DATE: Tuesday, September 16, 1997           TAG: 9709160433

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 

DATELINE: YORK, S.C.                        LENGTH:   46 lines

UNSEAL THE SEARCH WARRANT, JUDGE RULES IN SHINN CASE BUT THE BENCH STAYS THE ORDER ONE DAY TO OPEN A WINDOW FOR AN APPEAL.

Concerns about privacy and media exposure aren't enough to keep a search warrant of Charlotte Hornets owner George Shinn's home sealed following a woman's allegation of sexual misconduct, a judge decided Monday.

But Circuit Judge John Hayes III stayed his order until this evening to give lawyers a chance to appeal.

Lawyers for Shinn and a woman who has filed a report with Charlotte police told Hayes that the warrant information would cause irreparable harm to the privacy and reputation of the man identified in court as ``John Doe'' and his accuser, a woman known as ``Jane Doe.''

John Doe's lawyers also argued that his right to a fair trial would be hurt by media exposure.

But John Doe can't argue that he would be hurt because of media interest, Hayes said, citing the acquittals of O.J. Simpson and William Kennedy Smith.

John Doe also cannot say that the contents of the warrant will hurt his chances of a fair trial, Hayes said. The media already has reported the nature of the allegations and a suspect, he said.

``If the individual named in the press is not the object of the search, then that individual will suffer no harm from the release of the search warrant and attachment,'' Hayes said. ``If the person named as a suspect is in fact that named in the press, it is too late to protect that which John Doe seeks to protect.''

Media lawyers had argued that search warrants are public documents and that this case should not be treated any differently from any other.

``It is the openness that gives the public confidence that the rules are being applied fairly and evenhandedly, no matter what the station in life of the person who is implicated in the records,'' said lawyer Jay Bender, who represented The Associated Press, The (Rock Hill) Herald and the South Carolina Press Association.

``Part of the issue here is to ensure that John Doe, who may be rich and famous, gets the same treatment as James Doe, who is not,'' said lawyer James Middlebrooks, who represented The Charlotte Observer. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

A warrant to search Hornets owner George Shinn's home was issued

following an allegation of sexual misconduct.

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