Judge unseals documents in case of Yosemite murderer

FRESNO, Calif. - A federal judge Monday agreed to unseal court papers that spell out why prosecutors sought the death penalty in the case of Yosemite murderer Cary Stayner.

At the request of a group of news organizations, Judge Anthony W. Ishii ordered that all court documents in the case be unsealed, but delayed the release of two items until Stayner is sentenced Nov. 30 in the slaying of a Yosemite naturalist.

''Whenever a court unseals a court record, the public wins,'' said lawyer Neil Shapiro, who represented The Associated Press and four newspaper groups. But he said postponing the release of the most sought-after documents deprived the public of a constitutional right for a month.

Ishii said the delay was due to the unlikely possibility that Stayner would withdraw his guilty plea before sentencing.

The documents had been sealed to protect Stayner's right to a fair trial. With his Sept. 13 conviction in U.S. District Court, however, there was no longer a need to keep the papers secret, Shapiro argued.

In pleading guilty to murdering Joie Armstrong at the national park on July 21 last year, Stayner was spared the death penalty but agreed to a sentence of life without parole.

Among papers that will become public at his formal sentencing is a document prosecutors filed to prove Armstrong was killed in ''an especially heinous, cruel and depraved manner,'' one of the aggravating factors that support a death sentence. Armstrong, 26, who led children on nature hikes in the park, was decapitated.

The document also includes portions of a confession Stayner gave to authorities, sources have told The AP.

A defense lawyer argued that releasing that document and a defense brief opposing the death penalty could jeopardize Stayner's right to a fair trial in the case of three Yosemite sightseers he is charged with killing.

Elements in the sealed papers will likely be discussed in that case, said defense lawyer Marcia Morrissey.

''These documents would in no way assist the public,'' Morrissey said.

Stayner faces a state trial in Mariposa County and the possibility of the death penalty in the February 1999 murders of Carole Sund, 42, her daughter Juli, 15, and their Argentine friend Silvina Pelosso, 16.

But Ishii said he didn't have the authority to keep the federal documents sealed after sentencing. Stayner was charged in federal court because Armstrong was killed in a national park.

The Sund-Pelosso party had been staying at Cedar Lodge, a remote and rustic motel outside the park's western gate, where Stayner, 39, lived and worked as a handyman.

Shapiro argued the case on behalf of The AP, The Chronicle Publishing Co., McClatchy Newspapers, Inc, the Hearst Corp., and Knight Ridder Inc.