A federal judge is to hear arguments from attorneys in the George Washington Bridge lane-closing case on what evidence they want to keep in or out of an upcoming trial.
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Two of Governor Christie’s former top associates – Bill Baroni and Bridget Anne Kelly – have been indicted on charges that they conspired to jam Fort Lee with traffic to exact revenge on the borough’s Democratic mayor, who declined to endorse Christie’s re-election in 2013.
A judge in Newark ordered the list released in May. Jury selection in their trial is set to begin Thursday.
Prosecutors accused William Baroni, a former deputy executive director of the Port Authority of NY and New Jersey, and Bridget Anne Kelly, a former Christie deputy chief of staff, of closing lanes to punish Fort Lee’s Democratic mayor, Mark Sokolich, for not endorsing the successful re-election of Christie, a Republican.
David Wildstein, another former high-ranking Port Authority official, pleaded guilty in 2015 and is cooperating with the government.
The case hinged on whether the letter constituted a “bill of particulars”, which the public has a right to see, or an element of the discovery process in a court proceeding, which is not subject to public access.
While it may make sense to release the names at trial, “that time is not here yet”, he added.
A three-judge panel of the 3rd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals overturned her ruling Wednesday.
Bruce Rosen, an attorney for the news organizations, said he was reviewing the decision but that an appeal “would be hard in view of the time frame and some or all of these names may be released at trial”.
Bruce Rosen, a lawyer for media companies including ABC, the Associated Press and the New York Times, in an email said his clients are disappointed, and no decision on an appeal has been made.
The judges concluded that the letter was part of the general discovery process, meaning it was not protected by the First Amendment or the common law right of public access.
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The decision overruled a lower court judge’s order in May requiring disclosure of the names.
