In re Investigatory Grand Jury No. 2007-04, 293 Conn. 464

Summary

The Supreme Court of Connecticut reviewed an investigatory grand jury's order partially sealing its final report and keeping its interim report sealed. The court affirmed nondisclosure of portions of the final report to protect fair-trial rights and the reputation of an innocent person, but reversed the order sealing the interim report. The court interpreted General Statutes § 54-47g concerning the presumption of public disclosure and permissible grounds for nondisclosure.

Holdings

1. Under General Statutes § 54-47g(c)(1), an investigatory grand jury may seal report information when it finds a substantial probability that accurate and dispassionate disclosure would prejudice a person's right to a fair trial by more than a de minimis degree and nondisclosure would prevent that prejudice. The grand jury properly sealed portions of the final report relating to arrested persons.
2. A person for whom an investigatory grand jury finds probable cause may nevertheless qualify as an innocent person under § 54-47g(c)(4) when there is reason to believe that the person may never be charged. However, a person who has been arrested as a result of the probable-cause finding is not an innocent person merely because the person has not yet been convicted.
3. The reasonable-alternatives requirement in § 54-47g(c) requires consideration of alternatives that would protect the enumerated interest before disclosure; it does not require disclosure followed by remedial measures that attempt to cure the resulting prejudice.
4. The grand jury improperly sealed the interim report because no motion to seal it was filed, the report's information was already publicly available, and nondisclosure could not prevent either fair-trial prejudice or reputational harm under § 54-47g(c).

Questions Presented

1. Whether the grand jury properly sealed portions of the final report because disclosure would substantially prejudice the fair-trial rights of persons arrested as a result of the interim report.
2. Whether General Statutes § 54-47g(c)(4)'s reference to innocent persons includes a person for whom probable cause was found but who had not been arrested or charged.
3. Whether reasonable alternatives to nondisclosure were required before sealing the challenged portions of the final report.
4. Whether the grand jury improperly sealed the interim report without a specific motion to seal and without findings satisfying General Statutes § 54-47g(c).
5. Whether the petition for review of the interim report's sealing was timely and preserved.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded