A San Diego appellate court ruled in 1988 that the judge presiding over the second trial "who had announced from the bench that he believed Hedgecock was guilty was wrong to block release of the transcripts to the defendant. Hedgecock was denied access to the documents for two more years until he appealed to the California Supreme Court, which ordered the transcripts released. In that appeal, the Supreme Court threw out 12 perjury convictions and set aside the remaining conspiracy charge pending a hearing on Hedgecock's motion for a jury trial on grounds of jury tampering.