Opinion
No. 88-1124
Submitted February 8, 1989 —
Decided April 26, 1989.
Mandamus — Trial court closed courtroom during testimony of witness in aggravated murder trial and sealed testimony — Newspapers no longer seek access — Cause remanded to court of appeals, when.
APPEAL from the Court of Appeals for Clermont County, No. CA88-04-033.
On April 14, 1988, during an aggravated murder trial in the Court of Common Pleas of Clermont County, the courtroom was closed to the public during the testimony of one John Doe.
The transcript of Doe's testimony was sealed. Appellees, the Cincinnati Enquirer and the Cincinnati Post, were refused access to it. The trial court refused to release Doe's true name to appellees.
Appellees filed a complaint for a writ of mandamus in the Court of Appeals for Clermont County. That court granted a writ vacating the order sealing Doe's testimony.
The cause is now before this court upon an appeal as of right.
Keating, Muething Klekamp and Richard L. Creighton, Jr., for appellee Cincinnati Enquirer.
Wood Lamping and William R. Ellis, for appellee Cincinnati Post.
George E. Pattison, prosecuting attorney, and Thomas L. Blust, for appellant.
Appellees have withdrawn their request for access to the transcript and identification of the witness. We cannot simply dismiss the appeal, however, for that would leave appellant bound by the judgment of the court of appeals, whether appellees desire that judgment's enforcement or not.
Accordingly, we remand this cause to the court of appeals for further proceedings.
Cause remanded.
MOYER, C.J., SWEENEY, HOLMES, DOUGLAS, WRIGHT, H. BROWN and RESNICK, JJ., concur.