City Ordered NOT to release McDade Report, as planned – Pasadena Police union granted second TRO by Superior Court Judge

Kendrec McDade’s parents Anya Slaughter and Kenneth McDade – Photo by Terry Miller

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge Tuesday granted a temporary restraining order preventing the City of Pasadena from releasing a 70 page redacted report on the officer involved fatal shooting of Kendrec McDade last March.

The matter heard this morning before Superior Court Judge James Chalfant renewed the TRO at the request of Pasadena Police Officers Association, preventing the release of even the redacted OIR Report that the City intended to release. The matter returns to his court on October 14, 2014.

City Manager, Michael Beck issued the following after Judge James Chalfant renewed the TRO:
“The City understands and appreciates the interest of the public and the news media in accessing the Office of Independent Review’s report on the shooting of Kendrec McDade. The City continues to support both the principles of open government and our officers’ privacy rights as guaranteed by state law. We believe we had the right balance between the two and we were prepared to issue a redacted report. However, as a result of the Court’s action this morning, the City has been ordered not to disclose the report or any elements thereof at this time. It is important for the City to be able to release as much information as permissible and we look forward to a fair resolution of this issue.”

This is the second attempt for Pasadena Police Officers’ Association to stop the release of the report, saying the contents include personnel information and releasing it would violate the police officers’ rights.

The City of Pasadena late Thursday announced that it will
release next Thursday (today) 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.” Which, of course, is exactly what happened.
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.

An attorney representing the Los Angeles Times along with McDade’s mother, Anya Slaughter , Pasadena chapter of the NAACP, a community activist and local ACLU board member Kris Ockershauser, ACT and Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance of Greater Pasadena have all filed objections Tuesday to the union’s renewed attempt to now seal the report.
James Chalfant, already granted the temporary restraining order earlier this month, but later withdrew it to oblige the city of Pasadena to make a decision on what portions of the report it actually intended to release. Last Thursday, Pasadena issued a statement saying they would release a redacted version of the report today.
Chalfant will hear a permanent seal request next month.
The city has already agreed to a $1 million settlement in two separate lawsuits filed by McDade’s parents for civil rights violations and wrongful death.
In the 2009 officer involved shooting of Leroy Barnes, the city also contracted with OIRG and under Chief Bernard Melichian’s watch, released that entire report to the public and press.

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