Court Opinion

ID: 9696539
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 18:51:08.480705+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:20:23.354767
License: Public Domain

Justice FITZGERALD
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. I believe that providing the media with copies of evidence for public dissemination during trial court proceedings can severely undermine the integrity of a criminal trial. I would affirm the Superior Court’s holding reversing the trial court’s order in this case, especially because the audiotape was never entered into evidence or otherwise filed with the court and made part of the record, despite the fact that it was played during the preliminary hearing. See Commonwealth v. Upshur, 882 A.2d 499, 503 (Pa.Super.2005). Although I do not oppose release of a transcript of the tape, I do not view the tape itself as a “public judicial record” subject to public access under the circumstances.