Judge orders Sandy Hook 911 tapes released!

Dumb question but do they have to release ALL the 911 calls? If they don't want to release certain ones can they just....delete them?

reply to post by Riffrafter


The only argument I can see being made that "might" hold merit would be the age of the victims involved. I do know court proceedings can become restrictive when it deals with minors.

Aside from that the only other times I've come across this is when the -
A - Suspect was still alive
B - Appeals from the court / jury verdict
C - Possibility of there being more suspects and release of complete court info would jeopardize that investigation.

I have not seen anything specific made in this area other than they just don't want the material released. As morbid as it is, I'm not sure why they are trying to restrict the information.
As for the FOIA information I was under the impression that court documents do not become a matter of public record until all trial / appeals / investigations are completed. Even then information can still be redacted from those records.

In my state FOIA exists, however when it comes to criminal court proceedings the information that can be released is extremely restricted so as to not interfere with the investigation / court proceedings / civil rights etc.

catfishjoe
Dumb question but do they have to release ALL the 911 calls? If they don't want to release certain ones can they just....delete them?

As far as I know radio communications / 911 calls are recorded and must be kept for a certain amount of time. Deleting radio / 911 communications would be the equivalent of destroying evidence.