TALLAHASSEE - When former Miami Mayor Joe Carollo was accused of battering his wife by throwing a cardboard tea container at her face, he demanded the state produce its evidence against him so he could mount a defense in a case that was splashed all over the news in 2001.

But once he realized reporters would have access to those public records -- including photos of his wife's bruised face -- Carollo promptly withdrew his demand for discovery.

Ultimately, the gambit didn't work. A Miami-Dade judge ordered the city of Miami to give the media the records a month after the alleged Feb. 7, 2001, incident.

Though charges were eventually dropped against Carollo, the matter landed at the Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday.

The justices grappled with defining when a public record actually becomes public, while balancing the media's right to know with prosecutors' and defendants' rights to keep information private.

PUBLIC'S RIGHTS

Public records attorney Karen Williams Kammer, arguing on behalf of WPLG-ABC 10, argued that the case is about protecting the public from losing its rights to access information from government.

''We can't allow public officials -- and here it was the mayor of the city of Miami -- to control how or when or even if the members of the public can see the public records of the state,'' Kammer said after the hearing.

``The laws of the state are clear: You or I or anybody else at anytime can see public records when we request them.''

The Third District Court of Appeal, which heard the original appeal in the case, had asked the Supreme Court to clarify apparent contradictions in Florida's wide-ranging public records code.

On one hand, the law exempts records from public view if they're part of a criminal investigation.

But if a defendant requests the records as part of discovery, they become public. The state has 15 days to turn the discovery over to the defendant. But the law is silent on when those records have to be turned over to the media.

Kammer said that means the records should be instantly provided.

TROUBLED BY ARGUMENT

Like Carollo's lawyer, Ben Kuehne, and the Miami-Dade state attorney's office, Justice Barbara Pariente was troubled by the argument.

''It just doesn't make any sense that a defendant would not get materials for 15 days but the media would get it immediately,'' she said.

Overall, the justices asked more probing questions of Kammer than her opponents, who include Kuehne, the state attorney's office and the city of Miami.

In the past two months, the court has scaled back the public records law to prevent the media from seeing private e-mails of public officials composed on taxpayer-bought computers, and has prohibited the posting of certain court documents until a court-appointed committee creates a statewide policy for putting the files online.

Kuehne said that, if the justices rule in his favor, it won't restrict public access to records. It will just make sure the news business doesn't have more rights than his clients.

''If the media is allowed to get criminal-related information before a defendant can, is the case going to be played out in the media more than played out in the courtroom?'' he asked.

``Shouldn't a defendant have the right and the state attorney have the right to decide what information becomes public in a criminal case?''