Judge issues partial ruling on Rosenberg transcripts

NEW YORK (CNN) - After 58 years, historians and journalists have moved a step closer to examining the secret grand jury testimony of witnesses in the Julius and Ethel Rosenberg spy case - arguably the most notorious espionage case in U.S. history.

The Rosenbergs were investigated in 1950, tried in 1951 for conspiracy to commit espionage, and convicted and sentenced to death in the electric chair in 1953.

The National Security Archive, the American Historical Association, the Georgetown University Law Center and others have petitioned to have the transcripts of 46 witnesses released to the public. Federal authorities, in an unusual move, have said that because of the historic significance of the case, they do not oppose releasing the transcripts of testimony from witnesses who have died or who do not object to their release.

Of the 46 grand jury witnesses, 36 are either deceased or do not object to releasing the transcripts. Three others are thought to have died; four have not been located. In a partial ruling Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein denied a request to release the testimony of three other witnesses.

--From CNN's Ronni Berke