Nashville Court Demands Covenant School Shooter’s Unredacted Writings for Review

An ambulance leaves of The Covenant School, Covenant Presbyterian Church, in Nashville, Tenn., on March 27, 2023. (John Amis/AP Photo)

A Nashville, Tennessee court has ordered the unredacted copies of a so-called manifesto and writings of Nashville Christian school shooter Audrey Hale to be delivered to a judge beginning Friday.

The court order comes in a lawsuit by groups and individuals that sued the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD) for the writings after their requests for those records were denied under public records laws.

Chancellor I’Ashea Myles ordered MNPD to begin delivering “sealed, unredacted copies” of Hale’s writings to be discussed at an upcoming status conference (Friday) and show cause hearing scheduled for June 8. The documents being sealed mean they will not yet be available to the press or the public.

The chancellor will review the writings in an in-camera session for her only, according to the Davidson County Chancery Court’s order.

“[MNPD] shall continue to deliver such documents to the chambers of Chancery Court Part III on a rolling basis as Respondent is able to prepare them for the Court’s in camera review,” Myles wrote. “Counsel for the Respondent shall provide a ‘Counsel Only’ privilege log to counsel for the Petitioners of the documents that the court has in chambers for the in camera review. Such log shall be updated as documents become ready.”

The Suits

Two lawsuits, filed in late April and early May, have been combined due to their similar nature. The original suits were filed by a former sheriff and the Tennessee Firearms Association and a Tennessee resident alongside the National Police Association.

MNPD initially denied the records requests by citing rules and precedent that such records could be denied due to an ongoing criminal prosecution. However, as the requesters stated in the suit, there is no ongoing criminal prosecution as Hale, the only suspect named by police, was killed at the scene of her assault on The Covenant Christian school on March 27. Hale killed three 9-year-old children and three adults who worked at the school.

“Since [the event], the actions of the Metro Police Department officers have been correctly characterized as commendable and heroic, and no one has suggested that these officers engaged in any criminal activity in their response to the incident,” the NPA said in their suit. “There is no criminal prosecution concerning the Covenant School incident, and despite extensive media coverage, including interviews of public officials, no one has suggested that there will be any criminal prosecution because of the incident.”

The Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County Courthouse and City Hall as seen from 2nd Ave. N on March 29, 2023. (Chase Smith/The Epoch Times)

TFA did not comment to The Epoch Times on their pending litigation, but John Harris III, an attorney with Schulman Leroy & Bennett and the executive director of the Tennessee Firearms Association, released a similar comment to The Tennessean newspaper after they filed their suit last week.

“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,” Harris said, according to The Tennessean.

NPA Calls Latest Delay a Catch-22

A statement by MNPD released on Twitter last week stated that the public release of the documents was being delayed as a direct result of the lawsuits. An agency spokeswoman stated MNPD would delay the release of writings until the court weighed in.

MNPD said in an interview with The Epoch Times in late April that Hale’s writings were being readied for public release.

“We are in the process of going through the writings so that they can and will be released publicly,” MNPD Public Affairs Officer Kristin Mumford told The Epoch Times on April 28. “The FBI is assisting because they have the expertise in this area, but we are the lead, and the release will come through us.”

Mumford said at the time, there wasn’t a timeline for the release of the writings, but the review period was for redactions to be made if necessary.

Following MNPD’s Tweet using the lawsuits as its new reason for denying the release of records, the Tennessee resident, alongside NPA, filed an amended complaint with the court on Friday, saying their use of the lawsuit as a reason to delay was improper.

“This statement constitutes an admission that its Rule 16 basis for denial is invalid because there would be no reason to assert this excuse to deny access if the Rule 16 excuse was valid,” attorneys wrote. “This statement also sets forth a completely invalid reason to deny access under the Public Records Act. This statement presents the ultimate ‘Catch-22’ position that a records requester can sue to obtain records, but the very act of filing such a suit acts as an exception to the Public Records Act.”

NPA continued by stating the lawsuit is “not an exception” to public records laws that would “allow a records custodian to deny access to the requested records.”

The suspect in the Nashville Christian school shooting incident is 28-year-old Audrey Hale, as seen in video footage released by the Nashville Police on March 28, 2023. (Metro Nashville Police Department)

Claims of Subverting Public Record Laws

Attorneys also claim in the amended complaint that MNPD has a “demonstrated history of willfully failing to comply with the Public Records Act by creating its own policies and procedures directly contrary to the Public Records Act.”

They cite a Tennessee Supreme Court case and Tennessee Court of Appeals case from five years earlier where the courts found MNPD had “willfully violated the Public Records Act by creating policies contrary to the Public Records Act.” MNPD was required to pay $127,000 in attorney fees by the court.

“[MNPD’s] reliance upon its Catch-22 argument is indicative of a pattern and practice of willful violations of the Public Records Act. A defendant cannot evade its obligation to follow the Public Records Act by seeking to shift its responsibility to the Court. The Court in this case has issued no order that would permit or allow Defendant to cease compliance with the Public Records Act.”

It is unclear if media will be allowed entry into Friday’s proceeding. The Epoch Times, alongside various other media organizations, have also been sent denial letters. The Epoch Times denial letter by MNPD also cited the same “pending litigation” precedent.