When Assemblyman Bill Nojay killed himself on the morning of September 9th, he was supposed to be in federal court for the unsealing of a criminal complaint against him. His death could have caused that record to remain sealed, and in fact, some of Nojay's supporters argued that there was no longer a reason for the public to see it. But the Democrat & Chronicle disagreed, and filed a motion to have the record unsealed.
Eventually a judge ruled in their favor, and that's how the public came to understand what the Assemblyman was charged with doing: illegally misdirecting and misusing $800,000 from a client's account. Nojay was an attorney who managed the escrow account for a local architect.
Our guests discuss why they pushed to have the records unsealed, and the general matter of making sure public records remain accessible by the public. In studio:
- Gary Craig, Democrat & Chronicle reporter
- Dick Moss, Democrat & Chronicle News Director
- Chris Thomas, attorney with Nixon Peabody who represented the D&C in this case
