A local judge has said he does not know why the district
attorney’s office requested that Mike Rodrigues’ criminal grand
jury transcript be sealed.
A local judge has said he does not know why the district attorney’s office requested that Mike Rodrigues’ criminal grand jury transcript be sealed.
“I don’t know exactly why the request was made by the DA’s office if they had already prepared the complaint with the names,” San Benito County Superior Court Judge Steven Sanders said Friday.
The Free Lance obtained court records containing names of witnesses and the suspected victims both before and after the district attorney’s office requested that the transcripts be sealed on Jan. 2. District Attorney Candice Hooper said she made the request to protect the identity of the suspected victims.
Hooper said her office prepared a grand jury indictment against Rodrigues with the names of the witnesses and victims who testified during the proceedings in December. The former sheriff’s sergeant was indicted on eight felony charges, including seven counts of suspected sex crimes.
“Whether the court should have redacted it prior to publicizing or the people should have redacted it prior to filing, I don’t know,” Hooper said of the names Friday.
Rodrigues is scheduled to be arraigned Jan. 22. Attorneys and Sanders are expected to discuss whether the transcript should remain sealed. The judge said he granted a temporary seal until such a discussion could take place.
Sanders explained criminal grand jury transcripts are to be sealed for 10 days after an indictment to allow both prosecutors and defense attorneys time to address any concerns.
Rodrigues’ attorneys had not been properly ordered to be in court, Sanders said.
When Hooper and Sanders met Jan. 2 to discuss sealing the transcripts, an official attorney of record had not been determined for Rodrigues.
Attorney Mike Pekin has represented Rodrigues in family law matters, and a court document from the Jan. 2 hearing indicated both he and the defendant would be ordered to be present at the arraignment.
