected by nondisclosure is compelling and when the denial
of access is narrowly tailored to serve that interest. Globe
Newspaper, 457 U.S. at 606-07, 102 S.Ct. at 2619-20.
[3] Valley Broadcasting enjoys a common-law right to copy
and inspect the judicial records in the Spilotro trial which
is independent of the Constitution. The common-law right of access
has historically developed to accomplish many of the same purposes
as are advanced by the first amendment. For example, courts have
recognized that exercise of the right helps the public keep a
watchful eye on public institutions, State ex rel. Colscott v.
King, 154 Ind. 621, 621-27, 57 N.E. 535 (1900), and the activities
of government, State ex rel. Youmans v. Owens, 28 Wis.2d 672,
677, 137 N.W.2d 470 (1965). Yet the common-law right is not of
constitutional dimension, is not absolute, and is not entitled
to the same level of protection afforded constitutional rights.
Warner Communications, 435 U.S. at 597-98, 98 S.Ct. at 1311-12.
The common law right of access cannot, for example, be "
'used to gratify private spite or promote public scandal' through
the publication of 'the painful and sometimes disgusting details
of a divorce case.' " Warner Communications, 435 U.S. at
598, 98 S.Ct. at 1312 (quoting In re Caswell, 18 R.I. 835, 836,
29 A. 259 (1893)). Further, district courts may refuse "to
permit their files to serve as reservoirs of libelous statements
for press consumption," id. (citing Park v. Detroit Free
Press Co., 72 Mich. 560, 568, 40 N.W. 731, 734-35 (1888)), "or
as sources of business information that might harm a litigant's
competitive standing." Id. (citing Schmedding v. May, 85
Mich. 1, 5-6, 48 N.W. 201, 202 (1891)). [FN5] It is the scope
and extent of the common-law right of access alone that we must
define here.
FN5. None of the defendants has argued that any improper purposes
are present in this case.
COMMON-LAW ACCESS
[4] Two circuits have adopted tests that contain built-in
biases for or against disclosure. Compare United States v. Myers
(In re National Broadcasting Co.), 635 F.2d 945, 952 (2d Cir.1980)
("only the most compelling circumstances should prevent
contemporaneous public access to [reproducible evidentiary materials
introduced in a criminal trial]") (footnote omitted) with
Belo Broadcasting Corp. v. Clark, 654 F.2d 423, 431 (5th Cir.1981)
(adopting a general balancing test that characterizes the public's
right of access as typically subordinate to a defendant's competing
fair trial rights). The middle-ground stance--preferred by three
of the circuits that have ruled on applications to reproduce
taped evidence for subsequent broadcast--requires that the trial
court start with "a strong presumption" in favor of
access, to be overcome only "on the basis of articulable
facts known to the court, not on the basis of unsupported hypothesis
or conjecture." United States v. Edwards (In re Video-Indiana,
Inc.), 672 F.2d 1289, 1294 (7th Cir.1982); In re National Broadcasting
Co., Inc., 653 F.2d 609, 613 (D.C.Cir.1981) (courts should deny
access only if "justice so requires"); United States
v. Criden (In re National Broadcasting Co.), 648 F.2d 814, 823
(3d Cir.1981) ("strong presumption that material introduced
into evidence ... [should be accessible] for copying and broader
dissemination"). Also, a well-considered district court
decision by Judge Tashima applied the majority view. Mouzin,
559 F.Supp. at 465. For the reasons that follow, we also adopt
this view.
In Myers, the Second Circuit articulated the "compelling
circumstances" test that, as we have stated, carries with
it a built-in bias favoring access in most cases. In reaching
its conclusion, the Court relied extensively upon Supreme Court
precedents such as Richmond Newspapers and Nebraska Press Assn.
v. Stuart, 427 U.S. 539, 96 S.Ct. 2791, 49 L.Ed.2d 683 (1976).
Because the common-law right of access furthers concerns also
protected by the First Amendment, the Second Circuit expanded
the right to comparable proportions. The common-law right is
separate and distinct from rights guaranteed by the first amendment,
however, and the Supreme Court has marked out different levels
of protection. See Warner Communications, 435 U.S. at 602- 03,
609, 98 S.Ct. at 1314-15, 1317 (implying that a balancing approach
to access is required and that "[t]he First Amendment generally
grants the press no right to information about a trial superior
to that of the general public").
