The identity of a newly disclosed witness in the Marni Yang case should be disclosed, a Lake County judge said Wednesday in a ruling Yang’s attorney described as a “minor setback.”

The witness, Yang attorney Jed Stone said in court filings, would testify that former Chicago Bear Shaun Gayle made incriminating statements about the death of his girlfriend, Rhoni Reuter, several hours after Reuter was fatally shot in her Deerfield condo in 2007.

Marni Yang was convicted of murdering Reuter and her unborn child, in what authorities said was a crime motivated by Yang’s jealousy of Reuter’s relationship with Gayle. Yang is seeking a hearing as part of her attempt to get a new trial.

Stone disclosed in December that a new witness had been discovered who would testify that an agitated Gayle appeared at a North Chicago barbershop hours after the pregnant Reuter was shot, and told the owner, “I did it. She’s gone.”

Authorities said in the weeks after the shooting that Gayle had been ruled out as a suspect.

The new witness has completed an affidavit that Stone has shared with Lake County prosecutors. However, the attorney had asked that the court either file the affidavit under seal or, alternately redact the witness’s name for privacy reasons and the witness’ protection.

But Judge Christopher Stride ruled against the motion Wednesday. Case law, the judge said, carried a presumption that court records remain public whenever possible. Stone’s motion, the judge said, did not provide a compelling enough legal reason to seal the affidavit.

Stone said he would file a motion to reconsider, and said he was discussing an option with prosecutors to make the affidavit public, but redact the name.

At an online news conference later Wednesday, Stone called the ruling a minor setback, and said it will not slow momentum in his attempt to secure an evidentiary hearing for Yang.

“When we get there, we think the judge will find that Marni Yang has proven her actual innocence and is entitled to a new trial,” Stone said.

At the online news conference, Stone and his team said they will soon make public a video shot with Yang at the Logan Correctional Facility, where she discusses the incriminating audio recording a friend made of Yang while they were eating at a restaurant.

At her trial, prosecutors said it proved Yang’s guilt. But her defense team said she made up the things on the tape to draw police attention away from her then teenage son as a potential suspect.