Judge orders release of Aisenberg grand jury transcripts

But the proceedings in the botched investigation of the missing baby might remain secret a bit longer.

TAMPA - As expected, U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday lifted a stay Monday that was preventing the release of grand jury transcripts from the bungled case against Steve and Marlene Aisenberg.

But the transcripts won't be immediately available. The judge again has granted prosecutors time to respond. He gave government prosecutors until May 14 to file any motions with the appeals court contesting his decision to lift the stay.

If prosecutors file a motion with the appeals court, the ultimate outcome could be delayed for weeks or even months.

Steve Cole, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Tampa, said the office was reviewing the order. The U.S. Department of Justice in Washington will decide what course to take.

The Aisenbergs' daughter, Sabrina, vanished from their home in Valrico in 1997 when she was 5 months old. She has not been seen since.

Prosecutors eventually charged the Aisenbergs in the disappearance. The case crumbled in 2001 after a federal magistrate judge questioned the government's evidence and the way law enforcement went about collecting it.

Earlier this year, Merryday criticized the investigation, calling parts of the indictment "trivial," "gratuitous" and "misleading." He ordered the government to pay $2.9-million toward the Aisenbergs' legal fees.

The judge's January order also directed the clerk of courts to release all the secret grand jury transcripts from the case, saying the public had a right to know how things went so awry. Prosecutors present evidence to grand jurors, who decide whether to indict the suspects. Complete transcripts of grand jury proceedings almost never become public.

Merryday then stayed his own order to give prosecutors a chance to respond. The judge also asked them to show him in private the existence of an ongoing investigation in the case and how an investigation would be disrupted by the release of the transcripts.

On Friday, in a federal court hearing, the prosecutors told Merryday they would not make such a presentation.

Merryday, who read "every syllable of the grand jury proceedings," concluded in the 11-page order filed Monday that the government would not be harmed if he released the transcripts. He wrote that the prosecutors likely won't succeed on appeal in keeping them secret and the continued secrecy impairs the Aisenbergs' ability to exonerate themselves.

On top of that, Merryday stated that the transcripts contain nothing about any suspects except the Aisenbergs. Even then, he wrote, the transcripts contain little about the Aisenbergs' possible role in the disappearance of their daughter. They deal mostly with Sabrina's home life, the Aisenbergs' jobs and friends, the scene of Sabrina's disappearance and similarities with other child disappearances, Merryday wrote.

In refusing to establish an ongoing investigation, the government "shows no suspects, no assigned officers, no meaningful leads, no meaningful investigative exertions, and absolutely no results," according to the order.

"In sum, there is apparently no meaningful investigation to endanger, and there is nothing in these grand jury proceedings to endanger that investigation, even assuming one exists," Merryday wrote.

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