Ohio
Lawmakers approve charging up to $750 for police, jail videos
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — People seeking copies of police and jail videos in Ohio may have to pay up to $75 for each hour if Gov. Mike DeWine signs a measure approved by the state legislature this week.
The fee was included in an amendment to the state’s sunshine laws that was quietly introduced and passed after midnight Thursday by the GOP-controlled legislature. It now heads to the desk of the Republican governor. It’s not clear when or if he’ll act on it. A news media group is urging a veto.
First Amendment and government transparency advocates said they were blindsided by the measure, which would give state and local law enforcement agencies the option to charge people for copies of records that most departments now provide for free or little cost.
Each state and local department or agency could set their own fee, up to $75 an hour, for videos produced by body cameras, dashboard cameras and surveillance cameras inside jails. They also could continue to provide these public records free of charge. The fees would be capped at $750 per request for each department involved.
Gary Daniels, chief lobbyist at Ohio’s American Civil Liberties Union chapter, said the bill is a “major blow for government transparency and accountability.” Daniels and Monica Nieporte, executive director of the Ohio News Media Association, each said they had no indication lawmakers were even considering such a measure until after it had already passed. She said her organization will urge DeWine to veto it.
State Attorney General Dave Yost said the bill is a “solid way” to approach what he called an “expensive, labor-intensive process.”
Yost said social media influencers and professional YouTube creators have bogged down police departments with requests for these videos, effectively “making the taxpayers subsidize their little garden businesses.”
Critics say the cost of requesting video could become prohibitive for criminal justice watchdogs and media organizations trying to learn more about policing in general or in specific cases, especially if multiple officers or multiple agencies respond to a scene.
The law would challenge a decades-old state court ruling that public agencies could only charge seekers of public records for the costs of the item the record was copied onto, such as paper or a flash drive.
Minnesota
Man whose juvenile murder sentence was commuted to remain jailed amid appeal in new case
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota man yelled “Y’all don’t stop fighting” to his supporters after a judge decided Thursday not to free him from custody as he appeals his conviction in a gun and drug case that drew attention because it followed the commutation of his life sentence in a high-profile murder case.
Myon Burrell was locked up at 16 for the 2002 death of 11-year-old Tyesha Edwards, a Minneapolis girl who was hit by a stray bullet. He maintained his innocence. The Associated Press and APM Reports in 2020 uncovered new evidence and serious flaws in that investigation, leading to the creation of an independent legal panel to review the case.
Ultimately, Burrell was freed after 18 years behind bars. But then police in the Minneapolis suburb of Robbinsdale found drugs and a handgun in his SUV during a traffic stop last year. That was a problem because, while a state pardons board had commuted Burrell’s sentence, his pardon request was denied. That meant his conviction for first-degree murder remained on his record, making it still illegal for him to have a gun.
As a result, he was sentenced to five years in prison on the gun and drug charges. But his defense is appealing the legality of the traffic stop.
Burrell, now 38, said on Thursday there was no excuse for his behavior but that he was learning to live again and trying to process what had happened to him in prison. His backers spoke of his powerful work with young people to try to keep them from being incarcerated, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported.
Senior Assistant County Attorney Cheri Townsend said the state simply opposed the motion to release Burrell because of concerns about public safety.
Following the traffic stop, Burrell was charged in May with an additional drug charge after an investigation in which police allege they found a small amount of methamphetamine in his car and $60,000 in a suitcase in his home. A few months after that, Burrell was arrested on suspicion of DUI, and police found marijuana in his car.
Both of those cases are pending, and Hennepin County District Judge Mark Kappelhoff said they cast serious doubt on Burrell’s ability to prove there was no risk he would commit a serious crime.
“I see the community, I hear the community,” said Kappelhoff, who worked for years in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Assistant Attorney General. “But my job is to apply the law based on what I see, based on the facts before me.”
Connecticut
Man faces assault charges in shooting that injured a juvenile
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) — An 18-year-old New York City man accused in a shooting at a University of Bridgeport dining hall in Connecticut that injured a juvenile surrendered to police Friday and was charged with assault and gun crimes, authorities said.
The suspect turned himself in to Bridgeport police, who had a warrant for his arrest in connection with the Oct. 29 shooting inside the Marina Dining Hall that prompted an hourslong campus lockdown, officials said. The warrant set bail at $250,000.
The suspect was expected to be arraigned later Friday in Bridgeport Superior Court on charges of first-degree assault and carrying a pistol without a permit. It was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer who could respond to the allegations. Court records on his case were not yet available.
Police said they believed the suspect and the teenage male victim, who were not students at the college, got into a fight over a female and had previously messaged each other on social media. The victim was shot in his right arm and his chest was grazed, but none of the injuries was life-threatening, authorities said.
The shooting happened shortly after 6:30 p.m. and led to a large police and campus security response. The campus was locked down until the next morning. Police said they found a gun and other evidence.
“This is an example of young individuals’ ability to obtain firearms and their inability to de-escalate or diffuse situations,” Bridgeport Police Chief Roderick Porter said after the shooting. “That’s something that we not only as a community here in Bridgeport but as a country, we need to work on our young people better on how to de-escalate and diffuse their situations.”
