A Sacramento judge tentatively ruled that the state must hand over Phillip Garrido’s parole records. Garrido has been charged with the kidnap of an 11-year-old girl and keeping her in captivity for 18 years. -db
By Sam Stanton
A Sacramento judge issued a tentative ruling Thursday that would require state corrections officials to turn over certain parole documents on Phillip Garrido to The Bee and two other news organizations, and to provide him with other documents for review of whether they also can be released.
The ruling from Superior Court Judge Patrick Marlette stems from a lawsuit seeking access to the documents that was filed in December by The Bee, Channel 3 (KCRA) and the San Francisco Chronicle.
Corrections officials responded to the tentative ruling by asking for a hearing on the matter that will be held this afternoon.
The Bee has been seeking parole documents on Garrido since August, when he was arrested and charged in the 1991 kidnap of Jaycee Lee Dugard when she was 11. Dugard was found alive after 18 years in captivity, and Garrido and his wife, Nancy, face charges that could send them to prison for life. Both have pleaded not guilty.
Corrections officials and the state Office of Inspector General, which reviewed how parole agents handled the case, have rejected The Bee’s efforts under the Public Records Act to gain access to certain files regarding Garrido.
They have cited laws and policies they contend make those files confidential, in some cases because of Garrido’s right to privacy.
The judge addressed the privacy concern in his tentative ruling:
“With respect to Garrido, even if the Court were to accept the proposition advanced by OIG that Garrido has a right of privacy in connection with the conduct of his parole supervision, invasion of that right is entirely warranted in this case,” Marlette wrote.
“Parole officers were monitoring him in what normally would be the private sphere of his life, and the question at issue in OIG’s investigation, and foremost in the public mind, is how they were performing their duties.”
Meanwhile, Phillip Garrido’s attorney filed motions in El Dorado Superior Court Thursday asking for the whereabouts of Dugard and whether she has a new lawyer.
Nancy Garrido’s attorney, Stephen Tapson, indicated that he had joined in that motion, as well as a motion to allow the Garridos to visit each other in jail.
The motions will be argued in a hearing on Feb. 26.
Copyright 2010 The Sacramento Bee