Opinion ID: 792413
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Secret Docketing Procedures and Denial of Access to Court Files in Ochoa-Vasquez

Text: 44 Many defendants prosecuted in connection with Operation Millennium, including co-defendants in Ochoa's own case, agreed to cooperate with the government in exchange for plea bargains. Seeking to protect these defendants and other confidential informants used in Operation Millennium, the parties agreed to seal many of the criminal proceedings. 45 Asserting his First Amendment right of access to criminal proceedings as a member of the public, Ochoa asked the Ochoa-Vasquez district court to unseal files in seven cases, including his own. 11 He also challenged the use of secret docketing procedures by the district court in three of those cases: Ochoa-Vasquez, Bergonzoli, and United States v. Correa-Valdez. He pointed to entries in the Ochoa-Vasquez record that reveal an ad hoc system under which the district court sealed judicial proceedings, records, and entire criminal cases from public scrutiny. 12 46 In Ochoa-Vasquez, magistrate judges kept orders and transcripts of proceedings from the public docket in at least two instances pertaining to a co-defendant, Orlando Sanchez-Cristancho (Sanchez): (1) his initial appearance hearing and (2) his status/bond hearing. At his initial appearance hearing, both the government and Sanchez's counsel asked the judge to seal the order and transcript. The magistrate judge consented by making an oral ruling, ordering the clerk of court to keep records sealed, and directing that they be held in the vault and not docketed. 13 47
48 The press and public enjoy a qualified First Amendment right of access to criminal trial proceedings. Globe Newspaper Co. v. Superior Court for the County of Norfolk, 457 U.S. 596, 603, 102 S.Ct. 2613, 73 L.Ed.2d 248 (1982); Chicago Tribune Co. v. Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc., 263 F.3d 1304, 1310 (11th Cir.2001). 14 Open criminal proceedings have been an indispensable attribute of an Anglo-American trial for centuries. Richmond Newspapers v. Virginia, 448 U.S. 555, 569, 100 S.Ct. 2814, 65 L.Ed.2d 973 (1980) (plurality opinion); see also Nixon v. Warner Communications, Inc., 435 U.S. 589, 597-98, 98 S.Ct. 1306, 55 L.Ed.2d 570 (1978) (holding that the press and public also enjoy a common-law right of access to judicial records). Public trials and judicial proceedings are rooted in the `principle that justice cannot survive behind walls of silence,' and in the `traditional Anglo-American distrust for secret trials.' Gannett Co. v. DePasquale, 443 U.S. 368, 412, 99 S.Ct. 2898, 61 L.Ed.2d 608 (1979) (quoting Sheppard v. Maxwell, 384 U.S. 333, 349, 86 S.Ct. 1507, 16 L.Ed.2d 600 (1966), and In re Oliver, 333 U.S. 257, 268, 68 S.Ct. 499, 92 L.Ed. 682 (1948)) (Blackmun, J. concurring in part); Richmond Newspapers, 448 U.S. at 591, 100 S.Ct. 2814 (Brennan, J., concurring) (recognizing this nation's historic distrust of secret proceedings, their inherent dangers to freedom, and the universal requirement of our federal and state governments that criminal trials be public) (quoting In re Oliver, 333 U.S. at 273, 68 S.Ct. 499). 49
50 In Valenti, 987 F.2d at 715, this Circuit held that a dual-docketing system, or sealed docket, in the Middle District of Florida violated the press and public's First Amendment right of access to criminal proceedings, and declared it facially unconstitutional. In striking down that system, we recognized that public docket sheets are essential to provide meaningful access to criminal proceedings. 15 Id. Thus, we held that the press and public's qualified First Amendment right to access criminal proceedings extends to the proceedings' docket sheets. Id.; accord Hartford Courant Co., 380 F.3d at 91 (concerning the secret docketing procedures in Connecticut state courts). 51 Because the district court's orders unsealing dockets here brought them in compliance with Valenti, the secret-docketing issue is not properly before us. We nevertheless exercise our supervisorial authority to remind the district court that it cannot employ the secret docketing procedures that we explicitly found unconstitutional in Valenti. 52
53 The orders sealing specific documents in Ochoa-Vasquez also violate First Amendment standards because no finding was made on the record to rebut the presumption of openness. A party may overcome that presumption if it can show an overriding interest based on findings that closure is essential to preserve higher values and is narrowly tailored to serve that interest. Press-Enterprise I, 464 U.S. at 510, 104 S.Ct. 819; Valenti, 987 F.2d at 713. When sealing proceedings or documents, a court must articulate the overriding interest along with findings specific enough that a reviewing court can determine whether the closure order was properly entered. 16 Press-Enterprise I, 464 U.S. at 510, 104 S.Ct. 819; Kooistra, 796 F.2d at 1391 & n. 1. The court must also provide members of the public and press who are present with notice and an opportunity to be heard on a proposed closure. Valenti, 987 F.2d at 713; United States v. Alcantara, 396 F.3d 189, 202-03 (2d Cir.2005) (conducting a proceeding in judge's robing room violated the public and press's First Amendment rights). 54 Neither the Ochoa-Vasquez district court's sealing orders nor its denials of access to court records articulated the reason for the closure or the evidence that supported the need for closure. Douglas, 714 F.2d at 1546 n. 16. Those orders denying access (D.E. 1193 & 1351), therefore, do not comply with our First Amendment jurisprudence, and we reverse and remand them for reconsideration in light of the established precedent. Nevertheless, the document sealing in this case does not warrant a new trial because Ochoa was eventually granted access to the majority of documents and he has not shown prejudice. See United States v. Edwards, 211 F.3d 1355, 1358 (11th Cir.2000) (defendant must show prejudice to receive new trial under Speedy Trial Act); United States v. Chastain, 198 F.3d 1338, 1348 (11th Cir.1999) (government's violation of discovery rules results in reversal only if the defendant establishes actual prejudice). Additionally, as noted earlier, Ochoa sought documents containing information about other defendants' participation in the Program even though it was unrelated to his criminal conduct and evidence concerning the Program was later barred from trial.