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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT1 RK OF l
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO^^ ULL.
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In Re: ..'.. UIntii'N i. i:'
-^T. niV COIUMBUS
COURT PROCEDURES RELATING
TO PUBLICAND NEWSMEDIA GENERAL ORDER NO. 22-22
ACCESS TO TRIAL EXHIBITS
This Court issues this General Order to address the procedures the Court will use in
providing public access, including media access, to admitted trial exhibits. In adopting this Order,
the Court starts from the proposition that trials are public proceedings. The public and the press
have a First and Fourteenth Amendment right to attend criminal trials' andthat same right largely
extends to civil trials.2
The constih. itional right to attend a trial, though, does not give rise to a corresponding
constitutional right to obtain the exhibits admitted at trial. Rather, the ability to see and hear the
evidence as it is presented in thepublic fomm suffices to satisfy constitutional obligations.
That said, courts have long recognized a presumptive common-law right of access to
judicial records. As a general matter, this includes trial exhibits, which form a portion of the
evidencethat the court or thejury will rely on to decide a given matter.
This right of access is not unqualified. There may be circumstances where the right of
access, or the timing of such access, must give way to other equally important rights, such as a
defendant's right to a fair trial, witness safety, or other similarly weighty concerns. Thus, as the
Supreme Court has observed, "the decision as to access is one best left to the sound discretion of
' Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Virginia, 448 U. S. 555 (1980).
2 Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. v. F. T. C., 710 F.2d 1165, 1178 (6th Cir. 1983).
3 SeeUnited Statesv. Beckham, 789 F.2d 401, 409 (6th Cir. 1986).
See id., Nixonv. Warner Communications, Inc., 435 U. S. 589 (1978).
the trial court, a discretion to be exercised in light of the relevant facts and circumstances of the
particular case. "5
Consistent with that observation, nothing in this General Order is designedto restrict, in
any way, a judge's right to exercise his or her discretion on this issue in a given case. Rather, the
purpose of this General Order is to advise the public of the general procedures that this Court will
use in providing access to admitted trial exhibits, to the extent that the assigned judge determines
such access is appropriate in a given case.
Accordingly, under this General Order, a party requesting access to admitted trial exhibits
should direct its request in writing to the chambers of the judge who is assigned to that matter,
identifying the matter as to which materials are sought, andthe specific admitted trial exhibits the
requester is seeking. If the judge determines it is appropriate to provide such access, the judge s
staff will confer with the requester to determine the format in which to provide the requested
material. If thejudge elects to provide the requested material in electronic fonnat, the Court will
provide the electronic medium (e. g., flash drive, CD-ROM, etc. ) for the transfer, but may charge
the requester a fee for copies of records in electronic form as set forth on the fee schedule on the
Court's website. 6 If the Court instead elects to provide the materials in hard copy (i. e., paper)
fonnat, the Court may require the requester to prepay the copy charges associated with providing
the requested materials, once again at the rate set forth on the fee schedule. Thejudge may, but is
not required to, note the request for admitted trial exhibits and/or the identity of the requester on
the docket in the matter.
5 Nixon, 435 U. S. at 599.
6iS'eehttps://www.ohsd.uscourts. gov/court-fee-schedule-and-payment-infonnation
The assigned judge also has discretion regarding the timing of such access. For example,
in a given case, a judge may determine that providing such access while the trial is ongoingmay
give rise to anunacceptable risk that thejury will be tainted by news reports on the materials, and
thus the judge may, but is not required to, elect to delay release of such materials until after jury
deliberations are complete.
This General Order applies to admitted trial exhibits only, anddoesnot address unadmitted
trial exhibits. As a general matter, neither the press nor the public have any right of access to
unadmitted trial exhibits. Similarly, this General Order is not intended to, and does not, address
admittedtrial exhibits as to whichthe Court has granted a sealing order.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATED: December 19, 2022
ALGEN(
CHIEFIMITEDSTATESDISTRICTJUDGE
