GOLDEN — In an exceedingly rare move, a judge has ruled that the public will not be allowed to attend a preliminary hearing in the case against a 17-year-old accused of murdering 10-year-old Jessica Ridgeway.
“The preliminary hearing will be sealed. It will be closed,” Judge Stephen Munsinger said.
The preliminary hearing scheduled for Feb. 22 will determine whether there is sufficient evidence to try Austin Sigg on murder charges.
Munsinger’s decision came unexpectedly Wednesday morning as he ruled on numerous motions by Sigg’s defense attorneys.
The move violates the public’s First Amendment right to attend court hearings, Colorado Press Association attorney Chris Beall said.
Beall said this type of order is frequently challenged on constitutional grounds and that he is consulting media clients, including The Denver Post, about what action to take.
There were only two instances that Beall could recall in which a preliminary hearing was partially or completely closed in Colorado, he said.
The preliminary hearing in the Kobe Bryant rape case was partially closed to the public when evidence was presented that might not be allowed at trial, Beall said. The other instance was a case in which Hugo teenager Greg Smith was charged as an adult in the slayings of his great-grandparents in 2011.
Munsinger’s decision to close the preliminary hearing on his own without a motion from either the prosecution or the defense is also unusual, Beall said.
“It’s a significant moment for a judge to close a preliminary hearing without ever allowing the media to make an objection,” he said. “It is unprecedented.”
Munsinger’s ruling apparently even took Sigg’s attorney Mitch Ahnstedt by surprise. He stood and asked Munsinger if he understood correctly that the judge had just decided to close the preliminary hearing.
The judge made his decision about the preliminary hearing just as Ahnstedt had been arguing a motion to seal or redact pleadings.
“The media exposure has been massive and pervasive and will affect Mr. Sigg’s right to a fair trial,” Ahnstedt said.
Beall said that if Timothy McVeigh was able to have a fair trial in Colorado after relentless national publicity following the Oklahoma City bombing, it is highly likely Sigg also can have a fair trial in the state.
There are many ways to protect Sigg’s right to a fair trial without closing the preliminary hearing, he said, including barring jurors who have formed opinions about his guilt or innocence based on news reports.
Also Wednesday in court, District Attorney Scott Storey amended the complaint against Sigg to clarify the allegations of sexual assault against Jessica. The new charges include sexual assault and “crime of violence” during a sexual assault of a child younger than 15.
Sigg already is charged with 11 counts related to the abduction and killing of Jessica and six counts, including attempted first-degree murder, in a separate attack on a woman jogging around Ketner Lake over Memorial Day weekend.
Jessica was kidnapped on her way to school in Westminster on Oct. 5. Her body was found five days later in a field in Arvada. Authorities say Sigg confessed to the kidnapping and murder. He was arrested Oct. 23.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206, facebook.com/kmitchelldp or twitter.com/kmitchelldp