Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/329100
[the Public Records Law]. Chapter 119 does not apply to federal criminal investigations." Thomas then opened a line of argument through which Mogensen drove a prover- bial bulldozer. "But it does seem curious that a federal marshal went to the 12th Judicial Circuit, not a federal judge. Process is what's important here." Mogensen followed that up by saying, "The primary issue is to maintain the status quo. There needs to be judicial oversight. It may be true some records are exempt … but this court needs to maintain jurisdiction to deter- mine that." "We know some of the documents are signed by 12th Circuit judges," she added. "If state court judges are signing orders, it is likely the documents come under 119. We need to pro- tect these documents." She suggested Williams review the documents in secret. "Nobody knows the status of these documents," added Mogensen. "We'd like you to preserve the status quo and exercise judi- cial oversight." Schultz said the city has already provided 1,900 documents "and continues going through the records. We are in the process of producing the records in possession of the city." Flynn told the court the Marshals Service has the duty to pursue the apprehension of non-federal fugitives, which requires the use of state courts. "There is no need to enjoin us to protect the records," he said. Mogensen replied, "I can't imagine they would object to an injunction to protect records. We are entitled to an emergency hearing and accelerated treatment on the injunction." Flynn then made a major concession, agree- ing to surrender the non-federal documents. "We will file the state documents with the issuing courts," he said. Williams asked if that could be done within the next 10 days, and Flynn agreed it could. But the assistant U.S. attorney dug in his heels regarding production of the task force's mate- rial. "The only records we are interested in are the records of the task force. We are only say- ing that documents created and maintained by the task force are withheld," said Flynn. The state records he will release in the next 10 days are not automatically open to the pub- lic. Instead, judicial records come under the Rules of Judicial Administration. Depending on when and where the Marshals Task Force sought judicial action, the records could be scattered across several circuits. However, their release from federal custody, and Williams' agreement to hold an emer- gency hearing to consider an injunction to protect the documents, were major victories for the plaintiffs. Under state law, an emer- gency hearing to prevent destruction of public documents receives "accelerated treatment" and rises to the top of the docket before the next available judge. At the close of the hearing, Williams admit- ted he has another tricky decision to make. "I have to make the determination on the status of Detective Jackson," he said. % Sarasota News Leader June 13, 2014 Page 19