Vanderbilt rape case

1 Jul, 2015

Knoxville prepares new blanket ban on releasing dashcam video, waits for TN Supreme Court ruling

By |2015-07-01T09:28:44-05:00July 1, 2015|Categories: crime records|Tags: , , , , , |1 Comment

The Knoxville Police Department is waiting on a decision by the Tennessee Supreme Court before it puts into place a new blanket ban on release of all dashcam videos, sometimes indefinitely. In a story today by longtime crime and courts reporter Jaime Satterfield in the Knoxville News Sentinel, Knoxville's Deputy Law Director Ron Mills says: “You have to protect the integrity of not only your investigation but your prosecution. If there’s a pending appeal or within the possible time frame for a (post-appeal) relief petition, yes, it could be years. In the case of unsolved crimes, it could be indefinite.” The proposed policy would be a marked change for the Knoxville [...]

27 Feb, 2015

Reporters Committee, others file amicus brief in Tennessee police records case

By |2015-02-27T15:04:33-06:00February 27, 2015|Categories: crime records|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the Tennessee Association of Broadcasters, the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression and the University of Virginia School of Law First Amendment Clinic have file an amicus brief with the Tennessee Supreme Court, arguing that a lower court's ruling went too far in saying law enforcement had the right to keep from public view a broad swath of police records. The case, The Tennessean et al. v. Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, started after the newspaper requested to see certain police records about a reported sexual assault in a Vanderbilt University dorm room. A trial court ruled that [...]

3 Feb, 2015

Judge seals evidence from Vanderbilt rape trial

By |2015-02-03T05:49:30-06:00February 3, 2015|Categories: court records|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments

The Tennessean reports that Judge Monte Watkins, in an unusual move, has sealed all evidence presented in the recent Vanderbilt rape trial of two former football players. An excerpt from the story: It is the third ruling in the case prohibiting increasingly more information from public disclosure. The newest order says it is "reasonable and appropriate" to seal all evidence that was presented during the 12-day trial. More than 75 exhibits — from text messages to clothing to computers — were presented during the trial, which was open to the public. Judge Monte Watkins signed the expanded order on Wednesday, one day after Brandon Vandenburg and Cory Batey, both 21, [...]

19 Jan, 2015

Tennessee Supreme Court agrees to hear public records case involving police files

By |2015-01-19T10:30:15-06:00January 19, 2015|Categories: crime records, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: , , , , , , |0 Comments

The Tennessee Supreme Court has granted the application of The Tennessean and other media organizations to appeal a Court of Appeals decision regarding what police records are exempt from the Tennessee Public Records Act. In a Sept. 30 ruling, the Court of Appeals said that Criminal Court Rule 16(a)(2) acts as an exemption to allow police to withhold records relevant to an ongoing investigation. The opinion was written by Judge Richard Dinkins and joined by Judge Frank G. Clement Jr. and reversed a trial court ruling that police must release some records. A dissent was written by Judge Neal McBrayer, who said that the criminal court rule exempted some records, [...]

1 Dec, 2014

Request to appeal Vanderbilt records case aims to settle what police can withhold from public

By |2014-12-01T10:00:12-06:00December 1, 2014|Categories: crime records, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: , , , , , , |0 Comments

The Tennessean, seven other media outlets, the Tennessee Association of Broadcasters and Tennessee Coalition for Open Government have filed a request with the Tennessee Supreme Court to appeal a lower court's ruling concerning what police can withhold from public view. The Court of Appeals in Nashville in a Sept. 30 ruling said that if a local law enforcement agency claims information is relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation, that information can be exempt from the Tennessee Public Records Act. Appellate Judge Neal McBrayer dissented, saying the specific police information requested in The Tennessean's case did not fall under a previously recognized exemption that protects some, but not all, information in a [...]

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