38 Studios: RI State Police Release 78 Pages Of E-Mails

NEWPORT, RI — State police on Wednesday released 78 pages of e-mails connected to the 38 Studios criminal investigation. The e-mails were previously sealed by a court order. Most of the messages deal with attempts to schedule meetings between the state police, Attorney General's office and Curt Schilling. They are open to the public now because the court order was lifted, according to Laura Meade Kirk, state police spokeswoman.

But they are heavily redacted.

A few deal with other actors in the case, such as Keith Stokes. At the time 38 Studios collapsed, he was the executive director of the state Economic Development Corporation. Stokes ultimately settled the claim against him. But during the state police investigation, he was represented by Middletown lawyer David Martland.

In one e-mail exchange, Martland attempted to find out in advance what the Attorney General's office planned to discuss with Stokes. On June 26, 2014, he wrote, "Are there particular subjects regarding 38 Studios that you want to explore-it is a broad topic?" The assistant AG's reply is blacked out.

Attorney Edward Hayes made a similar request before an interview with Schilling's father-in-law, Donald Brewer. On June 4, 2014, Hayes, of Philadelphia, told Youngs he had learned state police wanted to interview Brewer.

"Can you advise the subject matter of the interview and whether Mr. Brewer is in any way a subject or target of any investigation?" he wrote. Youngs' reply on June 5 is almost entirely blacked out in marker pen.

On the redactions, the state police said any that were made "are in compliance with the Superior Court’s ruling concerning grand jury proceedings." The Superior Court has backed Attorney General Peter Kilmartin's claim the grand jury proceedings are secret and must stay secret.

Kirk said the state police also released audio files of interviews. The paper transcripts were released earlier, but the audio versions took longer to prepare.

Click here for the e-mails. Other documents are at http://risp.ri.gov/38studios/.