Superior Court judge rejects request from Brown football players accused of sexual assault to seal court file

Article here. Excerpt:

'A Superior Court judge rejected a request from two Brown University football players accused of sexual assault to seal a court file related to the allegations.

Superior Court Judge Luis Matos declined to seal the record because, he said, much of the information, namely a Providence police report about the allegations, is publicly available by other means.

“The court doesn’t really see how it’s going to accomplish anything,” Matos said.

Under state Supreme Court precedent, court records should be sealed only when the request is narrowly tailored or if protecting the file is the only reasonable alternative, Matos said. The football players’ request had not met those standards, but the judge invited their lawyer, John R. Grasso, to more closely tailor his request about exactly what information he wished to protect.

“However, I do understand the defendants’ concern” about never having an opportunity to respond to the allegations, Matos said.
...
Matos granted that restraining order ex parte, meaning that he heard only from the woman.

On May 19, the football players filed a counter action accusing her of making “false and defamatory statements” about them “in reckless disregard of the truth… .”

Grasso, who represents one of the men — he had argued on behalf of both of them Wednesday — moved to question the PC woman under oath. Her lawyer, Thomas G. Briody, objected.

“I didn’t want to expose my client to two aggressive defense lawyers” before a grand jury investigation might be getting under way, Briody said.'