Camp Verde Bugle and Verde Independent Sweat Lodge search warrant opened

Folks in Tucson are telling me that they can't get access to our online news in Yavapai County, so I'm posting this for their benefit.

This story comes from the Verde News




Saturday, December 26, 2009



CAMP VERDE -- Yavapai Superior Court Judge Micheal Bluff Wednesday raised his closure order on the first evidence from the case of James Ray's Spiritual Warrior Sweat Lodge deaths and illnesses at a retreat south of Sedona.



In a 40-minute proceeding in the final hours before the Christmas break, Bluff vacated his own order that sealed the documents related to a search warrant at the sweat lodge site at the Angel Valley Retreat.



Representing KPNX in Phoenix, David Bodney of Steptoe and Johnson, asked the court, "How does public access rights trump indefinite secrecy?"











In addition to the search warrant that Bluff had ordered sealed Oct. 12, Bodney also wondered what other documents may have been kept from public view by the County Attorney's "perpetual closure." Bluff, who had just given the attorneys copies of an earlier order allowing crime scene photos to finally be released, re-focused the proceeding exclusively on the closed search warrant.



Both Bodney and Deputy County Attorney Bill Hughes for the State, argued case law to open or keep the documents closed from public inspection.



Hughes said some interviews remain and the autopsy reports are not complete and that the investigation should be concluded by mid-January.



Bodney argued that much information about the case is already in public circulation after nearly three months.



"Witnesses have been talking to one another and the media. Civil lawsuits have been filed. What is the probability of harm? The County Attorney should not be allowed to operate in a vacuum," he argued.



Bodney concluded that the State has not met the burden of demonstrating how the release will harm their case or show an exception to public access.



In his order, Judge Bluff said, "The search warrant was already out there, because it was served and left with someone on the property. It seems to me that the 'return' document is also, at least the inventory is public information because it was left at the site. During the break I looked at the affidavit again. I issued the form, so I read everything. So it seems to me that the only document I have to look at again, is the affidavit. The State has not persuaded me to rebut the presumption of openness."



Outside the courtroom, Bodney told the Verde Independent, "We believe that the public has the right to inspect these search warrant records. They are fundamental documents pertaining to homicides that occurred more than two months ago, the circumstances of which are generally known and there is no legal justification for keeping them under seal until the county attorney feels she has interviewed every last witness and locked down all their statements."



"And if the County Attorney didn't objected to releasing more of these records I would have like to have been in a position to see them today as well. But, we are making progress."



Lizbeth Neuman, 49, of Michigan, 38-year old Kirby Brown of New York and 40-year old James Shore of Wisconsin died and 18 others were treated for illness suffered after the sweat lodge event for participants who paid nearly $10,000 for James Ray's Spiritual Warrior Retreat teachings.





Here's another story from the Camp Verde Bugle Online

from Saturday, December 26, 2009







CAMP VERDE -- Yavapai Superior Court Judge Micheal Bluff Wednesday raised his closure order on the first evidence from the case of James Ray's Spiritual Warrior Sweat Lodge deaths and illnesses at a retreat south of Sedona.



In a 40-minute proceeding in the final hours before the Christmas break, Bluff vacated his own order that sealed the documents related to a search warrant at the sweat lodge site at the Angel Valley Retreat.



Representing KPNX in Phoenix, David Bodney of Steptoe and Johnson, asked the court, "How does public access rights trump indefinite secrecy?"

In addition to the search warrant that Bluff had ordered sealed Oct. 12, Bodney also wondered what other documents may have been kept from public view by the County Attorney's "perpetual closure." Bluff, who had just given the attorneys copies of an earlier order allowing crime scene photos to finally be released, re-focused the proceeding exclusively on the closed search warrant.



Both Bodney and Deputy County Attorney Bill Hughes for the State, argued case law to open or keep the documents closed from public inspection.



Hughes said some interviews remain and the autopsy reports are not complete and that the investigation should be concluded by mid-January.



Bodney argued that much information about the case is already in public circulation after nearly three months.



"Witnesses have been talking to one another and the media. Civil lawsuits have been filed. What is the probability of harm? The County Attorney should not be allowed to operate in a vacuum," he argued.



Bodney concluded that the State has not met the burden of demonstrating how the release will harm their case or show an exception to public access.



In his order, Judge Bluff said, "The search warrant was already out there, because it was served and left with someone on the property. It seems to me that the 'return' document is also, at least the inventory is public information because it was left at the site. During the break I looked at the affidavit again. I issued the form, so I read everything. So it seems to me that the only document I have to look at again, is the affidavit. The State has not persuaded me to rebut the presumption of openness."



Outside the courtroom, Bodney told the Verde Independent, "We believe that the public has the right to inspect these search warrant records. They are fundamental documents pertaining to homicides that occurred more than two months ago, the circumstances of which are generally known and there is no legal justification for keeping them under seal until the county attorney feels she has interviewed every last witness and locked down all their statements."



"And if the County Attorney didn't objected to releasing more of these records I would have like to have been in a position to see them today as well. But, we are making progress."



Lizbeth Neuman, 49, of Michigan, 38-year old Kirby Brown of New York and 40-year old James Shore of Wisconsin died and 18 others were treated for illness suffered after the sweat lodge event for participants who paid nearly $10,000 for James Ray's Spiritual Warrior Retreat teachings.


Just in the interest of full disclosure, I sell my artwork in the Sedona area, but I don't get any monetary compensation from anybody mentioned in any of my posts.

The more I read about this terrible tragedy, the more I think that the government may need to step in and engage in some kind of regulation of these seminars. They seem to be getting out of hand. Ever since the late 1990s, I've heard about people being taken to the hospital at these retreats. A retreat is supposed to recharge you and make you feel rested and more balanced. This stuff seems to have gotten so out of balance that maybe we need to have some local hearings about putting some regulations on it. There at least should be trained medical staff on hand because you never know what medical conditions folks have. Some folks can have conditions they're not even aware of and they come from all over the world to see our beautiful landscapes.  Some folks can't handle the altitude, and a lot of folks lead pretty sedintary lifestyles.  It just seems like the humane thing to do to make sure nobody else gets sick or dies trying to connect with the spirits around here.