FIFTH JUDICIAL DIST. OF COLO.
Opinion in Chambers
been covering the prosecution. They filed their application in this Court on July 21, 2004. Due to a change in circumstances following the submission of their application, I deny the application without prejudice to its being filed again in two days' time (or thereafter), i. e., subsequent to July 28, 2004.
At issue are the transcripts of trial court hearings, held in camera on June 21 and June 22, 2004, to determine the relevance and admissibility of certain evidence pursuant to Colorado's rape shield statute, Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18–3–407(2) (Lexis 2003). The transcripts were mistakenly e-mailed to the applicants by a court reporter of the trial court. Upon realizing its mistake, the trial court issued an order prohibiting publication of the contents of the transcripts and requiring their deletion from the applicants' computers. See Order in People v. Bryant, No. 03–CR–204 (Dist. Ct., Eagle Cty., June 24, 2004). The applicants challenged the order before the Colorado Supreme Court, which agreed with them that the order imposed a prior restraint on speech, but concluded that a more narrowly tailored version of the order would pass constitutional muster. See People v. Bryant, 94 P. 3d 624 (2004).
Accordingly, the Colorado Supreme Court ordered the trial court to:
"(1) make its rape shield rulings as expeditiously as possible and promptly enter its findings of facts and conclusions of law thereon; (2) determine if some or all portions of the June 21 and June 22 transcripts are relevant and material and, therefore, admissible under the rape shield statute at trial; and (3) enter an appropriate order, which may include releasing to the [applicants] and the public a redacted version of the June 21 and June 22 transcripts that contains those portions that are relevant and material in the case, if any, and maintains the ongoing confidentiality of portions that are irrelevant and immaterial, if any." Id., at 626–627.
