A Newport News clerk of court hesitated when asked for an item located in an open court filing – have you had this issue with your local courts?
Reports The Daily Press:
After (Judge Timothy S.) Fisher’s ruling, a DVD of the cops’ interview with (suspect Darryl) Boothe — a copy of which prosecutors had provided for Fisher’s review — was in the court’s open case file. The Daily Press — interested in what Boothe had told the police officers — asked for a copy of it.
But although the DVD was not under seal, the clerk’s office wouldn’t turn it over. Clerk of Court Rex Davis said that when a case is still active, he considers it in the judge’s purview to decide whether to release such evidence. Davis then checked with Fisher on the matter, with the judge saying that Commonwealth’s Attorney Howard Gwynn should be allowed to weigh in on whether to release it.
SPJVA Today 