Judge Denies Sonics Motion To Expose Documents In Seattle Trial

Judge Rejects Sonics' Motion To Unseal Some Documents In Seattle Trial

The city of Seattle Thursday "scored another small victory" in its legal battle with the Sonics, as U.S. District Court Judge Marsha Pechman "denied the team's motion aimed at exposing some documents subpoenaed" from Seattle developer Matt Griffin, according to Greg Johns of the SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER.  Griffin was at the "forefront of the group of four private investors" who in March offered $150M to help the city in a $300M KeyArena renovation project proposed by Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels. Sonics attorneys had asked Pechman to "eliminate 'Attorney's Eyes Only' designations and some redactions on much of the material obtained from Griffin during the discovery process," but Pechman ruled that "those items can remain sealed." The Sonics lawyers, who stated that Nickels and Griffin's group "worked in collusion in an attempt to force" Sonics Owner Clay Bennett and his partners to sell the team, were seeking to make Griffin's documents "available to the public as well as to their own clients" (SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER, 5/9). Pechman's ruling said that the Sonics' attorneys "can raise the issue again later if they can show how the confidentiality is relevant to the coming trial" (SEATTLE TIMES, 5/9).