Facts: Judge James Cayce of the Superior Court for King County presided over the taking of a deposition from a witness in a criminal trial in an empty courtroom.  In response to a motion by defense counsel, Cayce agreed to close the courtroom to non-parties.  Tacoma News, Inc., whose representatives had attempted to enter the courtroom during the deposition but were refused entry, subsequently petitioned the Supreme Court of Washington for a writ of mandamus compelling Cayce to open the deposition to the public, asserting that closing the taking of the deposition had violated both Article I §10 of the Washington State Constitution’s guarantee of the open administration of justice and the 1^st Amendment to the United States Constitution’s implicit guarantee of public access to criminal trials.

Question(s):  Was the deposition subject to Article I §10’s guarantee of the open administration of justice?

Did closing the courtroom during the taking of the deposition violate the 1^st Amendment’s implicit guarantee of public access to criminal trials?

Conclusion: Chief Justice Madsen’s opinion for the Court rejected Tacoma News’s petition for a writ of mandamus, concluding that discovery is not subject to Article I §10 and that the mere fact that the deposition was taken in a courtroom with a judge present due to the fact that the witness was being held in the county jail at the time did not render the deposition a judicial proceeding open to the public.  The Court also held that closing the courtroom during the taking of the deposition did not violate the 1^st Amendment’s implicit guarantee of public access to criminal trials insofar as this guarantee does not extend to discovery.

Docket No. 83645-1

Petitioner: Tacoma News, Inc.

(Counsel: William Edward Holt and James Walter Beck)

Respondent: James Cayce

(Counsel: Thomas William Kuffel and Oma Lynn LaMothe)

Briefs:

Argument: Tuesday, November 9, 2010 10:00am

[Source: TVW, http://tvw.org]

Decided: Thursday, July 14th, 2011

Prevailing Party: James Cayce (Respondent)

Vote: 7-2

Citation: Pending

Court: Madsen1 Court (2010-2011)

Madsen
(Majority)

Johnson

Alexander
(Dissent)

Sanders

Chambers

Owens

Fairhurst

Johnson

Stephens