04/28/2005

Media file motion to unseal BTK court records

By ROXANA HEGEMAN

Associated Press Writer

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) -- Six media organizations, including The Associated Press, filed court papers Wednesday seeking the release of sealed documents in the BTK serial killings case.

The motion seeks to vacate orders by District Judge Gregory Waller that have sealed various documents related to the state's case against Dennis Rader, who is charged with 10 counts of murder. The motion also asks that any further requests to seal documents be heard in open court.

Besides the AP, joining the action were the Wichita Eagle; Media General Operations Inc., which operates KWCH-TV; Gray Television Group Inc., which operates KAKE-TV; KSNW-TV, a property of Emmis Communications; and the Kansas Press Association.

"The citizens of the Wichita area deserve more information about this case than they have received," the motion said. "The crimes at issue in these proceedings impacted -- indeed, terrorized -- the entire community and it is unreasonable to expect the public to be content with criminal proceedings conducted under a shroud."

Waller's office said the judge would have no comment on the filing. The Sedgwick County District Attorney's office also declined to comment.

Mark Orr, assistant public defender and a spokesman for Rader's three attorneys, said: "Obviously, our concern is we want the most unbiased jury pool possible, but other than that, they will simply leave it to the court's discretion what to release and not to release."

Rader, once an ordinance enforcement officer for suburban Park City, was arrested in February and is charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder. Rader, 60, will enter a plea at his arraignment, set for May 3.

The BTK strangler, whose nickname stands for "Bind, Torture, Kill," had been suspected of eight torture deaths beginning in 1974, and since Rader's arrest authorities have linked two more victims to him.

"There is a public right to know information about a case that has been ongoing for 30 years, and we believe that information should be available for us to report so that people can see, hear and read what they need to know," KSNW news director Todd Spessard said.

John Keitt, general counsel for the AP, said in a statement that the First Amendment gives citizens the right to see that proper procedures are followed in each stage of a criminal prosecution.

"AP has intervened to protect this important right that is being abridged in this prosecution," he said. "AP will continue to fight for access to the courts, because a fundamental part of its mission is to inform the public on the operations of government."

Doug Anstaett, executive director of the Kansas Press Association, said in a statement that it is a "travesty" that neither the prosecutor nor the defense has been required to justify the closures, nor were interested parties allowed to argue against them.