And so then that put back my reporting, because of course had to go back to the courtroom," Jones said. "I couldn't access the records in the one-hour break that we had, because those two computers were taken. "And I went to the computer room, and there's only two computers in there, and both were taken." ![]() "There was a day where I went to the computer room in Salinas during a short recess, and I wanted to check on records to update the database that I have," she said. She said it’s made her own reporting harder. Jones said the media coalition feels the access issue is a barrier to public knowledge of records related to evidence and legal actions in this case. "The judge is now reviewing the gag order and is going to modify it so that it's narrowly tailored and cannot be used as a blanket seal." "The news coalition argue that this gag order was being used to obstruct constitutional access to this case," Jones said. Jones said the media coalition argues that the prior sealing of all these records was unusual, unjustified and a violation of California law. A hearing with the media coalition happened on August 5. They filed the legal motion on July 14, and Monterey County Superior Court Judge Jennifer O’Keefe moved to unseal most of the records on July 29. Jones started the media coalition, which includes the Los Angeles Times, ABC News and the Associated Press along with the SLO Tribune. So that's not something I can exactly speak to, but I am very curious," she said. "It's just unclear as to why so many of the sealing orders were granted. That concern over media coverage may be the reason why most records in this case have been sealed until now.īut SLO Tribune courts reporter Chloe Jones, who started the media coalition, said it’s really not clear why. The trial was moved up to Monterey County after a SLO County judge ruled its widespread public attention here would not make for an impartial trial. The trial for the highly-publicized and long-running case is ongoing at the Monterey County Superior Court in Salinas. A media coalition led by the San Luis Obispo Tribune filed the motion to get those records unsealed, and they hope to get them publicly accessible online next. The presiding judge in the Kristin Smart murder trial has now ruled that the majority of the records in the case can be unsealed, and that process is underway right now.
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