State Supreme Court to hear sealed records case

YAKIMA, Wash. -- The state Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments in the Yakima Herald-Republic's long-running legal battle over sealed records in a 2005 double homicide.

The newspaper is appealing a July 2008 lower court ruling that billing records detailing more than $2 million in fees and expenses by court-appointed defense attorneys are not subject to the state Public Records Act.

An exact date for the hearing has not been set, but lawyers for the paper said oral arguments are expected to be scheduled sometime between January and early spring.

The issue is one of several before the Supreme Court regarding to what extent the Public Records Act governs court records.

The newspaper is seeking to open the bills submitted by attorneys for Junior Sanchez, one of two defendants in the February 2005 shooting deaths of 21-year-old Ricky Causor and his 3-year-old daughter, Mya, during a home invasion robbery in Yakima.

After Sanchez was convicted and sentenced to life without parole, the newspaper sued when the county declined to release billing records totaling more than $1.5 million in fees and expenses for Sanchez's attorneys. The costs of the court-appointed attorneys were paid by taxpayers.

Yakima County Prosecutor Ron Zirkle argued the records belong to the courts, which are not strictly governed by the Public Records Act, and argued that he could be cited for contempt if he released the documents.

In a related lawsuit, the Herald-Republic is seeking similar records involving Sanchez's co-defendant Mario Mendez, whose defense cost about $560,000. As in the Sanchez case, taxpayers financed Mendez's defense. That suit is now before the state Court of Appeals.

The records for the two defendants took divergent paths on appeal because Sanchez, who took his case to trial, is appealing his conviction while Mendez, who pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 years in prison, has no appeal rights.

Mendez's lawyers, nevertheless, have argued that unsealing his records would set a bad precedent that could jeopardize the rights of defendants in criminal cases to a fair trial.

Yakima County Superior Court Judge James Lust originally let Mendez's lawyers redact, or censor, attorney work product and other privileged information in the file.

But after the newspaper argued the redactions were too extensive, Lust reconsidered and offered to perform the redactions himself.

Mendez's lawyers appealed, and the judge's offer was stayed pending a decision by the Court of Appeals.

* Chris Bristol can be reached at 509-577-7748 or cbristol@yakimaherald.com.