DA Opposes Release of McStay Case Warrants

Prosecutors in San Bernardino are opposing the public release of court records that would reveal important new details about the investigation and arrest of the man accused of the 2010 murders of the McStay family in Fallbrook.

NBC 7 is one of 18 news organizations seeking release of search warrant documents related to the case against Charles Merritt, a former business partner of Joseph McStay.

The media argues that the public has a constitutional right to see those documents and learn more about the investigation, now that Merritt has been arrested and formally charged with the crimes.

But prosecutors strongly disagree.

In opposition papers sent to NBC 7’s attorney and set to be filed with the court Monday, January 26, prosecutors claim the media -- and the public -- have no First Amendment right of access to search warrant materials that were sealed by a judge during an investigation.

Deputy District Attorney Mark Vos also argues that release of the documents could harm what that he characterizes as a continuing investigation and an “open murder case”, despite earlier statements by the San Bernardino Sheriff that Merritt is the only suspect in the case. The D.A.’s office is urging Judge Michael Smith to keep the warrants sealed at least until the preliminary hearing in the case against Merritt.

The D.A.’s opposition includes a three-page summary of the specific reasons for keeping the warrants sealed, written by a Sheriff’s Homicide Division Sergeant and Homicide Detective. But those arguments are blacked out in the D.A.’s public filing, as are portions of a list of “sealed warrants, intercept orders and associated materials." The Judge assigned to the case can review those statements, copies of the contested search warrants and other documents and declarations before making a decision on the media’s request for unsealing. A public hearing is scheduled for Friday morning, January 30, in San Bernardino.

Four search warrants related to the initial investigation of the McStay case, which was handled by the San Diego Sheriff’s Department, were unsealed last Friday, January 23, by a San Diego Judge. But those documents contain no information about the San Bernardino Sheriff’s investigation, which began in November, 2013, after the bodies of Joseph McStay, his wife, Summer, and the copies two young children, were discovered in the desert in Victorville.

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