Commonwealth v. Winfield, 985 N.E.2d 86

Audette, a documentary filmmaker, sought access to a court reporter's room recording of a trial where the transcript was already available.
The room recording was kept by the court reporter, not filed in the court file and not the official trial record.
The trial involved Keith Winfield's conviction for multiple crimes against a child; the transcript was prepared from the room recording.
The motion judge denied access, holding the room recording not a judicial record and, even if it were, outweighed by good cause to impound.
Audette argued underlying First Amendment and common-law access rights; the judge balanced interests and denied access due to potential harm to the victim and family.
The Appeals Court transferred the case to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, which affirmed the denial.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the room recording is a judicial record subject to access	Audette contends it is a judicial record entitled to access	Commonwealth/Winfield argues it is not the official record and not presumptively public	No; backup room recording is not a presumptively public judicial record
Whether the First Amendment or common-law access rights extend to the room recording	Audette seeks access to provide authentic witness voices for his film	Transcript suffices; no right to backup recording when official record exists	Neither First Amendment nor common law gives access to the backup recording in this context
Whether the trial judge properly weighed good cause to impound if the recording were a record	Audette argues for an evidentiary hearing and less restrictive balancing	Commonwealth argued there is good cause to protect victim's emotional distress	No abuse of discretion; extraordinary facts justify denying access
Whether the denial constitutes an unconstitutional prior restraint	Audette asserts a prior restraint on speech	Decision is not a prior restraint; court did not bar dissemination of a recording already in court	Waived; even if reached, the claim fails

Globe Newspaper Co. v. Superior Court, 457 U.S. 596 (1982) (public access to open proceedings and records; presumption of publicity)
Press-Enterprise Co. v. Superior Court (I), 464 U.S. 501 (1984) (closure must be narrowly tailored to serve a compelling interest)
Press-Enterprise Co. v. Superior Court (II), 478 U.S. 1 (1986) (right to transcripts to accompany open proceedings)
Commonwealth v. Cohen (No. 1), 456 Mass. 94 (2010) (first amendment right of access to trials and transcripts; framework)
New England Internet Café, LLC v. Clerk of the Superior Court for Criminal Business, 462 Mass. 76 (2012) (public access to judicial records; filing status governs presumptions)
Republican Co. v. Appeals Court, 442 Mass. 218 (2004) (three principles of public access and impoundment decision framework)
Boston Herald, Inc. v. Sharpe, 432 Mass. 593 (2000) (public access presumption; impoundment normally disfavored)
Rosado v. Bridgeport Roman Catholic Diocesan Corp., 292 Conn. 1 (2010) (public monitoring of judicial process; concept of judicial documents)
In re Boston Herald, Inc., 321 F.3d 174 (1st Cir. 2003) (judicial records and public access analysis in First Circuit)