Ruggiero v. Fuessenich

The dispositive issue in this appeal is whether the trial court’s denial of the plaintiffs’1 petition for disclosure and release of records relating to the criminal prosecution of the named defendant, John T. Fuessenich, constituted a final judgment for purposes of appeal. During the pendency of the criminal prosecution, the plaintiffs filed a wrongful death action against the defendant2 for causing the death of James B. Irwin, Jr. (decedent), by shooting him with a .357 caliber magnum revolver. Subsequently, the defendant was acquitted by a jury of murder and the lesser included offense of…