Com. v. Martinez

• Decision Date: 06 February 2007
• Citation: 917 A.2d 856
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, v. Gilbert MARTINEZ Appeal of Intervenor, PG Publishing Company d/b/a The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
• Court: Pennsylvania Superior Court

917 A.2d 856

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, v. Gilbert MARTINEZ Appeal of Intervenor, PG Publishing Company d/b/a The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued June 20, 2006.

Filed February 6, 2007.

David J. Bird, Pittsburgh, for appellant.

James R. Gilmore, Asst. Dist. Atty., for Com., appellee.

BEFORE: BOWES, PANELLA, and POPOVICH, JJ.

OPINION BY PANELLA, J.:

¶ 1 In this case we consider whether the news media enjoys a common law right of access, after sentencing in a criminal case, to letters presented to the sentencing court by defense counsel on a defendant's behalf.

¶ 2 On November 8, 2001, Gilbert Martinez¹ was charged in six separate criminal complaints with twenty-one counts of various narcotics offenses involving the delivery of cocaine. Martinez was accused of, inter alia, selling cocaine from his office in the Controller's Office in the City-County Building in Pittsburgh during the months of October and November 2001.

¶ 3 On December 10, 2003, Martinez pled guilty to multiple counts of delivery of a controlled substance² and possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance.³ Thereafter, Martinez's sentencing was scheduled for February 10, 2004. Prior to his sentencing, a number of people, including government officials, wrote letters to the sentencing court requesting leniency in Martinez's sentencing. The letters requesting leniency were submitted to the sentencing court by Martinez's attorney and copies of the letters were provided to the Commonwealth. Subsequent thereto, at the sentencing hearing, the sentencing court stated the following:

I have been in receipt of a number of letters that were filed in your behalf, from everybody from family to government officials. I have reviewed those letters. This is the time set for sentencing.

N.T., Sentencing, 2/10/04, at 3. The sentencing court imposed an aggregate period of three to six years incarceration, a sentence that failed to impose the mandatory minimum sentence sought by the Commonwealth.⁴

¶ 4 On March 2, 2004, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (the "Post-Gazette") filed a petition to intervene and motion for access to judicial records in which the newspaper requested copies of the letters submitted on Martinez's behalf. In its petition to intervene and motion for access to judicial records, the Post-Gazette noted that "the public has a paramount right to evaluate the activities of its officials and there is a public interest in knowing whether any elected or appointed officials wrote to the [c]ourt in an attempt to excuse or minimize Mr. Martinez's breach of the public trust. . . ." Petition to Intervene and Motion for Access to Judicial Records, 3/2/04, at ¶ 18. At that time, neither the Commonwealth nor Martinez opposed the Post-Gazette's petition and motion. On April 4, 2004, the sentencing court summarily denied the Post-Gazette's petition and motion. This timely appeal followed. The sentencing court has filed a memorandum opinion in accordance with Rule 1925(a) of the Pennsylvania Rules of Appellate Procedure on October 28, 2005.

¶ 5 On appeal, the Post-Gazette raises the following issues for our review:

1. Whether the trial court committed an error of law when it held that the public has no presumptive right of access to any judicial document connected with a criminal sentencing proceeding unless that document is formally filed or actually introduced into evidence at the time of the hearing?

. . .

2. Whether the trial court committed an error of law and abused its discretion when it denied an unopposed petition to intervene and motion for access to public judicial documents without carefully considering the public interest in obtaining access to the documents or identifying any specific countervailing interest supporting the denial of public access?

. . .

Appellant's Brief, at 3. Although the Post-Gazette purports to raise two separate issues on appeal, for ease of disposition we frame the issue as follows: Does the news media enjoy a common law right of access, after sentencing, to letters submitted on a defendant's behalf by defense counsel, which were presented to and reviewed by the sentencing court in preparation for sentencing?

¶ 6 Our standard of review is well-established: A trial court's decision regarding access to judicial documents and proceedings is within the sound discretion of the trial court, and we will reverse only if the trial court abuses its discretion. See Commonwealth v. Fenstermaker, 515 Pa. 501, 512, 530 A.2d 414, 420 (1987). Chief Justice Ralph Cappy, in Commonwealth v. Widmer, 560 Pa. 308, 744 A.2d 745 (2000), reiterated the parameters of "discretion" in a judicial setting as follows:

The term "discretion" imports the exercise of judgment, wisdom and skill so as to reach a dispassionate conclusion, and discretionary power can only exist within the framework of the law, and is not exercised for the purpose of giving effect to the will of the judge. Discretion must be exercised on the foundation of reason, as opposed to prejudice, personal motivations, caprice or arbitrary actions. Discretion is abused when the course pursued represents not merely an error of judgment, but where the judgment is manifestly unreasonable or where the law is not applied or where the record shows that the action is a result of partiality, prejudice, bias or ill will.

