Baltimore Sun v. Thanos

MOTZ, Judge.

The question presented by this case is whether a newspaper is entitled to access to a presentence investigation report which was admitted into evidence, under seal, in the penalty phase of a capital murder trial. There is, we hold, a First Amendment right of access to this report that prevents a trial court from denying access to it, absent a determination that the compelling interests served by maintaining the confidentiality of the report outweigh this right of access. Since no such determination was made here, we must remand this case to the Circuit Court for Garrett County so…