The parent company of the Hawaii Tribune-Herald has asked the state Supreme Court to order a judge to unseal probable cause documents in the case of a state law enforcement officer accused of sexually assaulting a minor girl on a Hilo beach.
The parent company of the Hawaii Tribune-Herald has asked the state Supreme Court to order a judge to unseal probable cause documents in the case of a state law enforcement officer accused of sexually assaulting a minor girl on a Hilo beach.
Honolulu attorneys Jeffrey Portnoy and John Duchemin filed the action Friday in Honolulu on behalf of Oahu Publications Inc., “seeking the immediate unsealing” of probable cause documents in the case of Ethan Ferguson to allow the media to “fulfill its press function of gathering and reporting news concerning criminal judicial proceedings.”
Hilo District Judge Barbara Takase ordered the document sealed, without a hearing, on Jan. 14, at the request of prosecutors, who argued the document contained the full name of the victim.
The petition claims redaction of the victim’s name from the document “would have allowed the public to view substantially all” of the probable cause documents “while still protecting the victim’s identity.”
In addition to the Tribune-Herald, OPI owns Honolulu Star-Advertiser, West Hawaii Today and The Garden Island.
See Saturday’s edition for more details.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.