A judge has changed his mind and agreed to make public his ruling on whether documents from the Los Angeles Catholic Archdiocese can be withheld from prosecutors investigating child-molest allegations involving Catholic priests.
Superior Court Judge Thomas F. Nuss was ordered by a state appeals court last December to reconsider his decision to seal the ruling.
In court papers released Friday, Nuss said he decided this week that when he prepares his much-awaited ruling he will do so "in a way that will permit it to be publicly released." He also said he expects to rule within the next few weeks on whether the archdiocese's documents can continue to be withheld.
Nuss' earlier decision to keep his ruling sealed prompted the Los Angeles Times and Los Angeles Daily Journal to appeal. The newspapers were supported by District Attorney Steve Cooley.
"I think it was exactly what we were looking for," Times attorney Susan E. Seager said of the judge's change of mind.
The Los Angeles County grand jury requested nearly 2,000 pages of documents in 2002, including confidential personnel files of accused priests, as part of a criminal investigation into a clergy sex-abuse scandal.
The archdiocese handed over the documents but so far has kept them from prosecutors by asserting that to release them would violate various privacy rights.
In the statement he released Friday, Nuss acknowledged "the reality" that much information surrounding the secret grand jury proceedings has already been made public.