State v. Couture

The petitioner publishes a daily newspaper with a large circulation throughout most of the state and it has appealed pursuant to General Statutes § 51-164x from an order of the trial court closing the courtroom to the press and the public during certain proceedings preliminary to the trial of the two defendants upon charges of capital felony and felony murder. The crimes charged involve the killing of three security guards during a robbery at the Purolator garage in Waterbury on April 16,1979. The defendants had moved to exclude the public and the news media from the hearings on their motions…