Deschutes County, Ore. – As hearings in the Edwin Lara aggravated murder case continue, the details of the case are still being kept secret.
The Bulletin reports that since Aug. 25, every motion filed in the case has been sealed by court order. Currently, 19 documents in the case are sealed. During proceedings, attorneys on both sides, and Deschutes County Circuit Judge A. Michael Adler, reference the sealed motions without speaking specifically about their arguments, and in the process keep nearly all details of the case confidential.
The 31-year-old Lara, a former Central Oregon Community College security officer, is charged with four counts of aggravated murder for allegedly kidnapping, attempting to sexually assault and murdering Kaylee Sawyer, 23, on July 24 in Bend.
Soon, the case might slip farther into the shadows. On Feb. 22, Lara’s defense attorneys filed a motion to move the case to another county. Further, on March 7, a court order sealed the defense’s motion to object to media access in the courtroom.
Nearly all court proceedings and documents are public, except for personal information. Other high-profile murder cases in Central Oregon did not have the level of secrecy the Lara case has engendered. The aggravated murder case against Mitchell Morris currently going on in Jefferson County, or even the “Redmond Five” case regarding the 2001 murder of Barbara Thomas at the hands of a group of teens, were not conducted secretly, and documents were available for public scrutiny.
As the proceedings move forward, the lack of transparency has become more apparent. A Monday court hearing to discuss several sealed motions was suddenly scheduled about an hour before it took place, giving little notice to the public on a case of great public concern. Hearings are generally scheduled weeks, if not months, in advance. Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel is seeking the death penalty, and many of the hearings have been in full of members of the public. None were there Monday.
