Judge delays ruling on whether to unseal documents in case of Yale lab tech accused of murder

Ruling delayed on unsealing papers in Yale killing

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — News organizations asked a judge Tuesday to unseal documents detailing the case against a former Yale employee accused of murdering a graduate student, while a prosecutor opposed the request, citing the privacy rights of the victim’s family and the need to ensure an impartial jury.

Judge Roland Fasano said he would make a ruling at a later date on the papers involving Raymond Clark III, a former lab technician accused of killing 24-year-old Annie Le in September and stuffing her body behind a wall in a research building.

Clark’s attorney, Beth Merkin, said widespread global news coverage of Le’s death and Clark’s arrest make it difficult to find a fair, impartial jury.

Paul Guggina, an attorney representing The Associated Press, The New York Times, The Hartford Courant and the New Haven Register, argued that the right of a free press and disclosure of information in the public interest should prevail over concerns that a jury pool could be tainted by pretrial publicity.

He pointed out that attorneys can question prospective jurors at length to make sure they don’t have preconceived opinions about a case.

Affidavits in support of search warrants and Clark’s arrest warrant have been sealed by the court through a series of orders that expire every 14 days. The affidavits lay out the prosecution’s case in filing a murder charge against the 24-year-old Clark, and detail what evidence they sought when they searched his Middletown apartment and took DNA samples from him.

Prosecutors filed papers Tuesday to extend the sealing, saying that Le’s family in Placerville, Calif., has been besieged by reporters.

The judge also delayed Clark’s probable cause hearing Tuesday so the defense could get an inventory of items taken with search warrants and both sides could get results of unfinished forensic analyses. Prosecutors at the probable cause hearing would have to prove they have enough evidence to justify the charge.

Le vanished Sept. 8 from the Yale medical school research building where she and Clark worked. Her body was found five days later on what was to be her wedding day.

Police have not released a motive behind the crime.