A judge ruled Friday that the public is entitled to see police reports, witness statements and other investigative material related to first-degree murder charges filed against a pair of Seattle teenagers accused of killing a classmate in Marysville in the summer.
Snohomish County Superior Court Judge James Allendoerfer, however, said that certain crime-scene photos and the autopsy report on victim John Jasmer, 16, will not be made public.
In addition, the judge ordered the Snohomish County Prosecutor’s Office to delete any references to sexual encounters between the victim and a high school girl identified only as K.A.
The decision is the latest development in the murder case of Jenson Hugh Hankins, 16, and Joshua David Goldman, 17, who are being held in Jasmer’s Aug. 21 beating, suffocation and stabbing death.
State law allows murder defendants age 16 and up to be tried as adults.
Jasmer’s body was found in a wooded area west of the Tulalip Casino. The two students from Seattle’s Roosevelt High School are accused of luring Jasmer to the location, where a grave had already been dug. The motive appeared to be revenge, according to court documents.
The attack came after Hankins’ girlfriend reported in June that Jasmer had raped her at a party, court documents said.
Jasmer was never arrested, and he told Seattle investigators that he and the girl had consensual sex on a houseboat, police said. Police said the girl later recanted her rape story.
Friday’s decision came after the Seattle Times filed a public disclosure request with the prosecutor’s office seeking all the investigative information. The Herald also has filed a similar public disclosure request, and deputy prosecutor Ed Stemler said a national newsmagazine has expressed interest in the story.
The requests were made under a state law that allows release of most public documents.
Hankins’ attorneys, Neil Fox and Rachel Levy, objected to disclosing investigative information to the news media.
Fox said information that may never be admitted in trial could be released and published, and that could prejudice a jury pool. He was particularly concerned about information detailing the alleged sexual activities that may have led to the attack.
Lawyers, judges and representatives of the news media have developed guidelines for open access to courts while preserving defendants’ rights, Fox added. Those guidelines are to make sure defendants "are tried in the court and not tried in the press."
Marshall Nelson, representing the Seattle Times, said the paper did not ask for crime-scene photos of the victim. He agreed to have private sexual information deleted.
"The public needs to know why this happened and why they are being tried as adults," Nelson said.
The judge gave Stemler until Jan. 9 to produce a proposed set of redacted documents. The attorneys will have five more days to pose objections before the documents are released.
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