Judge denies PG motion in case of slain officer Hall
Complaint, case file in killing will stay sealed
An Allegheny County judge on Thursday denied a motion by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to unseal the criminal case record of a man charged with killing Pittsburgh police Officer Calvin Hall last month.
In a one-sentence order, Common Pleas Judge Jill E. Rangos denied the newspaper’s attempt to unseal the complaint and case file for Christian Bey. He is accused of shooting Officer Hall, who was offduty, early in the morning of July 14 following an argument in Homewood. Officer Hall died on July 17 from his injuries.
Pittsburgh police announced the charges against Bey but never provided a criminal complaint, instead saying that it had been sealed.
The case was then moved to the county’s indicting grand jury.
District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. said earlier this week that the case was before the grand jury to protect witnesses who were cooperating with authorities. He said the grand jury’s work would be completed this month.
The Post-Gazette filed a motion to unseal Bey’s criminal complaint on July
26, writing that the case “represents a matter of the highest public importance.”
The newspaper’s attorneys said that the public has the right to information in the case under both common law and the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Judge Rangos did not hold a hearing on the motion but received briefs from the newspaper as well as from the DA’s office, which opposed the unsealing. Bey’s defense attorney, Carmen Robinson also sought to unseal the criminal complaint. Judge Rangos denied Mr. Robinson’s motion in the same order.
In the prosecution’s response to the Post-Gazette’s motion, the DA’s office wrote that under state grand jury secrecy rules, the case against Bey is required to be sealed. The prosecution called the newspaper’s motion to unseal the record “meritless,” and “clearly prohibited by law.”
Post-Gazette Executive Editor Keith Burris said the newspaper will continue to pursue openness and transparency in public records.
“Our job is simple but profoundly important: To get the story; to get as much of the story as we can; to inform the public. To seek openness will always be our default. To oppose secret government and secret justice is our solemn duty. Secret government is antithetical to democracy.
“In this particular case, there is much about the incident that is still not known. So we have a special obligation — a double obligation if you will — to pursue the story and seek transparency. And no one has made an actual argument to the contrary.”