McDade’s mother and community groups’ attorney Succeed in getting access to OIR Report on McDade shooting

Kenrec McDade’s parents have been fighting for justice since March 2012 – Photo by Terry Miller

The City of Pasadena late Thursday announced that it will
release next Thursday the Office of Independent Review (“OIR”) Report on its
police department shooting of the unarmed Kendrec McDade. The City qualified
its notice to requesters of the OIR Report “unless there is a court order directing
us otherwise.” The City’s attorney also qualified the release by saying the City
would redact where legally-protected officer personnel records are involved.
The City’s notification comes two days after Superior Court Judge James C.
Chalfant admonished it to “stop playing games” on determining whether to
release the report.
Attorney Elbie J. Hickambottom, counsel for McDade’s mother Anya
Slaughter, the Pasadena NAACP, the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance,
ACT, and ACLU activist Kris Ockershauser, responded to the City’s notice with
cautious optimism, saying “We’ve succeeded in moving the City forward in two
ways. First, the city is no longer hiding behind the Pasadena Police Officers
Association (“PPOA”) skirts and its collusive lawsuit with the PPOA to avoid
deciding on release of the OIR Report. Second, the City has gone from City
Manager Beck’s unacceptable position a month ago that it would release only the
OIR Report recommendations but not the rest of the report; now the City says it
will release all of the report except for its redacting information that is legally
protected against disclosure. We are concerned that the City may over-redact the
report in order to protect itself against damaging information, and we intend to
take steps to make sure that does not happen.”
Hickambottom added that “we agree that disclosure of the contents of
police officer personnel records cannot and should not be disclosed, but only if
that information has not already been put into the public record. But, for
instance, there is a great deal of deposition testimony by Officers Newlen and
Griffin in the federal court wrongful death case against them by McDade’s mother
that is now public information. You cannot put that horse back in the barn. If the
information is out in the public domain, it cannot be redacted from the OIR
Report.
Hickambottom and co-counsel Dale L. Gronemeier expect the PPOA to
initiate further legal proceedings. Gronemeier said “we expect the PPOA to go
back to Judge Chalfant Tuesday or Wednesday next week to try to block the OIR
Report. We’re confident that the PPOA will lose on blocking the entire OIR
Report; the PPOA contending that its recommendations for changes in the City’s
policies and procedures is a frivolous contention. The devil’s in the details of
what gets redacted. That’s probably going to require a more extended process
and further court proceedings.”

More from Pasadena Independent