By Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com
A judge today said he would hold a mental competency hearing in March for Phillip Garrido, the accused kidnapper of Jaycee Lee Dugard, and agreed to allow media groups to argue in favor of unsealing records in the case, including Garrido's psychiatric reports and grand jury transcripts of Dugard testifying in September.
The decisions by El Dorado Superior Court Judge Douglas Phimister came during a brief hearing in Placerville, where the judge said The Bee and other media organizations could argue at a Dec. 2 hearing over why dozens of records in the matter should be unsealed.
Primary among them is the approximately 160 pages of grand jury transcripts that include Dugard's testimony about her 18 years of captivity that ended when she was found alive in August 2009.
Phillip and Nancy Garrido are accused of abducting her in 1991 when she was 11, and Nancy Garrido's lawyer insisted after the hearing that there was no reason to unseal the transcripts.
"This stuff is evil," Stephen Tapson said of the descriptions contained in the transcripts. "Obviously, I would assume that Jaycee doesn't want this stuff out there."
The prosecution also has opposed releasing the transcripts, but media attorney Karl Olson said the law gives the public the right to see such materials and that hearings in the case should be open. He cited one decision involving Theodore Kaczynski, the so-called Unabomer, that allowed release of his psychiatric records.
As Olson spoke to reporters this afternoon following the brief open hearing, the judge was holding another closed hearing in the matter.
Phimister indicated he would allow arguments on the issue Dec. 2, and he said he was inclined to keep Garrido's competency hearing open in March.
That session is expected to determine whether he is able to stand trial or must be sent to a mental hospital until he is found to be able to face trial.
Garrido sat in court quietly today sporting a gray beard while his wife sat nearby. Both are being held in the El Dorado County Jail.
Call The Bee's Sam Stanton, (916) 321-1091.
KCRA: Lawyer: 'Evil' lies in Garrido transcript
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