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Decision to release Newtown 911 tapes to prompt appeal

The prosecutor leading the investigation of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting plans to appeal a decision by the state's Freedom of Information Commission to release 911 tapes.

The commission Wednesday ruled in favor of The Associated Press, which is seeking access to records withheld by investigators. The recordings will not be made available immediately, but Danbury State's Attorney Stephen Sedensky III says the decision will be appealed in Connecticut's courts.

The recordings could shed light on the law enforcement response to one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history.

 

Hearing Officer Kathleen Ross said in her report that the Commission settled a similar issue in 2008 finding that Farmington violated Freedom of Information laws by not disclosing 911 calls because of an ongoing investigation.

 

Three calls for service to Yogananda Street--one each in 2003-, 2006 and 2012--with over 100 calls for service to the school between 2002 and 2012 were found.  The ones from the school ranged from animal nuisance to suspicious persons and burglar alarms.  There are no recordings of 911 calls coming from the home or from the school, but Newtown Police does have recordings of calls from members of the public from December 14th at the school.  The Act Limiting Certain Law Enforcement Records does not apply to most 911 calls, but only to ones where the condition of a homicide victim is described. 

 

The respondents are claiming the 911 calls are exempt under a statute where information about child abuse reported to DCF is considered confidential and that all children in the school that day were victims of child abuse.  But there is no record that DCF is investigating this case.

 

Sedensky said that airing the tapes would go against the spirit of a law enacted this spring which sought to provide some privacy to homicide victims' families.  Among other things, it created a one-year moratorium on the release of certain portions of audiotape and other recordings - with the exception of 911 tapes - in which the condition of a homicide victim is described.

 

Sedensky argued that certain content of 911 calls could be shielded by the law. He gave the example of a possible call from a sexual assault victim.

 

"It is highly doubtful that the legislature would have wanted a sexual assault victim to have to choose between calling the police and having his or her 9-1-1 call on every radio station, therefore it could not have been the intent of the legislature to eliminate all exemptions simply because they were in the context of a 9-1-1 call," Sedensky wrote.

 

Sedensky also argued that it could not have been the intent of the legislature to have a violent crime witness or informant put their life at risk simply because they did the right thing and called 911.

 

A state task force created by the new freedom-of-information legislation is expected to come up with proposals to help strike a balance between victim privacy under the state's law and the public's right to know. The task force faces a January 1st deadline.

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