Hearst Corp. v. Clyne

Chief Judge Cooke

(dissenting). A majority of the court today in effect sanctions the exclusion of the public and the press from a guilty plea proceeding in a criminal case. Because closure of a plea proceeding is tantamount to closure of a trial itself, and because the tacit implications of the court’s decision do not bode well for the future of public trials in this State, I must respectfully dissent.* 1

The present article 78 proceeding stems from a criminal proceeding in Albany County. In September of 1978, Alexander Marathon and William Du Bray were indicted for the crimes of robbery in…