Judge denies motion to unseal basic information in Rostraver shooting case
Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter
A Westmoreland County judge denied a request to release the charges lodged against Keven Van Lam, who has been in the county’s prison since his arrest in early November.
Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter
Boyke Budiarachman was shot and killed Nov. 5 in the parking lot of Rostraver Square in Westmoreland County.
Court documents related to a deadly shooting in Rostraver Township will remain sealed after a judge ruled Wednesday there was “compelling state interest” not to release information in the case.
Westmoreland County Court of Common Pleas Judge Christopher Feliciani sealed the case in separate motions filed Nov. 6 and 7 in the arrest of Keven Van Lam, 55, on unknown charges. Boyke Budiarachman, 55, an Indonesian native living in Rostraver, was gunned down in the Rostraver Square strip mall near Belle Vernon Nov. 5.
Authorities have released very limited information in the case, and initially did not release the name of the victim or suspect. Local news journalists were able to glean information in the case from their reporting, but the public remains barred from basic information including the charges filed against Lam, which is information typically made accessible online in public records.
The sealing prompted legal action from The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. The nonprofit legal firm, based in Washington, D.C., filed an emergency motion on behalf of the Observer-Reporter, the Herald-Standard and the Mon Valley Independent.
Paula Knudsen Burke, a local legal initiative attorney, contended the rule authorities are citing in sealing the case has limitations the court is overstepping. Attorneys representing the district attorney’s office and Lam’s defense attorney appeared in court to oppose the motion to unseal the case.
Burke, appearing over telephone, asked the judge to “at the very least” unseal the docket sheet, which lists basic information including preliminary hearing date, time and location, charges filed, defendant’s name and date of birth, bail information and whether he remains in custody. It does not contain information identifying victims.
“There simply is no justification for not having a public facing docket in this. What this really leaves us with is a secret docket,” she said.
She argued the rule cited in sealing the docket, Pennsylvania Rule of Criminal Procedure 513.1, “simply doesn’t allow this, nor does the federal Constitution.”
The rule allows a judge to seal “arrest warrant information” defined to include “documents or information related to the case” if “good cause” is established.
Feliciani said “part of the problem” is that the reason for “good cause” is not public.
Assistant District Attorney James Lazar said detailing the reason would reveal information under seal.
“No doubt the public has an interest in knowing whether someone is rightly or wrongly incarcerated,” Lazar said.
Still, he said, the “charges themselves should not be disclosed.”
Burke said the court’s interpretation of the rule is an “extremely slippery slope.”
“We’re not aware of such an interpretation anywhere in the commonwealth. It’s simply, in a word, unconstitutional the situation we find ourselves in,” she said. “Full stop, there is no ability to seal a docket.”
Feliciani said that based on the information previously presented to him in private he had “every reason … to believe that disclosure would seriously compromise the investigation.”
He issued a ruling on the motion that said sealing the arrest warrant “served a compelling state interest in maintaining the integrity and confidentiality of the Commonwealth’s ongoing investigation” and that unsealing the documents would “significantly compromise the ongoing investigation and community safety,” referencing “an underlying investigation.”
Despite the judge’s reference to “community safety,” at the time of the shooting, District Attorney Nicole W. Ziccarelli called Budiarachman’s death “an isolated, targeted attack on the victim.”
“As the Commonwealth’s investigation continues to develop, this Court is of the opinion that the arrest warrant information shall remain under seal until further Order of Court, as to unseal the warrant information at this time would compromise the integrity of the ongoing investigation,” his order said.
Lazar said the preliminary hearing would be held at 10 a.m. Monday at Courtroom 2 in the Westmoreland County Courthouse. Feliciani asked Lazar to update The Reporters Committee attorney of any changes in the hearing time, date or location. That information is typically available to the public online.
Reporters covering the criminal case who were present at the Wednesday hearing said they learned only then that the location of the preliminary hearing had been changed from the Magisterial District Court in Monessen to the Greensburg courthouse.
Burke said after the hearing she maintains her position.
“We’re pleased that we were able to present our arguments to the court and that the preliminary hearing will be open to the public. However, we maintain that the public has a right of access to basic information about the case, including the charges filed against the defendant. We are disappointed that the court’s order did not provide for public access to basic docket information, or address the state’s overly expansive reading of a court rule meant only to temporarily seal limited information in rare circumstances.”
The newspapers are weighing appeal options in the case.