Shelby County DA to release 'key portions' of video from fatal police shootings faster

The Shelby County District Attorney's Office is planning to release footage from fatal police shootings faster in the future following a change to the office's practices.

Under the new plan, the office will release smaller clips of footage from body cameras, car cameras and any other device that may have captured footage. Previously, Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy said Tuesday morning, the DA's office took so long releasing the footage because officials would prepare the entire footage.

"Prior practice had been to wait until the entire [Tennessee Bureau of Investigation] investigation was complete, which would sometimes take months, and then start the process of putting the TBI investigative file out there for the public to see," Mulroy said. "At that point, we would start the process of redacting what, in many cases, would be hours and hours of video, which itself would add further delay."

Mulroy said the shorter videos will still contextualize the shooting, even if small portions are being released initially.

According to Mulroy, his office has the ability to publicly share footage from fatal police shootings when they believe it is proper. For his office, that will be after "an internal checklist" is completed, such as interviewing relevant witnesses and consulting with the family.

In cases where the shooting was not fatal, or falls into a separate category, such as 19-year-old Courtney Ross who died while he was in the Memphis Police Department's custody but was not shot, the discretion to release footage falls to the law enforcement agency.

"As a general matter, I think we should be as transparent as possible, which means that we should release the key parts of the video as soon as possible without compromising the investigation," Mulroy said. "I think that should be a general rule for everybody... I will use the example of the Tyre Nichols case, where the custodian of the records, MPD, was in favor of quick release. Now, they deferred to us on when we thought the investigation had gotten far enough along that it would be okay to release the video."

When will this take effect?

The first of those shortened videos to be released by the DA's office could come as early as the end of this week. That video will be from a late June shooting where a Shelby County Sheriff's Office deputy shot and killed 21-year-old Jarveon Hudspeth during a traffic stop.

Hudspeth's family has retained civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who called for the sheriff's office to release footage from the shooting in early July.

"Don't play games with this family," Crump said at a July 10 press conference. "Release the video. We've heard all of the excuses, release the video."

Later that day, Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner called the press conference a "cheap political" stunt.

"It has come to my attention that specific individuals, including Attorney Ben Crump, have made inciting claims regarding releasing video evidence related to this active investigation," Bonner, who is also a candidate for Memphis mayor, said in the statement. "I strongly condemn these cheap political stunts aimed at manipulating public opinion and causing distress for all involved."

Initial reports from SCSO on the Hudspeth shooting said the deputy, who has not been identified, pulled over Hudspeth while he was driving his car. According to SCSO, Hudspeth tried to leave the scene and dragged the deputy approximately 100 yards. The deputy was taken to Regional One Health in critical condition.

More: Tyre Nichols case: what to know about additional video, trial dates

Mulroy would not characterize the footage in its entirety, nor did he say if his office was planning to file any criminal charges against the deputy. He did, however, say that he did not think that the word "dragged" was "an accurate description, but I think once you see the video for yourself, you'll be able to draw your own conclusions."

Hudspeth's family has seen the footage, Mulroy said.

Other fatal police shootings, like 21-year-old Jaylin McKenzie, are still under review, but Mulroy said footage will be released as soon as possible from those investigations.

Footage will be posted to the DA's website when it is ready, Mulroy said.

Lucas Finton is a criminal justice reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @LucasFinton.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Shelby County will release footage from fatal police shootings faster