{"id":12194,"date":"2025-06-25T01:16:26","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T01:16:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/12194\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T01:16:26","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T01:16:26","slug":"release-of-video-in-officer-krystal-rivera-case-delayed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/12194\/","title":{"rendered":"Release of video in Officer Krystal Rivera case delayed"},"content":{"rendered":"

A judge has barred the release of video and other materials related to the investigation into the friendly fire shooting death of Chicago police Officer Krystal Rivera, a move that came after the Cook County state\u2019s attorney\u2019s office asked that the information be shielded from public records requests.<\/p>\n

Rivera, 36, a four-year veteran of the department, was mistakenly shot and killed by a fellow officer<\/a> on June 5 after a confrontation with an armed suspect.<\/p>\n

\"PolicePolice Officer Krystal Rivera (Chicago Police Department)<\/p>\n

The tragic slaying of the officer, who will be laid to rest on Wednesday, happened amid long-brewing debates about the safety of foot pursuits and is sure to raise questions about training and officer safety in general.<\/p>\n

But the court order, signed June 13 by Judge Deidre Dyer, delays the public\u2019s access to critical information about the matter, even though long-held public policy since the 2014 fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald favors timely access to video that can shed light on officer-involved shootings.<\/p>\n

Though it\u2019s not uncommon for video to be restricted from public view while an investigation or prosecution is proceeding, legal experts and advocates for transparency raised concerns about the move, especially if such orders are being sought by the state and granted by judges without a thorough examination of balance between the integrity of the case and the public\u2019s right to know how their government is functioning.<\/p>\n

Multiple legal experts noted that the motion, filed by the prosecutor\u2019s office on June 13, referenced federal exemptions to the Freedom of Information Act rather than the state\u2019s companion law that would govern it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a big picture concern that the default role of transparency is being flipped on its head whenever there is a criminal case,\u201d said Craig Futterman, a clinical professor of law at the University of Chicago Law School. \u201cI have a fear that these motions are being filed and orders are being entered without a particularized interrogation that was envisioned under the FOIA statute.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matt McGrath, a spokesman for the state\u2019s attorney\u2019s office, said in a statement that said the motion is standard in criminal cases.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo clarify, the motion to shield body-worn camera footage in this case is standard and related to the ongoing criminal prosecution of two defendants charged with serious felony gun and narcotics possession offenses \u2014 neither of whom is a police officer,\u201d McGrath said in the statement. \u201cIn order to protect a criminal defendant\u2019s constitutional rights to due process, including the right to a fair trial, the law dictates how and when such evidence should be disseminated \u2014 and a judicial determination was made that complied with the law. Any comparison to past police-involved shootings is deeply misguided.\u201d<\/p>\n

Requests for comment from the city were not returned by deadline.<\/p>\n

Throughout the past decade, video from police body-worn cameras and other sources has become a critical check on official narratives about police shootings after the release of such material became policy following the murder of 17-year-old McDonald at the hands of former Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke.<\/p>\n

The dashcam video of the shooting captured Van Dyke, who served a little more than three years in prison, shooting the teenager 16 times as he walked away. The video contradicted the accounts of police and led to a rare murder charge against Van Dyke.<\/p>\n