A New Mexico judge is weighing up whether investigation records into the death of Gene Hackman and his wife can be kept private.
Santa Fe-based Judge Matthew Wilson is expected to make a ruling on the request from Hackman’s children today.
He is considering whether photos, video and documents should be sealed to protect the Hackman family’s constitutional right to privacy.
Hackman, 95, and his wife Betsy Arakawa, 65, were found dead along with their pet dog at their home in initially mysterious circumstances on February 27.
It has since emerged that the actor died of heart disease with complications from Alzheimer’s disease about a week after his wife’s death from hantavirus.
Hackman may have been unaware Arakawa, who was his care giver, was dead, investigators said.
Police were quick to rule out foul play, but initially branded the deaths suspicious. This coupled with the high-profile nature of the deceased sparked intense public interest.
A previous restraining order has temporarily halted the release of the documents pending today’s hearing.
New Mexico’s open records law blocks public access to sensitive images, including depictions of dead bodies.
Experts also say some medical information is not considered public record under the state Inspection of Public Records Act.
The Hackman estate representative Julia Peters has emphasized the possibly shocking nature of photographs and video in the investigation and potential for their dissemination by media in the bid to block them from being released.
The family’s lawsuit also seeks to block the release of autopsy reports by the Office of the Medical Investigator and death investigation reports by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office.
The bulk of death investigations by law enforcement and autopsy reports by medical investigators are typically considered public records under state law in the spirit of ensuring government transparency and accountability.
Authorities unraveled the mysterious circumstances of the couple’s deaths and described their conclusions at a March 7 news conference, without releasing most related written and photographic records.
One of the couple’s three dogs, a kelpie mix named Zinna, also was found dead in a crate in a bathroom closet near Arakawa. Two other dogs survived and have been rehomed.
The written request to seal the records notes the couple placed ‘a significant value on their privacy and took affirmative vigilant steps’ to safeguard it during their lives, including after they moved to Santa Fe and Hackman retired.
It was more than two weeks before their partially mummified remains were found by some of their employees at their $3 million mansion.
Arakawa had no children, while Hackman is survived by three children from a previous marriage.
Privacy likely also will play a role as the couple’s estate is settled. According to probate court documents, Hackman signed an updated will in 2005 leaving his estate to his wife while the will she signed that year directed her estate to him.
Since both have died the estate is in Peters’ hands.
A request is pending to appoint a trustee to administer assets in two trusts associated with the estate.
Without trust documents being made public, it’s unclear who the beneficiaries are and how the assets will be divided.
