Nov 23, 2022 3 min read

A nonprofit legal service filed an emergency motion to unseal court records connected to a fatal shooting in Rostraver earlier this month on behalf of the Observer-Reporter and other local media outlets.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, based in Washington, D.C., electronically submitted the motion to Westmoreland County Court of Common Pleas on Tuesday, and expect a physical copy of the brief to be filed today. The filing asks a judge to unseal the arrest warrant of Keven Van Lam, 55, who is being held in the Westmoreland County Prison on unknown charges related to the Nov. 5 shooting death of Boyke Budiarachman, 49, of Rostraver.

The Reporters Committee is also representing the Herald-Standard and the Mon Valley Independent.

Budiarachman was shot and killed in the Rostraver Square parking lot. Though investigators have called it a “targeted, isolated attack,” they have not released any additional information.

Lam was arrested the following day, and the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s office successfully had the relevant documents sealed. The judge’s order seals the arrest warrant for 60 days.

Attorneys for the Reporters Committee argue in their filing that the secrecy surrounding the case extends beyond the warrant, barring the public from seeing basic docket information, which includes the charges filed against Lam, his preliminary hearing date, bail amount and if he is represented by an attorney.

Lawyers for the papers argued that the seal is overly broad, and goes against the constitutional and common law presumptions that the courts should be open.

“This presumption – which is always weighty – has particular force here, where a person has been shot and killed in the parking lot between Lowe’s and Old Mexico Restaurant in a public shopping plaza and the entire case against the suspect has been sealed,” the filing states. “It is undeniable that the public has a significant, legitimate interest in timely access to the facts and legal proceedings surrounding this incident, which occurred entirely in the public.”

Reporters were able to learn from the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts that the preliminary hearing is currently scheduled for 10 a.m. Dec. 19, but the Reporters Committee notes that the lack of a publicly available docket means media outlets would not know if the date changes.

“If members of the press and public do not have access to a docket sheet telling them when hearings are, they will be unable to learn about and attend those hearings, which will effectively occur in secret even absent a closure order,” the brief states. “Arrest warrants and their supporting applications and affidavits are likewise presumptively public judicial records.”

Paula Knudsen Burke, a local legal initiative attorney with Reporters Committee, said they disagreed with the rule of criminal proceedings the district attorney’s office cited to seal the case.

“The bottom line is court proceedings in the United States are not handled in secret, and what’s happening here in regard to Mr. Lam is puzzling, to say the least. It’s not clear why basic information is under seal,” Burke said.

The Westmoreland County district attorney’s office did not respond to a request for comment prior to the newspaper’s deadline.

Observer-Reporter staff writer Mike Jones and Mon Valley Independent assistant editor Kristie Linden each provided sworn statements detailing how their reporting efforts were stonewalled.