BBM. Judge Murphy has set a date for release of the sealed arrest affidavit: 7 days after the conclusion of the preliminary hearing. The hearing will be concluded when he announces his decisions regarding probable cause and "proof evident or presumption great" on September 17.
If the judge wants to continue to withhold public access, he must explain why and set a new date when public access will be allowed. He has followed Colorado law (and Constitutional Law) to the letter so far, and I expect he will continue to do so. Even the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition seems to agree: no appeal of his original order limiting access to the AA was filed.
Both the substantial interests the judge cited in support of his decision to limit access were temporary in nature: the challenge of redacting a 130 page document and the need to provide protection for victims. There is nothing to suggest that new interests have arisen that would justify retaining the redacted AA for a longer period.
The Colorado Supreme Court recently rejected media claims of a First Amendment right to public access in the 2018 case,
In re People v. Sir Mario Owens. The CFOIC petitioned the Supreme Court of the United States for review of this decision, and in 2019 the
SCOTUS denied their petition. There is no reason to believe that the CSC or the SCOTUS have changed their priorities or discovered a First Amendment right of public access that has never existed. So, I respectfully disagree with the bolded statement. MOO.