A New England journalist working on a documentary that addresses how Harmony Montgomery’s father was granted custody of his daughter before he killed her in 2019 has been allowed access to audio recordings of the custody hearing.
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court granted journalist Bill Lichtenstein, of LC Media, access to the audio of these hearings from February 2019, according to court records.
Lichtenstein requested those recordings for use in a documentary about the child welfare and foster care systems, according to a statement from Lichtenstein and his attorney obtained by MassLive.
Set to release later this year, the film, “Broken,” follows a two-year investigative journey led by journalist Brooke Lewitas, who began the investigation while a graduate student at Boston University.
“Releasing these recordings to the journalist for purposes of the documentary he proposes may help to better inform the public both about what happened to this child specifically and whether there are steps the child welfare system generally can take to minimize the possibility of repeating this tragedy,” court documents read.
The audio recording of the hearing was held in Essex Juvenile Court, where proceedings are shielded from the public. Lichtenstein sought access to a recording of the hearing because the public interest in the case was so great that it superseded the privacy protections in place in the court.
But a lower court judge denied his motion, prompting an appeal from Lichtenstein. The Supreme Judicial Court, the state’s highest court, took up Lichtenstein’s appeal sua sponte, or of its own accord.
Typically, the case would have been first heard by the state’s Appeals Court.
Lichtenstein previously attempted to get access to four other protection proceedings between 2014 and 2019 before he narrowed his request to when Adam Montgomery was awarded custody of his then 4-year-old daughter.
“The February 2019 hearings focused on the father’s fitness as a parent,” according to the court’s order. “The father has asserted no privacy interest in the February 2019 hearings. The child’s counsel took no position on the release; instead, the child’s counsel has emphasized that the child’s dignity and privacy deserve continued respect.”
Under the Supreme Judicial Court’s decision, the names of Adam Montgomery’s other young children, who have been publicly named elsewhere, are to be redacted.
The conditions under which Lichtenstein will be allowed access to the audio include only being allowed to use the recordings for his documentary.
“Second, even after the release of the documentary, the journalist may not release any portion of the redacted recordings other than those portions actually published in the documentary,” the decision reads.
Lichtenstein’s lawyer, Jennifer Lamanna, applauded the court’s “courageous recognition of the fact that, now, more than ever, the public’s right to know must take precedence over the government’s desire to operate in secrecy, especially when the safety of our most vulnerable citizens is at stake,” Lichtenstein’s statement reads.
The Department of Children and Families took custody of Harmony Montgomery in August 2014, a few months after she was born, due to her mother’s substance abuse issues, MassLive previously reported.
At the time of her birth, Adam Montgomery was incarcerated.
A judge placed Harmony Montgomery in the custody of her father in February 2019 after years of supervised visits, but over the objections of an attorney representing the Department of Children and Families. The 5-year-old died 10 months later.
Adam Montgomery was convicted last year of killing his daughter. He was sentenced to 45 years to life for her murder last year.