EVERETT — Detectives investigating an apparent double murder near Oso won’t need to step away from their work and begin assembling case records for release to a couple of anonymous requesters — at least for now.
Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Bruce Weiss on Friday signed a temporary restraining order barring release of sheriff’s office records related to the ongoing investigation into the April disappearance and presumed killings of Patrick Shunn and Monique Patenaude.
The order will be in place until mid-July.
That’s how long it likely will take for county prosecutors to do as Weiss ordered Friday and publish legal notices to meet court requirements in a civil case when the parties can’t be personally served court papers.
The judge made clear Friday he was struggling to balance competing rights. On one side was the county’s desire to seek court intervention in a public records dispute over the murder case. On the other was the ability of people to make anonymous demands for documents under the state Public Records Act.
If an anonymous requesting party doesn’t agree to participate in legal proceedings or otherwise divulge his or her identity there is no simple mechanism to prove they’ve received formal legal notice, Weiss said.
“It seems to be a hole in the legislation,” the judge said.
The county filed the civil case to get a court ruling on whether state records law required speedy release of the documents detectives have assembled while investigating the Oso killings, or barring that, a record-by-record rationale for not complying with the demands.
The litigation came after records requests made last month, apparently by two people. The requesters challenged the county’s assertion that the materials are exempt from disclosure as part of an ongoing criminal investigation.
Officials don’t know who made the requests beyond the email addresses they’ve used and what they think are pseudonyms. One of the requesters signed the messages as Kelly, the other Kishi Thox.
The requesters sought records that zeroed in on people who may have witnessed key events leading up to the couple’s disappearance.
John Reed and his younger brother Tony Reed, are now charged with first-degree murder in the case. John Reed was a former neighbor of the missing couple.
Detectives are worried that those seeking the case records may be somehow trying to assist the Reed brothers, who both fled the state after the murder investigation began.
Tony Reed surrendered to authorities in California and is expected to appear in court early next week to answer to the charges. John Reed’s whereabouts remain unknown.
In pleadings filed before the hearing, Jason Cummings, the county’s chief civil deputy prosecutor, argued that case law and common sense weigh against requiring release of records now.
“This isn’t a run-of-the-mill DUI. It is a double homicide,” Cummings told the judge Friday.
The anonymous requesters are aware of the litigation and were emailed notice of the hearing. Indeed, they both wrote prosecutors messages, complaining about their records requests leading to litigation. But the email exchange did not constitute sufficient legal service under the law, Weiss said.
He sided with prosecutors on Friday, however, on the urgency for enjoining release of the records.
“Requiring detectives to gather, review and produce records in response to the public records requests at issue would take away from the duties of the detectives to investigate this case,” the order signed by the judge read. “This would create a risk to public safety and compromise the investigation.”
Cummings also called the judge’s attention to the financial risks the county faces if it failed to swiftly and properly respond to records requests. Having a court order blocking the county from releasing records now could be helpful in avoiding penalties if one of the requesters successfully challenges the decision later, he said.
The sheriff’s office in recent years has been the focus of costly settlements over failures to provide timely access to public records.
Scott North: 425-339-3431; north@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @snorthnews
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