By Jeffrey A. Roberts
CFOIC Executive Director
A judge Monday ordered Aurora to release all unedited body-worn camera footage of police shooting and killing Kilyn Lewis, finding that the city denied 9NEWS’ requests for the video in violation of Colorado’s Law Enforcement Integrity Act.
Although Aurora police have disclosed some body-cam footage of the shooting of Lewis by a SWAT team member on May 23, 2024, Arapahoe County District Court Judge Benjamin Figa concluded that the state legislature in adopting the law in 2020 and amending it in 2021 “intended for officers to capture not only the ‘initial incident’ but also context around peace officer contact with individuals.”
“The language of LEIA does not support Aurora’s interpretation that it can select the contours of what is considered to be” an incident, Figa wrote. “…. As it relates to Kilyn Lewis on May 23, 2024, the ‘incident’ includes not just when APD was in direct contact with him but also the moments leading up to and immediately following the encounter, which are captured on the unredacted body-worn camera footage.”
A “complaint of peace office misconduct” is needed to activate the body-cam footage disclosure provisions of the LEIA, which state lawmakers passed following the killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Elijah McClain in Aurora. Prosecutors declined to file charges against the officer who shot Lewis, who was unarmed, but family members of Lewis filed complaints with the department and his death continues to spark outrage.
The statute requires the release of “all unedited video and audio recordings” of an incident “including those from body-worn cameras, dash cameras, or otherwise collected through investigation” within 21 days after a request. An agency can delay the release of video until 45 days from the date of an allegation of misconduct if the video “would substantially interfere with or jeopardize an active or ongoing investigation.”
Aurora and 9NEWS disagreed in court filings and during a March 28 hearing about the meaning of the word “incident” in the Law Enforcement Integrity Act. Aurora argued that it is only obligated to provide the news station with “trimmed” video clips from five officers present during the shooting that were previously provided to Lewis’ family. There is “additional footage on the front and back end of what was provided,” a deputy city attorney acknowledged, “but that additional content does not depict the incident of misconduct identified by the family.”
9NEWS, represented by attorney Rachael Johnson of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, contended that “all unedited footage” must be released after a complaint of officer misconduct has been made.
Figa in his ruling interpreted the word “unedited” to mean that “body-worn camera footage must be unaltered from its original form. The statute thus disallows law enforcement agencies from removing footage in any manner.”
“Regardless of the descriptions Aurora uses as it relates to the videos (i.e., ‘clipping,’ ‘trimming,’ ‘shortening,’ and the like), such actions are fundamentally inconsistent with the plain and ordinary language of the statute. LEIA is clear that the entirety of the body worn camera footage in this instance must be provided upon request,” the judge added.
Figa also quoted statements made by former state Rep. Leslie Herod, a prime sponsor of the 2020 legislation and the 2021 amendments, during a House Judiciary Committee hearing in April 2021. In explaining the 2021 amendments, Herod “expressed the very concern that 9NEWS presents in this case: ‘We’ve seen how law enforcement has … only shown certain clips of a full body-camera footage, which was why we wanted the entire body-cam footage.’ She further stated the intent was ‘to keep as clean of a primary source document that could be used or must be needed for accountability purposes.’”
“The Court determines Aurora has denied 9News’ requests in violation of LEIA by providing only select portions of the body-worn camera footage,” Figa wrote.
According to a brief submitted by 9NEWS, Aurora police have body-camera footage from 12 officers and did not provide the news station with footage from seven. The brief says footage from four officers “was edited to only show a segment of the incident on May 23, 2024, starting at 11:50 a.m. and abruptly ending a few minutes later when paramedics are heard arriving to the scene of the shooting. From the edited footage it is unclear what actions these officers take after paramedics arrived, including with respect to any further medical care provided to Mr. Lewis.”
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