By Mark R. Chellgren
The Associated Press

FRANKFORT - A divided Kentucky Supreme Court ruled Thursday that records in a case alleging sexual misconduct by Roman Catholic priests should remain closed.

While four of the justices ordered that Fayette County Circuit Judge Mary Noble should hold another hearing to determine the fate of the records, the majority ruling also weighs in favor of keeping the records secret because they might hurt the ability of the Catholic diocese to get a fair trial.

In a pointed dissent, three justices said the church offered no evidence to support that claim that the materials would harm the ability of the diocese to get a fair trial.

In May, five people filed a lawsuit alleging that they were sexually abused as children by priests in the Lexington Diocese or its predecessor, the Covington Diocese. The suit alleges that church officials engaged in a pattern of covering up or failing to deal with the allegations of sexual misconduct.

To support the claim, the suit includes allegations of other sexual activity by priests. Judge Noble ruled in July that those allegations were not relevant to the case but ordered the entire case unsealed and open to the public.

The Lexington Herald-Leader and the Courier-Journal newspaper of Louisville had objected to the closing.

The diocese went to the Court of Appeals to order that unrelated materials be removed from the record entirely and be kept secret.

Justice Martin Johnstone said the material "unnecessarily paints the diocese in a bad light. Consequently, there is a real possibility that the connection could endanger, to a degree, the diocese's right to a fair trial."

Justice Johnstone was joined in the ruling by justices Donald Wintersheimer, William Cooper and William Graves.

The dissenting opinion, by Chief Justice Joseph Lambert and Justices James Keller and Janet Stumbo, criticized the decision for relying on the "unsubstantiated assumption" that the diocese might not get a fair trial because of the publicity that could result from the disputed material.

"In fact, in case after case, courts have discovered that, despite widespread publicity, they can fill a jury box with fair and impartial jurors who have not formed an opinion as to the merits of the case," the dissenters said.

The dissenting opinion said the diocese had an obligation to prove that the materials would harm their ability to get a fair trial.