Patricia Morehart and Colleen Duffy, Petitioners v. the Honorable Janet E. Barton, Judge of the Superior Court Of…

Summary

The Arizona Supreme Court held that crime victims have no constitutional or statutory right to attend an ex parte hearing concerning the return of summonses issued for a capital defendant's confidential mitigation investigation because the defendant himself had no right to attend that purely procedural hearing. The court also held that such a hearing is permissible under Rule 15.9(b) when confidentiality is properly shown, subject to consideration of any independent victim-participation rights and the defendant's fair-trial rights. The court vacated the court of appeals' decision and remanded to the superior court.