Yes, Clear Creek County is rather a small place in one respect: The population in 2004 was estimated at a little over 9,000. Is that reason enough to close a preliminary hearing to everyone except the defendant's family, in a case where it now appears there will never be a trial?

No.

Joseph P. Carr, 18, is accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl who had been drinking at a party and was unconscious. After becoming concerned about inconsistencies in the alleged victim's statements, prosecutors offered him a deal. Plead guilty to one felony charge, accept a deferred sentence, and then stay out of trouble for four years. If he did that, his conviction would be erased from his record.

Is that too harsh? Too lenient? How will the public ever know? District Judge Russell Granger closed the Jan. 23 hearing and sealed the case files at prosecutors' request. What he should have done instead is lectured the district attorney on the importance of open government.

The DA for the 5th Judicial District, Mark Hurlbert, gave two reasons for the unusual request. First, he said, because the county is so small, pretrial testimony could taint the jury pool.

The problem with that argument is that it applies to every case in the county, not just this one. The size of the population isn't going to change.

Furthermore, most cases do not go to trial, and if they don't, there never is a jury to be "tainted." And in the relatively rare cases that do proceed to trial, when there are concerns about prejudicial pretrial publicity, it is always possible to protect the defendant's rights by moving to a different venue.

Hurlbert's second reason for closing the hearing was to protect juvenile witnesses who might testify. We're more sympathetic to that reason, since it is specific to this case. But protect them against what? The embarrassment of having their family, friends and neighbors know they were at a highly inappropriate party? It's quite likely that everybody who knows any of these actual or potential witnesses has already heard all about it.

It might even be a good lesson for some young people to realize that going to such a party carries risks of a kind they might not have considered.

The justice system operates best in an open and transparent fashion, as Hurlbert himself said. Only for the most compelling reasons should the public be excluded, and we don't see how this case meets that standard .