In a reversal, Cook County prosecutors asked a judge to rescind a previous order that barred release of video and other materials related to the friendly fire shooting death of Chicago police Officer Krystal Rivera.
Judge Barbara Dawkins, though, denied the request on Wednesday, even as officials have been under pressure by media outlets and Rivera’s family to take measures for transparency after the 36-year-old officer was mistakenly shot and killed by her partner on June 5. Rivera, a four-year veteran with a young daughter, was killed after the Gresham (6th) District tactical team she was part of tried to check on a report of an individual with a weapon at about 9:50 p.m. in the 8200 block of South Drexel Avenue.
The state’s attorney’s office previously asked that the content be shielded from public records requests.
In the wake of the shooting, prosecutors charged two men, Adrian Rucker and Jaylin Arnold, with armed violence and other felonies. As part of Rucker’s criminal case, prosecutors asked a judge to withhold release of the materials, arguing it could interfere with enforcement proceedings and a defendant’s right to a fair trial. Judge Deidre Dyer granted the motion.
In a Tribune story in June, legal experts raised concerns about the move, given that long-held public policy since the 2014 fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald favors timely access to video that can shed light on officer-involved shootings.
And in August, the Chicago Sun-Times, the Better Government Association, NBC Chicago and Jamie Kalven, founder of the Invisible Institute, filed a motion in court to intervene in the case, arguing that the state provided no “legal or factual justification” to deviate from public records laws.
“Following the cover-up of the murder of Laquan McDonald, acknowledgment of the code of silence by former Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and the resulting federal civil rights consent decree, there is a significant public interest in maximum transparency into any use of deadly force by a police officer, as the City of Chicago has acknowledged through its video release policy that has been in place for nearly ten years,” the media outlets’ motion says.
Rivera’s family has also called on the city to release the body-worn camera footage.
During a hearing on Wednesday at the Bridgeview courthouse, the state noted that it was backing off its previous position but said it was not waiving the rights of agencies to deny records requests based in other exemptions from the law.
“OK, what does that mean in plain language? You are in agreement with releasing it or not?” Dawkins asked.
“Judge, we are in agreement with vacating our order withholding the release,” the prosecutor replied, “however if FOIA, subpoenas are served on other agencies … they may claim other FOIA exemptions that would prohibit the release.”
In the motion, prosecutors wrote: “As both individuals have been charged and arraigned, the underlying reasons for the (motion) no longer apply.”