New Haven Independent

1:35 p.m. Reporters are beginning to arrive. The hearing starts at 2. Judge Roland Fasano is expected to address — but not necessarily rule on — a motion by the Hartford Courant, joined by the New Haven Register, the AP and The New York Times, requesting that the judge un-seal the arrest warrant and eight search warrants. The defense and prosecution want to keep the documents sealed.

Raymond Clark is not expected to enter a plea today. Public defenders are still waiting for piles of evidence before making a decision on whether to waive a probable cause hearing.

1:58 p.m. It’s quiet here. Just nine reporters and a judicial marshal. No sketch artists. Quite a contrast to past hearings.

2:06 p.m. Still waiting for scheduled hearing to begin. It turns out the Courant’s lawyer isn’t coming today. So nothing major is expected to happen on the motion to unseal the warrants. No plea is expected from Clark either. The judge is merely expected to set a new court date.

2:09 p.m. Court’s in session. Raymond Clark isn’t coming today.

2:13 p.m. Public defender Joe Lopez tells the judge he sat with Clark for two hours yesterday. He said Clark is fully aware of the right to have a hearing of probable cause within 60 days of his arrest. He says Clark has decided to waive the right to have the hearing within 60 days. The defense asked for a time extension to give Clark more time to decide whether to request a hearing at all. They’re still waiting to see a lot of evidence — photos, incident reports, etc. (There’s a lot of evidence to process.) So far Clark has received some evidence; until he can see a lot more and review of all it, he won’t be making a decision, according to Lopez.

Judge Fasano agrees to waive the 60-day time period.

The judge set a new court date for Dec. 21 at 2 p.m.

On the subject of whether to unseal the warrants: By law, the prosecution can ask the judge to seal search warrants. The seals last two weeks. The prosecutors submitted a motion this morning to extend the seal for another two weeks on the eight search warrants. Fasano says he’ll review the motion.

Fasano says he hopes to have a decision by the end of this week on whether to unseal the arrest warrant, which is a few pages long.

The hearing adjourns after four minutes.

2:20 p.m. Lopez meets with six reporters in a waiting room of the public defender’s office. He said he’s received a stack of evidence only four inches high; he’s expecting “boxes” of discovery from six agencies, including state and local police. The evidence “is trickling in,” he said. He said he has no reason to believe the state is dragging its feet; there’s just so much evidence to coordinate.

He said there was no reason to bring Clark all the way down from Suffield today. “We’re really not at any point to make a decision, so why bring him down here?” he said.

Lopez expects Clark to enter a not guilty plea after the defense makes a strategic decision on whether to waive the right to the hearing of probable cause.

At the rate the evidence is coming in, the defense probably won’t be able to make that decision by Dec. 21, he said.

Meanwhile, Clark remains locked up at McDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in Suffield, Mass. The defendant is “in contact with” his family, Lopez said.

Background

Clark has been behind bars since his arrest; his bond is set at $3 million.

Police have said they based his arrest on over 300 pieces of evidence, and that the state crime lab did DNA testing to solve the crime. The details remain closed to the public in arrest and search warrants that were sealed in court. The documents were sealed by Judge Fasano by request of the state prosecutors and defense attorneys.

On the morning of Clark’s Oct. 6 court appearance, the Hartford Courant filed a motion objecting to that seal. Three other news outlets later joined them.

“The public has a presumptive right of access to the arrest warrant affidavit and any related documents presently under seal,” argued Paul Guggina, the Courant’s attorney, in a motion filed in court.

The arguments boil down to: Is there a stronger interest that overrides the public’s right to know what’s in the documents?

In a Sept. 24 motion, Public Defenders Lopez and Merkin asked that the warrant remain under seal because releasing it “would irreparably prejudice the defendant’s state and federal constitutional rights to an impartial jury and to a fair trial.” Lopez said he requested the seal in part to give defense attorneys more time to examine information about the case before it is made public.

“Sealing orders may not be extended for the convenience of parties or as a matter of course,” Guggina responded. Under statutory and constitutional law, he argued, the public has the right to see a court document unless a party can prove three things: That there is “an overriding interest in keeping the affidavit secret”; that “sealing the order is the only remedy available for satisfying that interest”; and that the sealing order is “narrowly tailored to provide the public as much access as possible.”

Guggina argued that Lopez and Merkin failed to prove those conditions necessary to justify the seal.

Click on the play arrow to watch the Courant’s lawyer explain his position outside court after the previous hearing.

Previous coverage of the Annie Le case:

Oct. 20
• Annie Le Suspect Enters No Plea; Warrants Remain Sealed
Tuesday, Oct. 6
• Live Blog: Lawyer For Annie Le Murder Suspect Wants To See The Evidence
Friday, Sept. 25
• Warrant In Annie Le Murder To Stay Sealed
Thursday, Sept. 24
• Cops Back At Annie Le’s Lab Building
Monday, Sept. 21
• What Annie Le Story?
• Public Defender: I Don’t Want Annie Le Reporters Investigated
Thursday, Sept. 17
• After Annie Le Murder, Union Chief Sends Rallying Call
• Annie Le Suspect Knew Cops Were On His Tail
• Cops Arrest Lab Tech In Annie Le Murder
• Suspect Arraigned (live blog)
Wednesday, Sept. 16:
• Ex-Girlfriend “Shocked” About Annie Le Target
• Cops Stake Out Annie Le Target’s Motel
• Annie Le Case: It’s Coming Down To The DNA
• Annie Le Was Strangled
Tuesday, Sept. 15:
• City, Yale Learned From Jovin In Annie Le Case
• Suspect In Annie Le Case Has Fiancee
• NBC Producer Trampled At Annie Le “Briefing”
• Cops Take DNA From Annie Le Target
• Was That Annie Le’s Killer?
Monday, Sept. 14:
• Body Identified As Annie Le
• “Serious” Suspect In Annie Le Case
• You Can Get In The Wall With A “Butter Knife”
• Lab Building Shuts Down
Sunday, Sept. 13:
• Remains Of Annie Le Believed Found; “A Time For Compassion,” Levin Says
• Annie Le Hunt Extends To Hartford
Saturday, Sept. 12
• Focus In Annie Le Probe Less On “State Lines”
Friday, Sept. 11
• City Cops Join Search For Annie Le; $10,000 Reward Posted