On the other hand, the Fifth Circuit's position in Belo Broadcasting
rests on a narrower reading of Warner Communications. In Belo
Broadcasting, the court stated that "[i]t is better to err,
if err we must, on the side of generosity in the protection of
a defendant's right to a fair trial before an impartial jury."
Belo Broadcasting, 654 F.2d at 431. We believe that Belo Broadcasting
is inconsistent with the Supreme Court's statement that there
is a presumption "however gauged" in favor of access.
Warner Communications, 435 U.S. at 602, 98 S.Ct. at 1314.
The majority approach adopted by the Seventh Circuit in United
States v. Edwards (In re Video-Indiana, Inc.), 672 F.2d 1289
(7th Cir.1982), strikes a balance that accommodates both the
presumption to which the common law right of access is entitled
and the limitations that may properly be placed upon it. In Edwards
the court stated:
While we are unwilling to go so far as the Second Circuit's
statement that only exceptional circumstances will justify non-access,
we hold that there is a strong presumption in support of the
common law right to inspect and copy judicial records. Where
there is a clash between the common law right of access and a
defendant's constitutional right to a fair trial, a court may
deny access, but only on the basis of articulated facts known
to the court, not on the basis of unsupported hypothesis or conjecture....
We stress that it is vital for a court clearly to state the basis
of its ruling, so as to permit appellate review of whether relevant
factors were considered and given
appropriate weight. Id. at 1294 (footnote omitted) (citations
omitted).
Such factors as promoting the public's understanding of the
judicial process and of significant public events justify creating
a "strong presumption" in favor of copying access.
[FN6] Counseling against such access would be the likelihood
of an improper use, "including publication of scandalous,
libelous, pornographic, or trade secret materials; infringement
of fair trial rights of the defendants or third persons; and
residual privacy rights." Criden, 648 F.2d at 830 (Weis,
J., concurring). [FN7] In short, the district court must weigh
"the interests advanced by the parties in the light of the
public interest and the duty of the courts." Warner Communications,
435 U.S. at 602, 98 S.Ct. at 1314.
FN6. Warner Communications, 435 U.S. at 602, 98 S.Ct. at 1314.
FN7. Courts have properly denied access when transmission
of reproduced material would result in the great public embarrassment
of a third party. See, e.g., In re KSTP Television, 504 F.Supp.
360 (D.Minn.1980) (access to tape showing acts preliminary to
victim's rape denied).
ABUSE OF DISCRETION
[5][6] We review a district court's denial of access to its
records for abuse of discretion. We conclude that the reasons
asserted by the district court were inadequate under Edwards
to overcome the strong presumption in favor of copying access.
Warner Communications, 435 U.S. at 599, 98 S.Ct. at 1312.
The district court held that three considerations militated
against disclosure of the tapes. First, the court gave substantial
weight to the administrative inconvenience of providing the media
with accurate replicas of the tapes on a day-by-day basis as
they were submitted into evidence. The court noted specifically
the danger of loss or erasure of the original copies of the exhibits.
Second, the court found that further publicity due to media exploitation
of the tapes might complicate selection of an unbiased jury in
upcoming trials. Finally, though it discounted the possibility
as unlikely, the court gave some weight to the risk that empanelled
jurors would disobey its instructions to avoid trial publicity
and be tainted by exposure to media reports broadcasting the
edited tapes and editorial comment upon them.
On the present record, the considerations advanced by the
district court do not justify the restraints it placed on the
public's right to inspect and copy judicial records. First, before
the district court rescinded its original order granting access
to the taped evidence, Valley Broadcasting developed, at the
clerk's direction, an unobtrusive out-of-court procedure for
obtaining copies of the tapes contemporaneously with the introduction
of the originals into evidence. Valley Broadcasting agreed to
provide the personnel and machinery required to copy the tapes
and to copy the tapes using duplicates of the original exhibits.
Valley Broadcasting would bear any additional expenses of reproduction.
In light of these procedures, the district court should have
given little, if any, weight to its administrative burdens in
this case.
