Burlington police shooting hearing set for April

An April hearing has been set for charges the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigations and the Burlington Police Department broke public records law by failing to release investigative information about a 2015 fatal shooting by police.

The contested hearing, scheduled for April 19 in Des Moines before administrative law judge Karen Doland, could have broad implications for whether the public can view body camera video and other police records.

Burlington Police Officer Jesse Hill fatally shot Autumn Steele, 34, on Jan. 6, 2015, after he came to her house on a domestic abuse call. When Steele's dog charged Hill, the officer fired his gun twice, accidentally hitting Steele in her front yard.

Steele's family filed a complaint with the Iowa Public Information Board in May 2015 after the Burlington police and DCI refused to release most of a video from a body camera Hill was wearing as well as other investigative records. The Burlington Hawk Eye filed a similar complaint, which has been merged into one contested case against the law enforcement agencies.

In a 50-minute status conference Friday, Assistant Attorney General Jeff Peterzalek said past court cases have shown investigative materials, even in closed cases, are exempt from Iowa's Open Record Law, Chapter 22. 'Under decades of authority, those materials are protected from disclosure,” he said.

Mark McCormick, a former Iowa Supreme Court justice prosecuting the case for the board, argued the cases cited by the law enforcement agencies' attorneys don't specifically discuss body cameras, a new technology with a host of questions about public access.

'We do not have a case in Iowa, at this point, that says body camera video, taken at the scene of a crime, is confidential,” McCormick told Doland.

The DCI and Burlington police want Doland to dismiss the charges before the April 19 hearing. Doland said she will issue a written decision on the motions.

The April 19 contested case hearing is expected to last a day. Doland would later submit written findings to the board, which can accept or reject them. The board has authority to levy civil penalties of up to $2,500 for a knowing violation and force agencies to make records public. Decisions can be appealed to district court.

The Steele case highlights the uncertainty of whether the public should have access to body camera video. Many Iowa police agencies have touted the accountability that comes with body cameras, but some critics say police only release video when it makes them look good.

Police argue body cameras can show citizens in private, often difficult moments and the videos shouldn't always be public.

l Comments: (319) 339-3157; erin.jordan@thegazette.com