Judge to consider releasing Garrido transcripts
By Sam Stanton, Sacramento Bee
Phillip and Nancy Garrido will be sentenced June 2 for the kidnapping and rape of Jaycee Lee Dugard, but that won’t be the end of the case that day.
El Dorado Superior Court Judge Douglas Phimister has scheduled a hearing after the sentencing to decide whether to unseal the transcripts of Dugard’s appearance before a grand jury last September.
Phimister agreed to hold the hearing in response to an April 29 request from the Bee. In a letter to the judge submitted on behalf of media organizations statewide, the Bee asked the judge to grant “access to the documents immediately upon the closure of this case.”
Phimister previously rejected media attempts to gain access to the documents, saying they should remain sealed until the case is over.
District Attorney Vern Pierson has previously opposed release of the document, and Nancy Garrido’s attorney, Stephen Tapson, has described their contents as evil and said they should never be opened.