We note, however, the qualified nature of our holding on this
issue. In this case, duplicates of the original exhibits are
in the possession of the FBI. Thus, there is no danger of loss
or destruction of the original exhibits in the files of the district
court. Further, we do not believe that the common law right of
access requires that a district court open its files to the press
and risk the loss or destruction of documents therein. The district
court should carefully weigh the danger of such risks in each
case where access is sought. If there is a reasonable possibility
of the destruction of original exhibits, the district court could
deny access. In such cases, however, we encourage the district
court to consider other mechanisms to provide the public with
access. The court may, for example, require the government to
file duplicates of exhibits, or in the case of audio and video
tapes, the court could allow members of the public to make recordings
of the tapes as they are played in court.
We also note that while Valley Broadcasting's proposed procedure
is unobtrusive and administratively feasible in this case, there
may be other cases in which articulable administrative difficulties
warrant a denial of access. [FN8] Such judgments rest in the
sound discretion of the district court, Warner Communications,
435 U.S. at 599, 98 S.Ct. at 1312, but the district court must
carefully state the articulable facts demonstrating an administrative
burden sufficient to deny access.
FN8. Of course, administrative burden is only one factor for
the district court to consider. We state only that cases might
arise in which the administrative burdens could be a legitimate
factor for denying access, and cases could arise in which the
administrative burdens of access are so substantial that they
justify denial on that basis alone. We need not, however, speculate
on what factors might create such a burden, and accordingly,
we leave the resolution of such a case for another day.
The district court also noted its concern with potential prejudice
to defendants in cases yet untried, and this concern is more
substantial. Initially, however, we note the limited prospect
for additional prejudicial exposure resulting from access to
these audio and video tapes. The media already enjoy an incontestable
first amendment right to publicize and editorialize on the contents
of the tapes whether or not copies are available for transmission.
See Cox Broadcasting v. Cohn, 420 U.S. 469, 95 S.Ct. 1029, 43
L.Ed.2d 328 (1975). The only potential prejudice appropriate
for consideration by the district court was, therefore, the added
prejudice that might result from broadcasting excerpts of the
tapes as opposed to simply describing their contents. While we
recognize that the added danger of jury taint arising from the
transmission of the tapes themselves may vary from case to case,
we reemphasize that the district court must articulate the factual
basis for the danger without relying on hypothesis or conjecture.
If a trial court experiences actual difficulty in the selection
of its jury and if there is a yet-to-be-tried case involving
related facts or issues related to the exhibits sought to be
copied, the possibility of jury taint may rise to the level of
an actual rather than a conjectural factor militating against
release. [FN9] See Criden, 648 F.2d at 827. In this case, the
district court noted that jury selection in the Spilotro case
was difficult and indicated its concern that the incremental
publicity caused by allowing Valley Broadcasting access to the
tapes might make jury selection troublesome in related cases
yet untried. But the district court did not undertake an exhibit-by-exhibit
review in order to determine which, if any, exhibits sought to
be copied and rebroadcast bore any relation to untried matters.
[FN10]
FN9. As Judge Weis has stated:
Prejudicial pretrial publicity that jeopardizes a defendant's
constitutional right to a fair and impartial jury is a continuing
problem for the nation's trial courts. It is obvious that the
courts cannot block publication of material that the press has
obtained. This is so even though the frequent invocation of customary
"remedies" for prejudicial publicity neglects to recognize
that their use may deprive the defendant of valued constitutional
rights, such as a speedy trial, a jury of the vicinage, or a
jury representing a fair cross section of the population. The
inability to limit prejudicial pretrial publicity, however, does
not mean that the courts are bound to contribute to it.
Criden, 648 F.2d at 833 (Weis, J., concurring).
FN10. The district court did not consider the possibility
of a retrial of these defendants to be a factor favoring a denial
of access. Even if such a factor were advanced,
[a]s a practical matter, it must be recognized that if on
appeal a new trial is ordered, considerable time will have elapsed
before the case is again presented to a jury. The possibility
of extensive television coverage of a retrial or of sustained
public interest over that period of time is doubtful at best.
So often newsworthy events greeted with excitement today only
evoke ennui tomorrow. Criden, 648 F.2d at 832 (Weis, J., concurring).
