The Arapahoe County judge hearing the case of suspected theater shooter James Eagan Holmes decided Monday that affidavits that would give the public a glimpse of the ongoing investigation into the July 20 rampage should remain sealed.

Likewise, Chief Judge William Sylvester has kept in place a gag order that prevents the University of Colorado from disclosing information about Holmes. He also declined to clarify the scope of his directive as it relates to other agencies not listed in the gag order.

Media outlets have sought details about what university officials did or didn’t do after a professor of psychiatry who was treating 24-year-old Holmes raised concerns about the grad student’s behavior, among other lines of inquiry.

Sylvester pointed out that the university houses information on Holmes that’s considered privileged and cited defense attorney arguments that some of it would be prejudicial and non-admissable in court. He wrote that the risk of jeopardizing a fair trial was greater than the public’s “legitimate interest” in the proceedings.

“If such an improvident disclosure were to occur, it would not simply be a case of trying to ‘unring the bell.’ A better analogy would be like stepping on the brakes of an automobile in midair after driving off a cliff — a driver can pump the brakes all he/she wants, but the impending wreck is inevitable,” Sylvester wrote in one of two orders issued Monday afternoon.

Sylvester did unseal 34 other motions, responses to motions and orders that have been filed so far in the case. He also opened to the public the index of proceedings and motions filed in the case, called a register of action.

“We are pleased that the judge has unsealed 34 documents in the court file that were previously not available to the public, and thereby has brought much needed transparency to this judicial proceeding,” said First Amendment attorney Steve Zansberg, who represents a number of media outlets including The Denver Post. “We are disappointed that the affidavits of probable cause will remain under seal at this time, but are hopeful that the court will revisit that issue some time in the not too distant future.”

State court officials said they are hoping to post the newly unsealed documents online Monday.

A spokesman for the University of Colorado Medical School said the organization was still analyzing the orders to see whether it allows them to provide more information.

A number of agencies not directly tied to law enforcement or the university have used the gag order to deny requests for information, a point Zansberg had asked the judge to clarify.

Aurora city building department officials declined to release blueprints of the theater contained in permitting documents citing the order, for example.

Fire officials refused requests for inspection records that might provide information on when the exit door Holmes used to re-enter the theater had last been inspected.

And the county coroner’s officer declined to release its reports on the victims, saying the office is an arm of law enforcement.

Sylvester’s order did little to clarify the limits of his gag order.

“The court also understands and appreciates that other agencies which may not be bound by this order are astute enough to be cautious in protecting the integrity of this process,” he wrote. “If the media has an issue with other agencies’ interpretations of the court’s order … the media may address those issues with the agencies directly instead of with this court.”

Jessica Fender: 303-954-1244 , jfender@denverpost.com or twitter.com/oh_fender