Commonwealth v. Fujita
Annotate this CaseA Newspaper sought postverdict access to the list containing the names and addresses of the jurors who served at the criminal trial of a defendant on charges of murder in the first degree and assault and battery. The trial judge ruled that he would ask jury members if they were amenable to speaking to the press and would permit disclosure only as to those jurors who responded affirmatively. The Newspaper filed a petition for relief from the judge’s ruling. The Supreme Judicial Court set aside the trial judge’s order in part and instructed that a list identifying the names of the jurors, without addresses, be disclosed, holding (1) the public’s long-term interest in maintaining an open judicial process requires that a list identifying the names of jurors who have been empanelled and rendered a verdict in a criminal case be retained in the court file of the case and be made available to the public; and (2) only on a judicial finding of good cause may such a list be withheld.
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