Courtroom Depositions

I have a question about the Harris and Klebold courtroom depositions, which, I believe, were taken in 2003 or 2004. I have a few questions about this deposition, and I'm not sure if anyone has answered them on this forum before. First, the U.S District judge ruled in 2007 that these depositions were to remain sealed in the National Archives for 20 years. Does that mean that the official documents are to be unsealed in 2023, 20 years after the initial depositions took place, or are they to be unsealed in 2027, 20 years after the U.S. District ruling? Makes a huge difference.

Also, does anyone know why the Colorado judge ordered the documents sealed, so that no one, including experts in violence prevention (I believe) are to read the documents? Why the secrecy surrounding these depositions? I doubt that the Klebold family's testimonies will contain anything we don't already know at this point. After all, Sue wrote a book about her experience. But this is the first time we will hear from the Harris family and what they knew. I am anxious to hear what Mr. and Mrs. Harris have to say, although I'm not sure they will say anything illuminating or revealing, given what they've already told the Mr. and Mrs. Mauser about Eric.

The depositions are sealed until 2027.
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Here is the link to the court case
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The reason given for sealing them for 20 years is:
The court also ordered that the depositions be kept under seal for 20 years. In reaching this conclusion, the court weighed the concerns counseling against disclosure of the depositions—including the risk that release of details about the shootings could trigger copycat incidents, the privacy interests of the parties and of nonparties mentioned in the depositions, and the reliance of the parties on the protective orders—against the public interest in using the materials in the hope of preventing similar tragedies in the future. The court concluded that the balance of interests favored confidentiality and accordingly declined to allow Dr. Elliott access to the records. Taylor and the Rohrbough plaintiffs both appeal the order. Taylor challenges only the denial of Dr. Elliott’s access to the records, and the Rohrbough plaintiffs challenge only the determination that the depositions are subject to the FRA.

thelmar wrote:

The depositions are sealed until 2027.

The reason given for sealing them for 20 years is:
The court also ordered that the depositions be kept under seal for 20 years. In reaching this conclusion, the court weighed the concerns counseling against disclosure of the depositions—including the risk that release of details about the shootings could trigger copycat incidents, the privacy interests of the parties and of nonparties mentioned in the depositions, and the reliance of the parties on the protective orders—against the public interest in using the materials in the hope of preventing similar tragedies in the future. The court concluded that the balance of interests favored confidentiality and accordingly declined to allow Dr. Elliott access to the records. Taylor and the Rohrbough plaintiffs both appeal the order. Taylor challenges only the denial of Dr. Elliott’s access to the records, and the Rohrbough plaintiffs challenge only the determination that the depositions are subject to the FRA.

Sad to think that they sealed it in 2007 in hopes to prevent further copycats, only to have Virginia Tech happen that very same year. To think that even without the dispositions and with what we have so far, there have been shooters who saw Columbine as the shooting they wanted to surpass and/or saw as an influence

Seeing as the depositions will probably be the last new information we will ever get on the case, I'm hoping they are even worth the wait.

For example, Eric's parents could of basically just said they had no idea about anything.
Seeing how private they are, it wouldn't shock me if their depositions doesn't shed light on anything new.

They probably had their lawyers right next to them and just gave bare minimum answers out of fear of themselves being charged with something.
There really isn't anyway to conclusively prove anything that happened behind closed doors in their household, and any lawyer will tell you the less the police know the better.

thelmar wrote:

The depositions are sealed until 2027.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Here is the link to the court case
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

The reason given for sealing them for 20 years is:
The court also ordered that the depositions be kept under seal for 20 years. In reaching this conclusion, the court weighed the concerns counseling against disclosure of the depositions—including the risk that release of details about the shootings could trigger copycat incidents, the privacy interests of the parties and of nonparties mentioned in the depositions, and the reliance of the parties on the protective orders—against the public interest in using the materials in the hope of preventing similar tragedies in the future. The court concluded that the balance of interests favored confidentiality and accordingly declined to allow Dr. Elliott access to the records. Taylor and the Rohrbough plaintiffs both appeal the order. Taylor challenges only the denial of Dr. Elliott’s access to the records, and the Rohrbough plaintiffs challenge only the determination that the depositions are subject to the FRA.

I can understand why the judge might not have wanted to release the depositions to the general public, but it makes no sense to prevent a professor, who specializes in violence prevention, from seeing them. If I remember correctly, Sue Klebold didn't object to the deposition's release, stating that the matter was out of her hands. So, the mystery remains: if the Klebolds didn't care who saw the depositions, who wanted them sealed anyway? Did the Colorado judge make his decision on his own?

slippy123 wrote:

Seeing as the depositions will probably be the last new information we will ever get on the case, I'm hoping they are even worth the wait.

For example, Eric's parents could of basically just said they had no idea about anything.
Seeing how private they are, it wouldn't shock me if their depositions doesn't shed light on anything new.

They probably had their lawyers right next to them and just gave bare minimum answers out of fear of themselves being charged with something.
There really isn't anyway to conclusively prove anything that happened behind closed doors in their household, and any lawyer will tell you the less the police know the better.

That's very likely, slippy. That's why I doubt the Harrises will say much about what they knew. They were not very open with the Mauser family, and I think that's a great tragedy.

jada887 wrote:

slippy123 wrote:

Seeing as the depositions will probably be the last new information we will ever get on the case, I'm hoping they are even worth the wait.

For example, Eric's parents could of basically just said they had no idea about anything.
Seeing how private they are, it wouldn't shock me if their depositions doesn't shed light on anything new.

They probably had their lawyers right next to them and just gave bare minimum answers out of fear of themselves being charged with something.
There really isn't anyway to conclusively prove anything that happened behind closed doors in their household, and any lawyer will tell you the less the police know the better.

That's very likely, slippy. That's why I doubt the Harrises will say much about what they knew. They were not very open with the Mauser family, and I think that's a great tragedy.

Agreed.
Since Sue Klebold wrote her book and started speaking publicly, my interest in the Klebold depositions has waned.
On the other hand, the Harris family depositions are something I can't wait to read, but putting two and two together, something tells me that they won't be nearly as interesting or shed light on any new information as I hoped.
I guess we will find out in 2027