It's transparency vs. privacy in court

A dispute between Ramsey County prosecutors and a self-described "hard-nosed judge" involves a lot of legal terminology but, at its heart, comes down to the delicate balance between protecting the safety and privacy of alleged crime victims and the need to keep the court system open and transparent to the public.

District Judge Margaret Marrinan on Monday declined to find probable cause in four felony cases that came before her for omnibus hearings. Ordinarily that would mean a case is dismissed and a defendant is released from custody. But the judge agreed to a prosecutor's request that her order be stayed for five days until the County Attorney's office can file an appeal with the state Court of Appeals.

In each of the four cases, the alleged victim was identified in the complaint by his or her initials rather than their name. Marrinan said that because the case was "not stated with particularity," it was a denial of the defendants' constitutional right to due process.

Marrinan said she recognized that names of victims in certain situations are kept confidential, namely when the victim is a juvenile or the victim of a sex-related crime.

County Attorney Susan Gaertner said, "We use initials instead of full names in criminal complaints for the simple reason to protect the victim's safety and privacy," she said. "It's important to understand that the defense attorneys do get the names of the victims and witnesses so they can properly investigate the case against their client. That, in our opinion, more than suffices for due process purposes."

John Sonsteng, a professor at William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul and a former Dakota County attorney, is an advocate of full disclosure.

"Unless there is some reason to keep people's names secret -- and I think that's a judicial decision -- then I think it's public," he said.

The four cases Monday included Ryan A. Webb, 27, charged with domestic assault; Richard Dunson, 25, charged with aggravated robbery and assault; Cary L. Morrison, 22, charged with fleeing police in a stolen vehicle, and Tereshia K. Callender, charged with motor-vehicle theft. Each of their alleged victims was identified with three initials.

Rodney D. Papish, 24, also appeared Monday and is charged with domestic assault by strangulation. His victim is identified in the complaint as Leticia Lynn Perez, 25. Her address is also in the document.

Said Gaertner, "We deliberately used the victim's name in that complaint because it was such a serious allegation and we did not want to take the chance that Judge Marrinan would dismiss it if we used the initials."

Marrinan said other cases Monday also listed the alleged victims' names.

"Why the County Attorney's office is willing to play chicken on this I don't know," she said.

"Our position is that the requirement for a complaint is that it state probable cause," said Diamond, who heads his office's criminal prosecution division. "Unless the name of the victim is somehow necessary to actually state that probable cause, it wouldn't be necessary to put it in."

Diamond said he doesn't know of any other judge who has declined to find probable cause against a defendant because of that issue.

Marrinan is sticking to her guns and Ramsey County Chief District Judge Kathleen Gearin said that's up to her.

"I don't second-guess another judge's decision," Gearin said. "I don't interfere."

The four defendants are each scheduled to have another hearing Monday in Ramsey County District Court.