Judge denies request by Lee, other Montana media to unseal Anaconda shooting court records

An Anaconda judge on Wednesday denied an attempt by Lee Enterprises and five other Montana news groups to make public all court documents related to the case brought against a man who allegedly shot and killed four people at a bar in Anaconda.

In the morning of Aug. 1 last year, Anaconda resident Michael Brown allegedly walked into the Owl Bar on East 3rd Street and fatally shot several bar patrons and the bartender before fleeing to a mountainous nearby state wildlife management area. Hundreds of law enforcement officers searched the area for a week before Brown was eventually apprehended just west of town on the afternoon of Aug. 8.

In early September, Brown entered not guilty pleas to four counts of deliberate homicide and related charges in Anaconda-Deer Lodge County District Court.

District Judge Jeffrey Dahood, who is presiding over the case, granted a motion early on to seal all documents associated with the case. That motion was eventually partially lifted, but some of the records that would provide details about the crime remain under seal by order of Dahood.

The media coalition sought to unseal the remaining documents, citing court precedent and state statute that requires the media “be allowed to be heard and participate in the decision-making process prior to sealing court records.”

Dahood denied the motion on Wednesday, essentially stating the motion did not provide legal authority establishing standing in the case.

“They have provided no authority to establish why they would have standing in this case,” the order states. “Moreover, they have not established why the Court should allow them into this pending criminal case, nor have they requested to be allowed in as a party or interested party.”

Dahood also wrote that both the state prosecutors and Brown and his attorney opposed the motion to seek further unsealing of the case documents. Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Attorney Morgan Smith is leading the prosecution for the state, while Brown is being represented by public defender Walter Hennessey of Butte.

The media organizations involved in the group are: Lee Enterprises, Montana Newspaper Association, Montana Broadcasters Association, Montana Freedom of Information Hotline, States Newsroom (which operated the Daily Montanan) and Montana Free Press. Lee Enterprises owns and operates five newspapers in Montana: The Montana Standard, Billings Gazette, Missoulian, Helena Independent Record and Ravalli Republic.

Lee Enterprises Montana News Director Kianna Gardner in a statement said having access to public records is foundational to accountability journalism.

"Open records rest on the underlying premise that government operates on behalf of the public — and that the public has a right to see how decisions are made," Gardner said. "When access to those records is delayed or denied, transparency erodes. Unsealing these records would allow our reporters to more fully and accurately inform the public about what unfolded in Anaconda and provide essential details for understanding this ongoing case."

The four people killed in the shooting were Daniel Edwin Baillie, 59; Nancy Lauretta Kelley, 64; David Allen Leach, 70; Tony Wayne Palm, 74. All were Anaconda residents.

The Montana Standard reported in October that Brown, a military veteran, had a history of mental illness, citing friends and family of Brown’s. In December, attorneys for the state and Brown filed a joint motion seeking an additional mental health examination for Brown.

Dahood then vacated a pretrial conference for Brown that had been set for Dec. 17 as well as an initial trial date of Jan. 12.

A status conference in the case is currently scheduled for March 18.