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ASNE petitions for release of grand jury materials in Eric Garner case
- By: ASNE staff
- On: 05/21/2015 17:11:07
- In: FOI
ASNE joined 28 other media companies and organizations on an amicus brief filed by the Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press in a New York State Court. The brief seeks access to grand jury materials related to the investigation of Eric Garner's death in Staten Island earlier this year.
ASNE joined 28 other media companies and organizations on an amicus brief filed by the Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press in a New York State Court. The brief seeks access to grand jury materials related to the investigation of Eric Garner's death in Staten Island earlier this year.
The officers being investigated for Garner's death were not indicted by the grand jury. Several organizations subsequently petitioned a New York court to release materials related to the grand jury proceedings. The request was denied and several of the groups appealed.
Our brief was filed to explain the particular benefit that can occur when the press and the public are able to view grand jury materials in certain cases of intense public interest. Although ASNE generally does not participate in cases that are in lower-level state courts, we felt that this high-profile case involving the death of a citizen at the hands of the police -- a death that was caught on film, no less -- merited our involvement.