Media have been given access to exhibits in the case against Rob Ford's friend and former driver Alexander “Sandro” Lisi.

Ontario Court Justice Mara Greene granted access Friday morning to several exhibits related to the hearing. In giving her decision, Greene said the principles of open court must be upheld and that the public interest in the exhibits is understandable because they relate to public figures.

Because of a publication ban on the case, the Star cannot say what evidence the exhibits contain.

Lisi is currently facing one charge of extortion for attempting to recover a video showing Ford smoking what appears to be crack cocaine. Police allege Lisi used threats and menaces against convicted gang member Liban Siyad to get the video.

In October 2013, Toronto police Chief Bill Blair announced his investigators had found the video on a laptop seized during a guns and drugs investigation known as Project Traveller.

Evidence given in preliminary hearings is subject to a publication ban to protect the fair-trial rights of the accused. The proceedings are open to the public and media, but nothing that is said in court can be published until the ban expires.

Greene explained publication bans also protect the process of selecting a jury. Those rules, she said, have been upheld by the highest level of court, the Supreme Court of Canada.

The publication ban expires when a trial is completed or if charges are dismissed.

Lawyers for the media attended Old City Hall on Friday to request access to the exhibits in Lisi’s case. Lawyers for Lisi and the Crown did not fight the access, agreeing the media should be allowed to get copies of court exhibits in order to prepare stories for when the ban expires.

The preliminary hearing continues Friday. It is scheduled to continue April 13.