United States v. Loughner

769 F. Supp. 2d 1188, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 30392, 2011 WL 876852
CourtDistrict Court, D. Arizona
DecidedMarch 9, 2011
DocketCase 11cr0187 TUC LAB
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 769 F. Supp. 2d 1188 (United States v. Loughner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Loughner, 769 F. Supp. 2d 1188, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 30392, 2011 WL 876852 (D. Ariz. 2011).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO UNSEAL SEARCH WARRANT MATERIALS [Doc. 131]

LARRY ALAN BURNS, District Judge.

INTRODUCTION

Two Arizona media outlets have petitioned the Court to release search warrant materials in this case. The materials consist of two search warrants, attached affidavits that recount basic facts about the suspected offenses and provide probable cause for the issuance of the warrants, and a property inventory of the things seized. The motion is opposed by the United States and by the Defendant. They argue the media outlets have no right to see the warrant materials at this stage in the proceedings, and that release of the materials will imperil the fair trial rights of the Defendant and violate the privacy interests of third parties. The Court has reviewed the warrant materials in camera and has considered the legal arguments, and finds the matter is ripe for decision.

BACKGROUND

On January 8, 2011, a mass shooting occurred in Tucson, Arizona during a political event at a shopping center. Nineteen people were wounded, six of them fatally. Among the victims were a United States Congresswoman, members of her staff, and a United States District Judge. Defendant Jared Loughner was arrested at the scene, and initially indicted on three federal charges including attempted assassination of a member of Congress. That charge gave federal prosecutors priority in pursuing a criminal prosecution. See 18 U.S.C. § 351(f).

In the course of the criminal investigation following the shootings, law enforcement agents obtained two search warrants from the Arizona Superior Court authorizing a search of the Defendant’s house and property. After the warrants were executed, the agents lodged them with the state court, and the warrant materials were ordered sealed by a state court judge on January 11, 2011.

On January 20, 2011, two Arizona media outlets, Phoenix Newspapers, Inc. and KPNX Broadcasting Co., filed a motion in the Arizona Superior Court seeking the unsealing and public release of the warrant materials. They relied chiefly on Arizona law, which provides that search warrants shall generally be open to the public after they are served. See Arizona Rev. Stat. § 13-3918(A); Phoenix Newspapers, Inc. v. Superior Court, 180 Ariz. 159, 162, 882 P.2d 1285, 1288 (Ariz.Ct.App.1994) (search warrants are subject to a presumption of public access). They also asserted a qualified right under the First Amendment to inspect the warrant materials. The United States Attorney, who by then had obtained a federal indictment against the Defendant, removed to this Court the media outlets’ motion to unseal. The Court then permitted the media outlets to intervene in this case for the limited purpose of pursuing the motion to unseal the search warrants.

*1190 The Court held an initial hearing on the motion to unseal on February 19, 2011. At the hearing, the United States prosecutor represented that an active investigation of the Tucson shootings was ongoing, and that she expected new, additional criminal charges would be filed. Guided by Times Mirror Co. v. United States, 873 F.2d 1210 (9th Cir.1989), the Court denied the motion to unseal, ruling there was no First Amendment or common law right of public or media access to the warrant materials at that time. The Court emphasized its ruling was based on the current state of the case, and that it would reconsider the motion to unseal at the next hearing on March 9, 2011. By that date, it was expected the active criminal investigation of the case would be concluded and final charges would be filed.

On March 3, 2011, the grand jury returned a superseding indictment charging the Defendant with forty-nine federal offenses. The indictment included special findings that, if found to be true, could support imposition of the death penalty. The United States prosecutor represents that the government’s active investigation of the case has now concluded, and that no additional federal charges are expected.

DISCUSSION

In Richmond Newspapers v. Virginia, Chief Justice Burger observed:

When a shocking crime occurs, a community reaction of outrage and public protest often follows. Thereafter, the open processes of justice serve an important prophylactic purpose, providing for the outlet of community concern, hostility, and emotion. Without an awareness that society’s responses to criminal conduct are underway, natural human reactions of outrage and protest are frustrated and may manifest themselves in some form of vengeful “self-help,” as indeed they did regularly in the activities of vigilante “committees” on our frontiers. The accusation and conviction or acquittal, as much perhaps as the execution of punishment, operate to restore the imbalance which was created by the offense or public charge, to reaffirm the temporarily lost feeling of security and, perhaps, to satisfy that latent urge to punish.
Civilized societies withdraw both from the victim and the vigilante the enforcement of criminal laws, but they cannot erase from people’s consciousness the fundamental, natural yearning to see justice done — or even the urge for retribution. The crucial prophylactic aspects of the administration of justice cannot function in the dark; no community catharsis can occur if justice is done in the corner or in any covert manner. It is not enough to say that results alone will satiate the natural community desire for “satisfaction.” A result considered untoward may undermine public confidence, and where the trial has been concealed from public view an unexpected outcome can cause a reaction that the system at best has failed and at worst has been corrupted. To work effectively, it is important that society’s criminal process satisfy the appearance of justice, and the appearance of justice can best be provided by allowing people to observe it.

448 U.S. 555, 570-72, 100 S.Ct. 2814, 65 L.Ed.2d 973 (1980) (citations, quotations and alterations omitted).

The concerns expressed by Chief Justice Burger in 1980 resonate even louder in today’s digital age. Courts today play a major role in defining rights and liberties and in shaping public opinion. Because of this, access to court proceedings has grown increasingly important and there has been a corresponding expansion of rights on the part of the general public and the media under the First Amendment to attend almost all criminal proceedings. *1191 These stages in the criminal process are now generally presumed to be open— meaning that there must be overriding reasons to exclude the public and press from attending them: bail and pretrial release proceedings, Seattle Times Co. v. U.S. Dist. Court, 845 F.2d 1513, 1517 (9th Cir.1988); preliminary hearings, Press-Enterprise Co. v. Superior Court, 478 U.S. 1, 106 S.Ct.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Untitled Case
M.D. North Carolina, 2026
In re Granick
388 F. Supp. 3d 1107 (N.D. California, 2019)
United States v. Cohen
366 F. Supp. 3d 612 (S.D. Illinois, 2019)
State v. Allgier
2011 UT 47 (Utah Supreme Court, 2011)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
769 F. Supp. 2d 1188, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 30392, 2011 WL 876852, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-loughner-azd-2011.