A Ramsey County judge ordered Wednesday that the court records from the high-profile trial of Aaron Foster Sr., which ended in his 2008 acquittal in the 1981 murder of his girlfriend, will remain open to the public for now.

Chief Judge Kathleen Gearin left open the possibility that Foster's request to have the court records sealed could be reconsidered after the conclusion of a civil wrongful death suit filed in April by the family of Barbara Winn.

The family is seeking to hold Foster, 58, civilly responsible for the shooting death of Winn on May 8, 1981. The two had argued at Winn's Maplewood townhouse before she was killed by a bullet from Foster's gun. Her three children, who were 15, 13 and 12 at the time, were home that night and have insisted that Foster killed her. Foster maintained that Winn shot herself.

Foster, who was a close friend of former St. Paul Police Chief Bill Finney, wasn't charged until 2007, after Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher reopened the case. Finney and Fletcher were competing for the sheriff's job in the 2008 election.

Earl Gray, Foster's attorney, argued that his client had been turned down for numerous jobs and should have his record expunged because he was acquitted by a jury in 2008.

In her order, Gearin wrote that she made her decision "after balancing the public interests and public safety, including the interests of Ms. Winn's family, against the disadvantages to the petitioner in keeping his records open." She also noted that because the case was highly publicized, "a simple Google search reveals most of the information he seeks to have sealed."

Gearin wrote that the public also should have access to records "regarding the original police investigation, actions of a former police chief, and the more recent investigation conducted by the Ramsey County Sheriff's Department."

LORA PABST