Ennis Cosby Case Transcripts Kept Sealed Again

For the second time in a week, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge has denied a request to make public the transcripts of grand jury proceedings that led to the indictment of Mikail “Michael” Markhasev in the slaying of Ennis Cosby.

Concluding that Markhasev’s right to a fair trial could be compromised by release of the transcripts, Judge John H. Reid sided with the defense that the documents should remain sealed. Normally, they would become public 10 days after being turned over to a defendant’s counsel.

Deputy Alternate Public Defenders Henry Hall and Harriet Hawkins contended that release of the transcripts would present a distorted view of the case because defense arguments are not part of grand jury proceedings. Since Reid has issued a gag order, the lawyers said, they would be prevented from disputing pro-prosecution statements in the transcripts.

Markhasev’s attorneys added that their client’s right to a fair trial could be compromised by news coverage of the transcripts about the slaying of entertainer Bill Cosby’s 27-year-old son, shot dead in January next to his car in the Sepulveda Pass.

“Short of the assassination of the president of the United States, it is difficult to imagine a case involving a more well known and sympathetic victim,” Markhasev’s attorneys argued in a 22-page motion.

By contrast, they said, their client has been vilified as a “thug.”

Reid agreed that the case is unusual because of the public’s affection for Bill Cosby.

To illustrate his point, the judge recalled listening with enjoyment to long-playing records of the elder Cosby’s comedy routines. Reid also said he was a fan of “I Spy” and “The Cosby Show,” describing the latter as the type of entertainment that “everybody would like to see.”

Attorney Karen Frederiksen, representing the Los Angeles Times and CBS, argued that prospective jurors exposed to media coverage of the case are “sophisticated” enough to distinguish between news accounts and the evidence presented in a courtroom.

Moreover, Frederiksen maintained that keeping the transcripts secret would only add to misinformation in the case--a prospect that could further jeopardize Markhasev’s rights to a fair trial.

But Reid dismissed Frederiksen’s arguments and made no secret of his irritation with comments in the media about his sealing order.

The judge angrily cited a statement made outside court Tuesday by Frederiksen’s partner, attorney Kelli Sager, who was in Seattle on Friday on another matter.

At that time, a television reporter asked Sager about several recent court orders--including Reid’s--restricting public access to court documents. “Unfortunately,” Sager responded, “it appears that some judges are not as well versed or sympathetic to the 1st Amendment as the Constitution requires.”

The remark, Reid said, was not only personally “offensive” but bordered on “contemptuous conduct.”