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PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A federal appeals court ruled Friday that a June hearing to consider releasing a list of unindicted co-conspirators in the 2013 George Washington Bridge lane-closing scandal will be public along with legal briefs previously sealed. The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that June 6 oral arguments between an unidentified person, known as John Doe, and media organizations, including The Associated Press, will now be open to the public, along with briefs that have been filed in the case. Friday's ruling did not result in the release of a list of names, but the court ruled legal briefs between attorneys on the issue should be unsealed on Monday Bruce Rosen, an attorney for the media organizations, called the ruling a win and said he's "pleased the court has opened up all the proceedings." Bridget Kelly, Republican Gov. Chris Christie's former deputy chief of staff, and Bill Baroni, a top Christie appointee to the agency that operates the bridge, face wire fraud and civil rights charges. A second former Port Authority of New York and New Jersey official, David Wildstein, has pleaded guilty. They were charged with conspiring to create traffic jams near the bridge in Fort Lee to punish the town's Democratic mayor for not endorsing Christie's re-election. Christie has disavowed any knowledge of the scheme and hasn't been charged. The court on Friday also delayed a decision on a media request that the list be made public but with Doe's name redacted. He's seeking to intervene legally to block the list from being disclosed. The panel of three judges that ruled were Thomas Ambro, Kent Jordan and Anthony Scirica. The indictment alleges Kelly and Baroni conspired "with each other and others, including Wildstein." Defense attorneys have been furnished with the names of the other co-conspirators as part of routine pretrial discovery. The media organizations filed a request for the list several months ago. Unindicted co-conspirators are people who were involved in a conspiracy to commit a crime but haven't been criminally charged, usually because they are cooperating with the government or prosecutors feel they don't have enough evidence to convict them. A federal judge ruled last week that the list should be released by noon Tuesday. The same judge denied a request by Doe to further delay the release of names of unindicted co-conspirators in the plot. Doe then appealed to the 3rd Circuit. Doe's attorney, Jenny Kramer, has argued in court filings that Doe would be "publicly branded a felon" without the chance to clear his name in court, violating his rights to due process.

Court opens hearing to consider release of conspirator list