KNS says judge's ruling on TBI file too broad

Source: The Knoxville News-Sentinel, Tenn.存倉July 24--KNOXVILLE -- A ruling rejecting a bid to unseal Tennessee Bureau of Investigation records on a disgraced former Knox County judge runs afoul of a state Supreme Court decision, a petition filed today states.Attorney Richard Hollow filed today on behalf of the News Sentinel a petition to -- for the third time now -- intervene in Knox County Criminal Court litigation related to the TBI investigative file on ex-judge Richard Baumgartner.In his petition, Hollow says Senior Judge Walter Kurtz got it wrong in a recent ruling on the file when Kurtz opined that law enforcement files are exempt from the Tennessee Open Records Act. That's too broad, the newspaper argues."This statement is at variance with the holding of the Supreme Court of Tennessee (in a 2007 case)," Hollow wrote.The 2007 decision cited by Hollow states that the high court concluded "that the law enforcement privilege has not previously been adopted as a common law privilege in Tennessee and should not be adopted herein."Investigative files of local and state law enforcement agencies are public records under the act once an investigation has been closed.By statute, TBI files are an exception.The News Sentinel long has sought and received access to closed law enforcement files from agencies including the Knoxville Police Department and Knox County Sheriff's Office.Baumgartner resigned in 2011 after a TBI probe that showed, among other things, that he was using his drug-addicted mistress to procure prescription painkillers, had committed doctor shopping to get pills and bought pills from a felon on probation in his court. His misdeeds prompted the granting of new trials自存倉to two of four defendants in the January 2007 torture-slayings of Channon Christian, 21, and Christopher Newsom, 23.The News Sentinel has twice used court action to try to force the unsealing of the entire TBI file on Baumgartner but was stymied by state law giving the TBI a specific exemption from the Open Records Act. Senior Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood did, however, make public 155 pages of a file that spans more than 5,400 pages that he said led him to upend two convictions in the Christian-Newsom case.With the retrials over, defense attorney Herbert S. Moncier sought access to the entire file on behalf of the families of Christian and Newsom. Kurtz shot down that request in a ruling filed Friday. It is in that ruling that Hollow and Moncier, who filed a separate response to Kurtz's ruling, contend Kurtz went too far in saying all law enforcement files are privileged.The entire TBI file was filed in connection with a federal prosecution of Baumgartner and was not placed under seal. It was contained on a compact disc filed away, not in the public electronic file, but in U.S. Magistrate Judge Clifford Shirley's office.The News Sentinel earlier this month asked for a copy of the disc. Shirley has ordered Baumgartner's attorneys to redact personal and medical information from the file and convert the disc to electronic form before considering the News Sentinel's request. Shirley has set a Sept. 3 deadline on the redactions.More details as they develop online and in Thursday's News Sentinel.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Knoxville News-Sentinel (Knoxville, Tenn.) Visit the Knoxville News-Sentinel (Knoxville, Tenn.) at www.knoxnews.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉新蒲崗