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The seal only applies to the state and it's agents in a criminal case. It does not apply to the accused or convicted individual. They can say anything they want about it but the state can't set the record straight. There is no moral or legal requirement from Mr. Ritter to provide full details (accurate or not). It's just like Grand Jury testimony. The state can't disclose it but anyone testifying in front of a Grand Jury can say both what they are going to say and what they did say. Again it doesn't have to be accurate because the state can't respond.

In civil cases when a case has been sealed it applies to all parties.

One of the sentencing options that is available to a judge is that in exchange for your guilty plea if you stay clean for a certain length of time (a year or more) the conviction will be expunged from your record and you can answer that you’ve never been convicted because expongement wipes out the charge and conviction. Provided of course you stay clean for the required length of time.

His responses in this interview and others are dishonest in his reasons for not being able to talk about the details of the case. It says a lot about his comments in other areas.

The reporter never challenged him on his interpretation of the law with the facts. She should have at least done due diligence in this area. A quick talk to any DA , PD or judge could have armed her with the facts and the law.

This omission made me wonder if that line of questioning was off limits in exchange for the interview or was it a VNR (Video News Release). If it was off limits it should have been disclosed.

VNR’s appear on news broadcasts all the time. They are slick packaged PR releases which are made to look like a news story. If you watch the local news you probably see at least 2 in every news broadcast. They are used in all areas, everything from new drugs, to services, clothes, vacation spots, treatments and treatment centers. Remember that when you see the next news story about some new syndrome or new hot idea or product to solve some problem. The company or person whose VNR it is will only be slightly mentioned. They might be the interviewee and the reporter or interviewer will say something like if any of our viewers have more question they can visit our website for links to more information. There is always the popular: “If anyone has any questions about this how can they get in contact with you..

If they are prepared properly they offer the station a couple of advantages:
1. A prepared story to fill their news hole.
2. The people producing the VNR often spend more time and money on the preparation of it than the station could or ever would if they had decided to do real reporting.
3. Studies have shown that information included directly in the news program (not a commercial) has a much higher believability factor than any paid spot or paid program.
4. It’s a commercial that the only cost to the person who’s done the VNR is the cost of producing the VNR and seeing it gets to the news stations across the area where this would apply. They don’t have to spring for the cost of the air time.

VNR’s are one of the dirty little secrets of the broadcast news business.