More than a dozen legal, law enforcement and victims’ rights organizations told a New Hampshire court on Monday that a murder victim’s sexual past should remain out of the public eye.
Elizabeth “Lizzi” Marriott, of Westborough, Massachusetts, was a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of New Hampshire when she was killed in 2012. Seth Mazzaglia (muh-ZAYL’-ee-uh) was convicted of her murder and sentenced to life, but he is pursuing an appeal.
In June, the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled that information about Marriott’s sexual activity that had been sealed during the trial should be made public during the appeals process, prompting objections from prosecutors and Marriott’s family.
On Monday, the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence and 12 other groups filed a brief supporting the family’s request to keep the records sealed, and Mazzaglia’s attorney argued that the court should not conduct the appellate process behind closed doors and on the basis of a secret record.
– AP
