The Honolulu Star-Advertiser and its television news partner want a state judge to reconsider her ruling sealing the surveillance videos of a fatal shooting in federal special agent Christopher Deedy’s murder case.

Circuit Judge Karen Ahn granted a prosecution request May 31, keeping private the videos of the McDonald’s Kuhio Avenue restaurant at least until a July 13 hearing.

She ruled that the release would be widely viewed on the Internet and could taint potential jurors and jeopardize a fair trial.

Deedy, a State Department agent from Virginia here to provide security for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, is accused of shooting Kailua resident Kollin Elderts in the chest early in the morning of Nov. 5.

In their request submitted to the court Thursday, lawyers for the newspaper and Hawaii News Now said two recent developments "undercut" the rationale for the judge’s order.

They argued court papers open to the public filed by both the prosecution and defense this month have created the confusion and speculation that the court was trying to avoid.

The prosecution contended Deedy was the "first aggressor," kicking Elderts in the chest or abdomen and throwing his slipper, hitting Elderts in the head, the media lawyers said.

The defense responded that Elderts was the first aggressor, moving "angrily" and "menacingly" toward Deedy, who responded by kicking Elderts in the shin, the lawyers said.

Media lawyers Jeffrey Portnoy and Elijah Yip said "this battle of interpretations is being waged in public view, and yet, the public is barred from viewing the information the attorneys are characterizing in his case."

They also argued that the dissemination of the videos on the Internet cannot support the sealing.

Otherwise, it could justify closing almost any controversial filing in a criminal case in today’s digital age, they said.

They said after researching the issue, they could not find "a single court decision that has curtailed the public’s right to access to judicial records because of the possibility that the Internet might generate greater pretrial publicity than other forms of media."

Ahn ruled that the video would be sealed until its admissibility could be determined at the July 13 hearing or the Sept. 10 trial.

The media lawyers also noted that on June 6, the hearing set for July 13 was taken off the court’s calender and "continued until moved on," which means there currently is no specific date for the hearing.

The defense is asking that Deedy’s trial be postponed until March.