Records Will Be Unsealed In '38 Studios' Lawsuit, Judge Says

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — All records will be unsealed in the lawsuit over Rhode Island's failed $75 million deal with ex-Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling's video game company 38 Studios, a judge said Friday.

The release could significantly advance the public's understanding of how the deal came together.

Superior Court Judge Michael Silverstein said the parties have agreed that the files will be made public because discovery is complete. He said he hopes that happens within 10 days.

Schilling agreed to move 38 Studios to Rhode Island in 2010 after the state's Economic Development Corp. lured him from Massachusetts with a $75 million loan guarantee. The company went bankrupt less than two years later, leaving taxpayers on the hook to repay bonds that had been issued to fund the move. The EDC in 2012 sued Schilling and 13 executives of his company, former agency employees, investment banks and others over the collapse, alleging fraud, negligence and breach of fiduciary duty, among other things.

Max Wistow represents the EDC, now renamed the Commerce Corp. He said during a break in the courtroom on Friday there are "thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of pages" of documents in the case.

"Boxes and boxes and boxes of stuff," he said.

He said he was pleased with the decision and pushed to release the documents because of the public outcry over the failed deal, and to ensure as much transparency as possible in the case.

Sixty-seven people have been deposed, and over 100 days were spent on depositions, a lawyer in the case said in court on Friday. Among those deposed were Schilling, and high-ranking state officials such as former Gov. Don Carcieri, who served as chairman of the EDC, and Gordon Fox, who was House speaker when the deal was struck. Fox is now in federal prison for an unrelated corruption conviction.

Only documents that have been entered into the case file would be released, so some depositions might not be released, or may only be released in excerpts, according to lawyers in the case.

Democratic state Sen. James Sheehan, leader of the Senate oversight committee, asked the court last year to release all depositions and exhibits from the lawsuit. He was in court Friday to watch the proceedings, and said he hoped that shining a light on the case would "clear the air" and help bring out the truth.

House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello said he was also pleased with the planned released.

"The public will now be aware of the facts, the mistakes and the wrongdoing that led to the 38 Studios debacle," he said in a written statement.

Silverstein on Friday also heard arguments on whether to approve a $12.5 million proposed settlement with four defendants, including the agency's former top leaders. He said he would rule at a later time.

Silverstein previously approved a $4.4 million settlement between the agency and lawyer Antonio Afonso Jr. and his firm, Moses Afonso Ryan, which worked on the sale of the bonds that financed the deal.

Rhode Island