State v. Allen

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Sullivan, J.

The two appeals herein, State v. Allen and State v. Hughes and Thompson, although they involve separate and unrelated murder trials, present a common legal issue of fundamental and far-reaching importance to the news media and to the administration of justice.

In State v. Allen the trial court, following the selection of an unsequestered jury1 and acting at the request of both the prosecutor and defense counsel, ordered:

that publication of inculpatory testimony taken outside the presence of the jury at evidentiary hearings held to determine…