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From: Family + Friends of Daniel McG
<friendsofdanielmcg@yahoo.com><br><br>
Brief Legal Update<br>
Family & Friends of Daniel McGowan<br>
August 8, 2006<br><br>
Daniel will be in court on Tuesday August 22 for a hearing on a motion
<br>
filed by the defense related to government surveillance of the <br>
defendants. The defendants are asking the court to order the
government to <br>
obtain and turn over any secret, warrantless surveillance, including any
<br>
surveillance done by the NSA. There will also be arguments heard on
whether <br>
or not the transcripts from the plea hearings last month and plea <br>
agreements of cooperating witnesses will be unsealed.<br><br>
It should be an important and interesting hearing so we are asking for
your <br>
attendance. All four non-cooperating defendants in the Oregon <br>
case [Daniel, Jonathan Paul, Nathan Block and Joyanna Zacher] will
be in <br>
attendance for this hearing and there will be discussions on the pending
<br>
trial date and whether it will be postponed.<br><br>
The hearing is set before Judge Aiken at 9:30AM at Eugene Federal
Courthouse.<br>
Please dress/act appropriately and be on time.<br>
Also, the Eugene Weekly printed the article below in response to the
<br>
sealing of plea agreements and open court hearing transcripts in the case
<br>
last month.<br><br>
thanks,<br>
Family & Friends of Daniel McGowan<br><br>
<a href="http://www.supportdaniel.org/" eudora="autourl">
http://www.supportdaniel.org<br>
</a>
<a href="http://eugeneweekly.com/2006/08/10/news.html#1" eudora="autourl">
http://eugeneweekly.com/2006/08/10/news.html#1<br><br>
</a>SECRET JUSTICE<br><br>
After six alleged eco-arsonists pleaded guilty last month, the judge in
<br>
the case took the unusual step of quickly ordering all the documents and
<br>
transcripts of the public hearings sealed.<br><br>
On Aug. 2 attorneys for one of the seven remaining defendants headed for
<br>
trial told the judge, "not so fast." In a motion, the attorneys
for Daniel <br>
McGowan asked federal Judge Ann Aiken to unseal the documents, citing the
<br>
Constitution and centuries of tradition and precedent for open
trials.<br>
"Our nation inherited England's ancient tradition of open, public
<br>
proceedings," attorneys Amanda Lee and Jeff Robinson wrote.
"Among the many <br>
justifications for ensuring public access to court records are
maintaining <br>
the public's confidence in the fairness and independence of the judiciary
<br>
and the criminal justice system."<br><br>
While select reporters at The Oregonian and The Register-Guard were
tipped <br>
off to the plea hearings, the attorneys said they were not notified by
the <br>
court or prosecutors, weren't able to attend and were denied the <br>
transcripts and documents.<br><br>
The attorneys cited numerous case precedents to support their argument
that <br>
sealing the court records violates constitutional rights to open <br>
information and a fair and open trial under the First and Sixth
Amendments. <br>
Many of the cases cited were brought by newspapers seeking public
information.<br>
Judge Aiken sealed the documents without stating her reasons. The
attorneys <br>
for McGowan argued that the judge should have held a hearing on sealing
the <br>
documents and sealed them only if she could find a compelling, factual
and <br>
unavoidable need to do so.<br><br>
"There is neither logic nor fairness" in effectively closing a
proceeding <br>
to other defense attorneys that was open to the media and public, the
<br>
attorneys argue. In some cases, prosecutors move to seal plea agreements
to <br>
protect witnesses and ongoing investigations, the attorneys noted. But
the <br>
government made no such argument in these cases, and it's already widely
<br>
known through the media and prosecutor statements that the plea
agreements <br>
required defendants to testify against other defendants, according to the
<br>
motion.<br><br>
The media reported on what was said at the plea hearings, but, the <br>
attorneys note, "The documents may contain material that was not
revealed <br>
in open court."<br><br>
---Alan Pittman<br><br>
<br>
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<font size=3 color="#FF0000">The Freedom Archives<br>
522 Valencia Street<br>
San Francisco, CA 94110<br>
(415) 863-9977<br>
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