The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is scheduled to hear arguments Monday in a case about whether records from the custody hearings for Harmony Montgomery should be made public.
Investigators believe Harmony, who was just 5 years old at the time, was slain in December 2019, though she wasn’t reported missing for almost two years and her body has never been found.
The SJC is scheduled to hear the case at 9 a.m. You can watch a livestream of the proceedings here. A ruling isn't expected to be made for at least several weeks.
Most of the information in the case has been impounded, but filmmaker Bill Lichtenstein appealed to the high court seeking access to the records. He is seeking the information for a film he is producing on the Massachusetts child protection and juvenile court systems.
He is hoping the records will hope shed some light on why a Massachusetts juvenile court judge gave Harmony's father, Adam Mongtomery, custody of the girl in 2019 despite his violent criminal history. Outgoing New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu wrote a letter to the SJC in 2022 asking them to look into the judge's decision. The SJC took jurisdiction of the case last May.
"The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has agreed to hear the case sua sponte, bypassing the intermediate appellate court," Lichtenstein said in a statement. "This case is believed to be the first time the press or public has sought access to a juvenile protection hearing in Massachusetts, a process that is traditionally shrouded in complete secrecy."
Lichtenstein's appeal is supported by amicus briefs from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, which was joined by the Boston Globe, Associated Press, Pro Publica and five other media orgnaizations.
Adam Montgomery was convicted of second-degree murder in February of last year in Harmony's death and sentenced to 56 years to life in prison. He did not attend the trial and wasn't present when jurors returned their verdict. He had proclaimed his innocence, saying in court in an unrelated case that he loved Harmony "unconditionally."
Adam Montgomery had custody of Harmony at the time of her death.
Her mother, Crystal Sorey, who was no longer in a relationship with him, said the last time she saw Harmony was during a video call in April 2019. She eventually went to police, who announced they were looking for the missing child on New Year’s Eve 2021.
Photos of the girl were widely circulated on social media, and police eventually determined she had been killed.
