By Christopher Walsh Sports Writer June 09, 2005
TUSCALOOSA | The Tuscaloosa News filed a motion Thursday with the Circuit Court of Tuscaloosa County requesting that documents in the Ronnie Cottrell and Ivy Williams lawsuit against the National Collegiate Athletic Association and others be unsealed and available for public review. The newspaper asked the court to intervene shortly after the entire 1,500-page response to motions for dismissal, which was sealed earlier in the morning at the request of the defendants. The motion states: "It was well established that The Tuscaloosa News and the general public have a right of access to such documents and information under the Alabama common and statutory law and First Amendment to the Constitution. Unless The Tuscaloosa News is permitted to intervene in this action, the public's right to be beard concerning access to the court records and proceedings will not be protected." The response by the plaintiffs was filed at approximately 4:45 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, making it public record for roughly 15 minutes until the courthouse closed for the day. During that short time period, The Tuscaloosa News obtained copies of portions of the response, which are now electronically displayed on its website, and made arrangements to have the entire document copied. The newspaper requested a hearing on the matter, citing Alabama law that a court must conduct a hearing before granting a motion to seal court records. "We see that important public issues have been raised in this suit, Tuscaloosa News executive editor Douglas Ray said. "Often documents can do more to substantiate or refute allegations than we can get from people's comments. Court records generally should be available to the public and we're not aware of any special reasons why this court record has been sealed." Ray noted that the motion is not specific to the response, stating, "We'd be intervening either way." At the request of the NCAA attorneys, Tuscaloosa attorney Delaine Mountain asked the court to seal the response, which includes depositions and testimony covered by a protective order. The original motion is also under seal. The $60 million defamation lawsuit is scheduled for jury trial starting July 11 before Judge Steve Wilson. A hearing regarding the summary judgement will be held June 23, with another hearing on a motion to compel - asking for an order to force defendant Tom Culpepper to produce a document plaintiffs believe will show his legal fees are being paid by the NCAA - set for the following day. Reach Christopher Walsh at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or at (205) 722-1096. _______________________________________________ RTF mailing list RTF@rolltidefan.net http://rolltidefan.net/mailman/listinfo/rtf_rolltidefan.net