Lawmakers approve charging up to $750 for police, jail videos
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — People seeking copies of police and jail videos in Ohio may have to pay up to $75 for each hour if Gov. Mike DeWine signs a measure approved by the state legislature this week.
The fee was included in an amendment to the state’s sunshine laws that was quietly introduced and passed after midnight Thursday by the GOP-controlled legislature. It now heads to the desk of the Republican governor. It’s not clear when or if he’ll act on it. A news media group is urging a veto.
First Amendment and government transparency advocates said they were blindsided by the measure, which would give state and local law enforcement agencies the option to charge people for copies of records that most departments now provide for free or little cost.
Each state and local department or agency could set their own fee, up to $75 an hour, for videos produced by body cameras, dashboard cameras and surveillance cameras inside jails. They also could continue to provide these public records free of charge. The fees would be capped at $750 per request for each department involved.
Gary Daniels, chief lobbyist at Ohio’s American Civil Liberties Union chapter, said the bill is a “major blow for government transparency and accountability.” Daniels and Monica Nieporte, executive director of the Ohio News Media Association, each said they had no indication lawmakers were even considering such a measure until after it had already passed. She said her organization will urge DeWine to veto it.
State Attorney General Dave Yost said the bill is a “solid way” to approach what he called an “expensive, labor-intensive process.”
Yost said social media influencers and professional YouTube creators have bogged down police departments with requests for these videos, effectively “making the taxpayers subsidize their little garden businesses.”
Critics say the cost of requesting video could become prohibitive for criminal justice watchdogs and media organizations trying to learn more about policing in general or in specific cases, especially if multiple officers or multiple agencies respond to a scene.
The law would challenge a decades-old state court ruling that public agencies could only charge seekers of public records for the costs of the item the record was copied onto, such as paper or a flash drive.
Minnesota
Man whose juvenile murder sentence was commuted to remain jailed amid appeal in new case
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota man yelled “Y’all don’t stop fighting” to his supporters after a judge decided Thursday not to free him from custody as he appeals his conviction in a gun and drug case that drew attention because it followed the commutation of his life sentence in a high-profile murder case.
Myon Burrell was locked up at 16 for the 2002 death of 11-year-old Tyesha Edwards, a Minneapolis girl who was hit by a stray bullet. He maintained his innocence. The Associated Press and APM Reports in 2020 uncovered new evidence and serious flaws in that investigation, leading to the creation of an independent legal panel to review the case.
Ultimately, Burrell was freed after 18 years behind bars. But then police in the Minneapolis suburb of Robbinsdale found drugs and a handgun in his SUV during a traffic stop last year. That was a problem because, while a state pardons board had commuted Burrell’s sentence, his pardon request was denied. That meant his conviction for first-degree murder remained on his record, making it still illegal for him to have a gun.
As a result, he was sentenced to five years in prison on the gun and drug charges. But his defense is appealing the legality of the traffic stop.
Burrell, now 38, said on Thursday there was no excuse for his behavior but that he was learning to live again and trying to process what had happened to him in prison. His backers spoke of his powerful work with young people to try to keep them from being incarcerated, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported.
Senior Assistant County Attorney Cheri Townsend said the state simply opposed the motion to release Burrell because of concerns about public safety.
Following the traffic stop, Burrell was charged in May with an additional drug charge after an investigation in which police allege they found a small amount of methamphetamine in his car and $60,000 in a suitcase in his home. A few months after that, Burrell was arrested on suspicion of DUI, and police found marijuana in his car.
Both of those cases are pending, and Hennepin County District Judge Mark Kappelhoff said they cast serious doubt on Burrell’s ability to prove there was no risk he would commit a serious crime.
“I see the community, I hear the community,” said Kappelhoff, who worked for years in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Assistant Attorney General. “But my job is to apply the law based on what I see, based on the facts before me.”
Connecticut
Man faces assault charges in shooting that injured a juvenile
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) — An 18-year-old New York City man accused in a shooting at a University of Bridgeport dining hall in Connecticut that injured a juvenile surrendered to police Friday and was charged with assault and gun crimes, authorities said.
The suspect turned himself in to Bridgeport police, who had a warrant for his arrest in connection with the Oct. 29 shooting inside the Marina Dining Hall that prompted an hourslong campus lockdown, officials said. The warrant set bail at $250,000.
The suspect was expected to be arraigned later Friday in Bridgeport Superior Court on charges of first-degree assault and carrying a pistol without a permit. It was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer who could respond to the allegations. Court records on his case were not yet available.
Police said they believed the suspect and the teenage male victim, who were not students at the college, got into a fight over a female and had previously messaged each other on social media. The victim was shot in his right arm and his chest was grazed, but none of the injuries was life-threatening, authorities said.
The shooting happened shortly after 6:30 p.m. and led to a large police and campus security response. The campus was locked down until the next morning. Police said they found a gun and other evidence.
“This is an example of young individuals’ ability to obtain firearms and their inability to de-escalate or diffuse situations,” Bridgeport Police Chief Roderick Porter said after the shooting. “That’s something that we not only as a community here in Bridgeport but as a country, we need to work on our young people better on how to de-escalate and diffuse their situations.”
