Audio tapes played in court are public records
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Audiotapes played during preliminary hearings in criminal
cases are public records, even if the tapes are not entered as evidence or
otherwise filed with the court, the state’s highest court ruled in a decision
released yesterday.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court sided with a Pittsburgh television station in
its attempt to obtain a copy of a tape recording that prosecutors played during
a preliminary hearing in a vehicular homicide case in 2004.
Read the AP story at the First Amendment Center