State of Connecticut v. Joshua Komisarjevsky

Summary

The court treated the defendant's petition as a late direct public-interest appeal and therefore did not decide whether the Appellate Court correctly dismissed the appeal for lack of a final judgment. On the merits, it held that the trial court abused its discretion by unsealing the witness list without adequately weighing the defendant's fair-trial and defense-preparation rights against public access, and it ordered the sealing order reinstated. Justice Zarella, joined by Justice McLachlan, concurred in reversing the unsealing order but would have resolved jurisdiction under the ordinary interlocutory-appeal doctrine rather than the public-interest appeal statute.