TBI Archives - Page 4 of 4 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

17 Feb, 2016

Memphis presents policy to deny access to body cam video, moves forward with purchase

By Deborah Fisher|2016-02-17T08:22:09-06:00February 17, 2016|Categories: crime records|Tags: Commercial Appeal, Lucian Pera, Memphis, police body cameras, Sevier County, TBI|0 Comments

The Commercial Appeal reports today that the city of Memphis is moving ahead with a multimillion-dollar plan to equip its police officers with body cams, but also presented a policy that would deny citizen requests to see video from the cameras if the video is related to an ongoing investigation. This would include incidents that involve an officer-involved shooting, Memphis Chief Operating Officer Doug McGowen told council members. The proposed policy on access to video was not voted upon, and McGowen said the policy could be adjusted if it's not working, according to the Commercial Appeal. Lucian Pera, the Commercial Appeal's attorney, and president of Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, was quoted [...]

5 Jan, 2016

Commercial Appeal: Focus on police shootings draws attention to policy secrecy

By Deborah Fisher|2017-03-21T16:59:32-05:00January 5, 2016|Categories: crime records, Legislature|Tags: crime records, police shootings, State Rep. G.A. Hardaway, TBI, TBI files, The Commercial Appeal|0 Comments

Marc Perrusquia of The Commercial Appeal Memphis investigative reporter Marc Perrusquia provided an outstanding overview in The Commercial Appeal on Sunday of the legal exemption for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation that allows it to keep files of long-closed cases confidential forever. A movement to open records of closed TBI cases -- at least for investigations into police shootings where citizens have been killed -- started last year as the city of Memphis began to grapple with the number of deaths, including a recent fatal shooting of a black teenager Darrius Stewart. The story is reprinted here, with permission from The Commercial Appeal: Tennessee not alone in sealing police investigations. By Marc [...]

15 Dec, 2015

TBI investigative file released in Memphis police shooting case

By Deborah Fisher|2019-09-11T18:56:09-05:00December 15, 2015|Categories: crime records|Tags: Amy Weirich, James R. Newsom III, Mark Gywn, Memphis, police shootings, Shelby County, TBI|0 Comments

The Shelby County District Attorney has posted on her website TBI's investigative files into the shooting death of 19-year-old Darrius Stewart by a Memphis police officer in what may be one of the first times such TBI files have been made public. See Memphis Commercial Appeal story here: TBI files in Darrius Stewart case now open for public review Shelby County Chancellor James R. Newsom III ruled last week that the normally confidential files could be released after the district attorney, Amy Weirich, and TBI Director Mark Gwyn petitioned the court, saying that releasing the files would be in the public's interest. Weirich had recommended that the Shelby County grand jury indict Memphis police officer Connor [...]

23 Oct, 2015

Bringing in TBI to investigate deadly force by police raises transparency question

By Deborah Fisher|2018-11-09T08:21:39-06:00October 23, 2015|Categories: crime records|Tags: police shootings, State Rep. G.A. Hardaway, State Sen. Brian Kelsey, TBI|0 Comments

The Tennessean reports today that two of the state's major police departments - Knoxville and Nashville - are opposed to a proposal that would hand all investigations into local police killings to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. When someone is killed by a local law enforcement officer, the large police departments in the state historically have conducted their own investigations to determine if lethal force was justified, or if there was wrongdoing on the part of the officer. Under open records law in Tennessee, documents from a closed police investigation are accessible to the public, allowing transparency into the process. State Rep. G.A. Hardaway, D-Memphis Two Memphis lawmakers - [...]

12 Feb, 2015

TBI files can be secret even when entered as evidence, Criminal Appeals Court says

By Deborah Fisher|2018-11-09T08:21:53-06:00February 12, 2015|Categories: court records, crime records|Tags: Court of Criminal Appeals, court records, Herbert Moncier, Judge Timothy Easter, Knoxville News Sentinel, sealed court records, TBI|0 Comments

Last week, the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that Tennessee Bureau of Investigation files could remain confidential even when they are entered as evidence in a court trial. The case in which this came up involved the heinous murder of Channon Christian, 21, and Christopher Newsom, 23, who were kidnapped, raped and tortured in Knoxville in 2007. The guilty verdicts in the trial were put in question when the presiding judge, Richard Baumgartner, became subject to a TBI probe related to buying prescription drug painkillers from two felons. Defense attorneys sought new trials, and parts of the TBI investigation were entered into the judicial proceeding. The parents of the victims intervened, [...]