560 Pa. at 322, 744 A.2d at 753 (quoting Coker v. S.M. Flickinger Co., Inc., 533 Pa. 441, 447, 625 A.2d 1181, 1184 (1993)).

¶ 7 The sentencing court maintains that the letters at issue are not public judicial documents as the letters were not filed "and were not introduced into evidence at the time of the hearing." Sentencing Court Opinion, 10/28/05, at 2.⁵ On appeal, the Commonwealth writes in support of the sentencing court's position.⁶ The Post-Gazette contends, however, that the letters are public judicial documents as the sentencing court relied on them in formulating its sentence. See Appellant's Brief, at 12-13.

¶ 8 In Commonwealth v. Fenstermaker, 515 Pa. 501, 530 A.2d 414 (1987), the Pennsylvania Supreme Court recognized the common law right to examine public judicial documents. Id., 515 Pa. at 508, 530 A.2d at 418 (quoting Nixon v. Warner Communications, Inc., 435 U.S. 589, 597, 98 S.Ct. 1306, 55 L.Ed.2d 570 (1978) ("It is clear that the courts of this country recognize a general right to inspect and copy public records and documents, including judicial records and documents.")). Furthermore, although not argued by the Post-Gazette, we note that there is a qualified First Amendment right of access to certain judicial proceedings and documents. See Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Virginia, 448 U.S. 555, 100 S.Ct. 2814, 65 L.Ed.2d 973 (1980) (plurality).⁷

¶ 9 "The threshold inquiry in a case . . . where a common law right of access is asserted is whether the documents sought to be disclosed constitute public judicial documents, for not all writings connected with judicial proceedings constitute public judicial documents." Fenstermaker, 515 Pa. at 508, 530 A.2d at 418 (emphasis added). However, our research, and that of the parties, has failed to disclose any published Pennsylvania case addressing whether letters provided to a sentencing court are public judicial documents subject to a common law right of access. We again turn to Fenstermaker wherein our Pennsylvania Supreme Court emphasized that the level of the reliance placed on a document in the judicial decision-making process is a key factor in making this determination.

¶ 10 In Fenstermaker, the Supreme Court considered whether affidavits supporting arrest warrants that had already been executed were public judicial documents. Importantly, in deciding that the affidavits were judicial documents, the Court reasoned, inter alia, that the judicial decision-making process was focused on the information contained in the affidavits. Specifically, the Court explained:

[D]ocuments upon which a magistrate bases a decision to issue an arrest warrant are clearly judicial in character, for the decision to issue a warrant is itself a judicial one reflecting a determination that the affidavits and the information contained therein provide a sufficient basis upon which to justify an arrest.

515 Pa. at 509, 530 A.2d at 418.⁸

¶ 11 Therefore, we must now perform the two step analysis to determine whether the letters in issue are, first, judicial documents, and second, public judicial documents. In the present case, in imposing Martinez's sentence, the sentencing court specifically stated that it had received and reviewed the letters submitted by counsel on his behalf. See N.T., Sentencing, 2/10/04, at 3. Accordingly, because the record demonstrates that the letters played a part in the sentencing proceedings, i.e., the judicial proceedings, the letters are judicial documents.

¶ 12 As mentioned, the document must also be "public" in nature to meet the threshold inquiry when a common law right of access is asserted. In this analysis, we are guided by the observation of our Pennsylvania Supreme Court in Fenstermaker that courts have long recognized "[t]he importance of the public having an opportunity to observe the functioning of the criminal justice system...." Id., 515 Pa. at 505, 530 A.2d at 417.⁹

¶ 13 In imposing Martinez's sentence, the sentencing court, as mentioned, noted that it had reviewed the letters and that the letters had been "filed."¹⁰ N.T., Sentencing, 2/10/04, at 3. Given the open nature of criminal trials, and sentencing proceedings in particular, we find that letters submitted to a sentencing court by defense counsel at the time of sentencing, which the sentencing court explicitly reviews in preparation for sentencing, are public judicial documents regardless of whether the sentencing court formally dockets the letters. As public judicial documents, there is a presumption of public access to the documents. Letters that are submitted by defense counsel...