Here is some less than surprising news:
A judge ordered attorneys for the woman who brought a sexual assault case against Sussex County Councilman Vance Phillips to keep medical and financial documents confidential, including records that show he (sic – nice one NJ!) was a crime victim. Attorneys for Katelynn Dunlap, who filed a civil lawsuit against Phillips seeking unspecified damages, had opposed the secrecy measure as unnecessary for a personal injury case and suggested it was an effort to silence her or make the litigation more difficult for her. During the hour-long hearing, that neither Phillips nor Dunlap attended, both sides accused the other of trying the case in the press.
It seems to me that Phillips (asking for the confidentiality) would have the burden to proof on him to show that a lack of confidentiality would impact the proceedings. That’s not how the judge saw it, basically ruling that Dunlap’s lawyers hadn’t made their case:
Brittingham said this seemed like an effort to throw hurdles in front of Dunlap and force her to go to court constantly during discovery, and while common in business matters, it was not common in personal injury cases.
Freud then ruled that Dunlap would not be harmed by a confidentiality order, and granted Phillips’ motion.
The case is set to go to trial in February 2015.