sealed court records Archives - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

22 May, 2018

TCOG, KNS file motion to intervene to keep records open in state’s lawsuit against Purdue Pharma

By Deborah Fisher|2018-05-22T10:15:53-05:00May 22, 2018|Categories: Open Courts, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: courts, Herbert Slatery, proprietary records, Purdue Pharma, sealed court records, TCOG news|0 Comments

NEWS from Tennessee Coalition for Open Government: We have filed, along with Jack McElroy, editor of the Knoxville News Sentinel, a motion to intervene in the state's opioid lawsuit against Purdue Pharma to oppose and object to any order restricting public access to records, exhibits, testimony, pleadings and other materials in the case. Deborah Fisher Read: Motion for leave to intervene Memorandum of law, citations of authority and argument in support of motion for leave to intervene Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery filed the action against OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, L.P. on May 15 in Knoxville Circuit Court. The complaint was filed under seal with an accompanying motion [...]

16 May, 2018

Will Purdue Pharma be able to keep Tennessee’s opioid lawsuit sealed?

By Deborah Fisher|2018-06-12T12:19:54-05:00May 16, 2018|Categories: Open Courts|Tags: courts, Herbert Slatery, Judge Kristi Davis, proprietary records, Purdue Pharma, sealed court records|0 Comments

The lawsuit by the state of Tennessee against Purdue Pharma in a Knoxville Circuit Court yesterday was filed under "temporary" seal to allow the company time to seek a protective order to keep it from the public's eye. Will the company be successful? Tennessee is not the only state suing the OxyContin maker. Purdue Pharma is facing 22 state lawsuits to date that, similar to this one, allege the company misrepresented the drug's risks, broke consumer protection laws and helped cause an expensive public health crisis now being shouldered by taxpayers. It also is facing hundreds of other civil suits. Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery Attorney General Herbert [...]

2 Jun, 2016

Knox County judge refuses to lift his seal on court records in UT case

By Deborah Fisher|2016-06-02T11:24:57-05:00June 2, 2016|Categories: court records|Tags: Knox County, Knox County Criminal Court Judge Bob McGee, Knoxville News Sentinel, Richard Hollow, sealed court records, University of Tennessee rape case|0 Comments

Knox County Criminal Court Judge Bob McGee refused this week a request by the Knoxville News Sentinel to lift the seal on court records entered in the case of former University of Tennessee football players accused of rape. Former UT football players A.J. Johnson and Michael Williams. The news organization filed a petition months ago, arguing that the judge had put the records under seal without any hearing on why secrecy was needed. The judge did not grant the News Sentinel's request for a hearing, but allowed its attorney to argue the point during another hearing on Tuesday related to the prosecutors' request to delay the trials. McGee said he [...]

12 Feb, 2016

News Sentinel files lawsuit over sealed court documents in UT rape case

By Deborah Fisher|2016-06-02T11:20:40-05:00February 12, 2016|Categories: Open Courts, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: court records, Knoxville News Sentinel, sealed court records, search warrants, University of Tennessee rape case|0 Comments

The Knoxville News Sentinel filed a lawsuit today, after requesting for more than a year to inspect court records and exhibits in the aggravated rape cases against former Tennessee football players A.J. Johnson and Michael Williams. The newspaper claims that Criminal Court Judge Bob McGee sealed records "without any petition or order to do so." The newspaper was also told that Magistrate Ray H. Jenkins had sealed search warrant records, including a police investigator's affidavit. Following is an excerpt from the News-Sentinel's story, which you can read in full here: News Sentinel files lawsuit to unseal UT rape documents: The lawsuit argues that evidence can be sealed to protect the constitutional [...]

12 Feb, 2015

TBI files can be secret even when entered as evidence, Criminal Appeals Court says

By Deborah Fisher|2018-11-09T08:21:53-06:00February 12, 2015|Categories: court records, crime records|Tags: Court of Criminal Appeals, court records, Herbert Moncier, Judge Timothy Easter, Knoxville News Sentinel, sealed court records, TBI|0 Comments

Last week, the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that Tennessee Bureau of Investigation files could remain confidential even when they are entered as evidence in a court trial. The case in which this came up involved the heinous murder of Channon Christian, 21, and Christopher Newsom, 23, who were kidnapped, raped and tortured in Knoxville in 2007. The guilty verdicts in the trial were put in question when the presiding judge, Richard Baumgartner, became subject to a TBI probe related to buying prescription drug painkillers from two felons. Defense attorneys sought new trials, and parts of the TBI investigation were entered into the judicial proceeding. The parents of the victims intervened, [...]