We have examined the indictments submitted by the government
in the "witness" case and in the "jewelry"
case, and we have reviewed the transcripts of the audio and video
tapes which may be introduced into evidence at trial. [FN11]
We can find, however, only one instance in which articulable
facts exist justifying a district court's denial of access. The
"witness" case, for example, bears no relation to the
instant action. The case arises from facts wholly apart from
those involved in the Spilotro trial and, after the death of
Spilotro, is not related to any of the contents of the audio
and video tapes. The "jewelry" case involves a stolen
jewelry distribution scheme completely separate from the scheme
alleged in the Spilotro indictment. With only one exception,
none of the audio and video tapes sought to be copied refers
to any of the defendants in the "jewelry" case.
FN11. Both the "witness" case and the "jewelry"
case will proceed despite the death of Anthony Spilotro.
One of the tapes apparently does refer to Joseph C. Blasko,
a named defendant in the "jewelry" case, in a manner
that could be considered prejudicial. Because of the pendency
of Blasko's trial in the "jewelry" case, because Blasko
was formerly a detective with the Las Vegas Police Department,
and because the "jewelry" case will be tried in Nevada,
we conclude that the district court would have been justified
in refusing access to copy that exhibit. [FN12] The difficulty
of jury selection in the Spilotro case coupled with the references
to Blasko in the exhibit constitutes an articulable fact not
the product of conjecture. Criden, 648 F.2d at 827. We find,
however, no other instances in which exhibits sought to be copied
by Valley Broadcasting bear any significant relationship to untried
matters. [FN13]
FN12. The exhibit is designated as:
Conversation on May 22, 1981, between:
Sal Romano
Ernie Davino
Leo Guardino
Larry Newman
Tony (Last Name Unknown)
The references to Blasko appear on pages 28-29 of the transcript.
FN13. Absent a direct reference to a yet-to-be-tried case,
we believe that any additional possibility of juror taint in
an upcoming proceeding caused by granting the press access to
judicial records can be overcome by using the screening device
of voir dire to ensure that no juror has a preconception of a
defendant's guilt. Also, if need be, the district court can grant
a change of venue or continuance to avoid lingering prejudicial
publicity. In our opinion, however, the district court should
not make too much of the hypothetical future-arising need to
resort to such extreme curative devices. "[D]efendants,
as well as the news media, frequently overestimate the extent
of the public's awareness of news." Myers, 635 F.2d at 953;
see also Columbia Broadcasting System v. United States District
Court, 729 F.2d 1174, 1179 (9th Cir.1984).
The risk of future juror prejudice is particularly small in
this case when, by the government's own admission, the evidence
is being used "primarily as corroboration for live witnesses
on secondary points." Further, the only tape "actually
showing a crime was a reel-to-reel ... video surveillance of
a burglary, showing murky figures on a rooftop."
Finally, the district court cited, as a justification for
denying media access to the tapes, the danger that jurors in
the Spilotro trial itself might be exposed to televised reports
broadcasting parts of the tapes. Although, as a practical matter,
television heightens the risk that jurors will be inadvertently
contaminated, the first amendment presupposes some danger of
juror exposure by granting the media access to the trial. Moreover,
the curious juror who disobeys his oath by watching a televised
report on the trial will be contaminated whether or not the report
airs footage from the tapes in evidence. The trial court is entitled
to consider and weigh the likelihood of irregular jury behavior
whenever to do so is not purely conjectural. However, here the
district court speculated that jurors might not only violate
their oaths but be incrementally prejudiced by the tapes themselves.
Without articulable facts, such speculation was conjecture, and
we hold that the district court abused its discretion by weighing
this conjectural factor in its analysis.
Because the district court clearly erred as a matter of law
by applying the test in Belo Broadcasting and because the factors
articulated by the district court would not have supported a
denial of access under Edwards, we grant part of the relief prayed
for in Valley Broadcasting's petition for writ of mandamus.
It is therefore ORDERED that the district court grant Valley
Broadcasting access, on the day the exhibits are received in
evidence, to the duplicate tapes in the custody of the FBI except
for tapes containing the conversations on May 22, 1981, between
Sal Romano, Ernie Davino, Lee Guardino, Larry Newman and Tony
(Last Name Unknown), PROVIDED Valley Broadcasting provides all
personnel and machinery necessary to effect a duplication of
the copies and PROVIDED Valley Broadcasting incurs any additional
expenses resulting from the copying procedure, and posts a reasonable
bond to assure the undamaged return of all government tapes to
the Clerk of the Court immediately upon the completion of the
copying.
Petition GRANTED in part, neither party to recover costs or
attorney fees in this court.
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