Nashville police withhold Covenant shooter's writings amid lawsuits seeking release

In the month since the deadly Covenant School shooting, two lawsuits have been filed against the Metro Nashville Police Department in an effort to hasten the release of the writings and materials left by the shooter.

A third challenge, filed as an administrative appeal, was made against the Federal Bureau of Investigation challenging its denial of a public records request.

The Tennessee Firearms Association and retired Hamilton County Sheriff James Hammond, as well as Clata Renee Brewer in conjunction with the National Police Association are suing MNPD for the release of the materials.

The Tennessee Star filed the administrative appeal against the FBI under with the help of the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty.

Records fight: A month after Covenant shooting, calls grow for police to release files

All three present similar arguments for the release of the writings, some of which were discovered in the shooter's car at the scene.

The three plaintiffs received almost identical denials to their requests, with the law enforcement agencies citing Rule 16 of the Tennessee Rules of Criminal Proceeding and the Tennessee Supreme Court case Tennessean v. Metro Government of Nashville as reasons for their denial.

The rule and case law say public records requests can be denied if the records are part of an ongoing criminal prosecution.

All three filings counter this, stating that there is no ongoing criminal prosecution related to the Covenant shooting, so the referenced rules cannot apply. Police fatally shot the shooter, who they later identified as 28-year-old Audrey Hale.

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“The (MNPD's) denial failed to identify any underlying criminal proceeding, or even potential defendant, such that the requested materials would be a 'case' under Rule 16 of the Tennessee Rules of Criminal Proceeding," said John Harris III, an attorney with Schulman Leroy & Bennett and the executive director of the Tennessee Firearms Association.

Calls for the release of the materials — which TBI Director David Rausch characterized more as "ramblings" rather than writings pointing to any clear motive — have been growing over the past few weeks, heightened by Gov. Bill Lee’s statement made on social media on April 27 declaring that the information would be “released to the public very soon,” as well as his calls for a special session to pass his proposed gun control legislation.

U.S. Reps. Andy Ogles, R-Columbia, and Tim Burchett, R-Knoxville, along with state House GOP Caucus Chair Jeremy Faison, R-Cosby, and Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, are among the state and federal lawmakers also urging for the release of more information.

The Tennessean has also requested the information and is pushing for its release.

On Wednesday, Metro Police said it would delay any document release pending the court action.

"Due to pending litigation filed this week, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department has been advised by counsel to hold in abeyance the release of records related to the shooting at The Covenant School pending orders or direction of the court," the department posted on Twitter.

Metro Law Director Wally Dietz said in a statement Wednesday afternoon that the city is asking the court to give victims' families a chance to appear and raise concerns or objections about the possible release of the writings. Metro also plans to file Hale's writings and proposed redactions under seal.

Metro wrote in a court filing Wednesday that "some parents from The Covenant School have informally indicated to the MNPD that they oppose the release of the shooter’s writings."

"The Metropolitan Department of Law has worked with the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department to review documents concerning the tragic shooting at The Covenant School," Dietz said in the statement. "Two parties have now filed litigation requesting voluminous documents. We are asking the Court to conduct a status and scheduling conference so that all interested parties may appear and raise any concerns. We believe family members of the victims should have the opportunity to present any concerns or objections to the Court at that time. We plan to file under seal the entire journal found in the shooter's car in the parking lot at The Covenant School together with our proposed redactions, under the Public Records Act, for the Court to review for release."

Metro was asking the court to reschedule a hearing in one of the cases scheduled for May 11 concerning why the city shouldn't release the records that the plaintiffs requested.

The city said that timeline was not feasible given the volume of materials that the plaintiffs asked for, which included materials other than Hale's journal, and that MNPD has "not had an opportunity to interview everyone related to the incident and review all the documents it has gathered." Rescheduling the hearing would give interested parties a chance to weigh in, Metro wrote.

"The Metropolitan Government believes they should have an opportunity to participate in the show cause hearing if they wish and that the Court should consider these varying interests," Metro wrote in its filing.

Evan Mealins contributed to this report.

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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville police withhold Covenant shooter's writings amid lawsuits