One piece of information that has come out recently about Paul Boyne is that his case has been sealed. I was looking his case up online and when I clicked on the case number for his files (there were three) I received an automatic notice that his case has been statutorily sealed. This made me feel concerned about what was going on.
As a result, I sent an inquiry about this to Paul Boyne's attorneys--Jennifer Buyske and Alice Osedach--but did not hear back from them. I also sent an inquiry to the Hartford Courant journalist--Mr. Edmund H. Mahony--who has been covering Paul Boyne's case, but he said he didn't know anything about it. Just to be sure, I contacted the clerk at the New Haven criminal courthouse to confirm Paul Boyne's case has been sealed and she stated that it has, indeed, been sealed from both the public and journalists.
Eventually, I read in an article Edmund H. Mahony published today that Paul Boyne has applied for a diversion program. It turns out that when a defendant does that, his case is automatically sealed. The article is so biased, I'm not going to include the link, but it is easily accessible. Still, I am breathing a sigh of relief that everything is above board. Aside from court files from diversionary programs, only court records such as juvenile arrest records and the records of victims of sexual offenses are automatically restricted from public view.
Still, the sealing of court cases is a rather touchy subject in Connecticut. I can recall that when John Rowland was first running for the office of governor in Connecticut in 1994, the rumor was that he had committed acts of domestic violence with his first wife. However, it wasn't possible for journalists to find out because his case had been sealed. Here are some of the links on this situation below:
https://www.courant.com/1994/09/30/domestic-incident-rtdata-withheld/
https://www.courant.com/1994/10/26/closed-divorce-files-not-unusual-among-well-known-people-2/
https://www.bishop-accountability.org/news3/2003_02_09_Rich_EliteEnjoy_Felix_Maguire_2.htm
As you can see, the fact that the Connecticut Judicial Branch was sealing cases for people it considered privileged has been a major source of conflict in Connecticut. Eventually, the Hartford Courant sued the Connecticut Judicial Branch demanding that it stop this practice. The decision in this case is in Hartford Courant Co. v. Pellegrino, 380 F.3d 83 which affirmed a qualified first amendment right of access to court files. As a result, since that time, it is rare for cases to be sealed or the public denied access to a trial. See below:
https://casetext.com/case/hartford-courant-co-v-pellegrino-2
To see how that translates into reality, I went onto the Judicial Branch website. In reviewing information provided by the Connecticut Judicial Branch, I found out that Connecticut doesn't have a particular law in place when it comes to sealing records. However, "a Court can seal a file if the Judicial Authority determines that it is necessary to protect an interest that is more important than the public's interest in viewing the materials or attending the proceedings."
This also brings forward another question. When a file is sealed, does that mean the trial will also be closed from the public? Because if you seal the file, the next step is to close the trial to the public. I don't think that makes sense in every case.
It is also important to note that in order to seal a case, the attorney making this request is required to follow through on a specific protocol detailed by the honorable Michael P. Shea at the link below:
This protocol requires that there is a hearing on the question of whether a file should be sealed. Do such hearings always take place? It is certainly a question worth asking. Somehow, and you may think me cynical, I think those steps are skipped and files are simply sealed during hearings without prior notice.
Of course, there is the sealing of individual documents which can take place quite routinely in a case. For instance, financial affidavits and custody evaluations are routinely sealed in divorce and custody cases. We saw that in the Michelle Troconis trial where the custody evaluation was sealed. However, sealing an entire case? I don't think that happens as often as it used to.
There is considerable additional information that Judge Shea provides for the legal basis of the public's first amendment right of access to court files in his review of the process. So make sure you take the time to read it.
