EVERETT – A Snohomish County judge Thursday decided to keep sealed dozens of legal documents contained in a divorce file involving lobbyist Ron Dotzauer, a friend and adviser of U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell.
The bulk of the file, now 14 volumes containing more than 3,500 pages, will one day be open for public scrutiny, Superior Court Judge Thomas Wynne said.
But that won’t happen until sometime after Nov. 16, when court orders may be signed, Wynne said.
The file was sealed in 1994, in keeping with court rules that have since shifted toward providing greater access.
Litigation over the divorce raged on and off for a decade, twice as long as the failed marriage, Wynne noted. He said the file contains allegations by both sides – some proven, some not, some shown to be wrong.
Reporters sought the unsealing of Dotzauer’s file to see if it might shed light on a loan Cantwell made in 1999 to the lobbyist. Neither Cantwell nor Dotzauer have chosen to answer questions about the loan.
Mike McGavick, a Republican, is challenging Democrat Cantwell in the Nov. 7 general election. She has consistently reported the loan to Dotzauer as an asset in federal financial disclosure records, placing the amount between $15,000 and $50,000.
Dotzauer’s attorney, Camden Hall, on Thursday asked Wynne whether he would entertain motions to keep more records under seal.
Dotzauer’s ex-wife, Angela Douglas, through her lawyer urged Wynne to make much of the file public, including records about marital counseling the former couple received in the late 1980s.
In court pleadings filed Oct. 19, Douglas accused Dotzauer of trying to “prevent public disclosure of incidents of his poor judgment, bad behavior and possible illegal actions.”
The law is clear that court files can’t be sealed simply because they contain allegations somebody finds “scurrilous or embarrassing,” Wynne said.
The judge said he’s identified nearly 50 different documents that should remain under seal because they deal with medical information, a child’s school test scores or tax records.
Portions of 70 other records must be edited to avoid disclosure of birth dates, Social Security numbers and bank account information, the judge said.
Wynne said he plans to keep under seal the deposition of a psychiatrist who met with Dotzauer and his former wife prior to their divorce. Making that document public could undermine doctor-patient confidentiality, Wynne said.
The judge said he knows the deposition he plans to keep sealed has been posted to a Web page by Stefan Sharkansky. The Seattle blogger on Sept. 28 convinced a judge pro tempore to briefly unseal the divorce file.
The deposition should have remained private, but “I can’t take back what’s out there,” Wynne said. He added that Sharkansky had done nothing inappropriate by seeking access to a sealed filed.
The Dotzauer file is just one of about 1,200 Superior Court cases now being reviewed at Wynne’s direction to determine what parts should remain secret and what should be open to the public.
Reporter Scott North: 425-339-3431 or north@heraldnet.com.
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