美国国家公共电台 NPR--In Texas, a legal loophole may block access to Uvalde shooting records

In Texas, a legal loophole may block access to Uvalde shooting records

Transcript¹

There are many questions about law enforcement actions during the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. But because the gunman was killed, a legal loophole may prevent the release of some records.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

Since the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, officials have given out contradictory² information. To get the facts, reporters often turn to public information, such as 911 calls, police dispatch recordings³ and body cameras. But in Texas, those records are tough to obtain. As Texas Public Radio's David Martin Davies reports, the state can invoke⁴ something called the dead suspect loophole.

DAVID MARTIN DAVIES, BYLINE⁵: As the director of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, Kelley Shannon understands the state's public information law.

KELLEY SHANNON: Thank you so much for coming.

DAVIES: At an open government seminar in San Antonio, people are focused on what's happening 60 miles away in Uvalde.

SHANNON: I think what we're seeing is an overall mood of nontransparency happening in Uvalde.

DAVIES: After the school shooting that left 21 dead, reporters have been trying to get answers. But Shannon says it appears you value officials are working to keep the truth from coming out.

SHANNON: From the intimidation⁶ of the reporters that we're seeing there to blocking photographers from being able to take pictures to threatening to have secret meetings, maybe even having secret public meeting, we don't know.

DAVIES: Texas Public Radio and other news organizations filed open records request for public documents related to the May 24 massacre⁷. They were denied, citing numerous Texas Open Records Act exemptions⁸, including one called the dead suspect loophole.

JOE MOODY⁹: The policy consideration is a good one. Maybe you're wrongfully accused of something. You know, this was meant to protect the accused. And now it's been flipped¹⁰ on its head.

DAVIES: That's Texas State Representative Joe Moody, vice¹¹ chair of the state House committee investigating the Uvalde shooting. For years, he's worked to close the dead suspect loophole. He says law enforcement has taken advantage of it to hide information when a suspect dies in police custody¹². That's what happened to Graham Dyer.

ROBERT DYER: My wife and I got the most dreaded¹³ phone call any parent can ever receive. Our son had been arrested by the Mesquite Police Department. Graham was very gravely injured.

DAVIES: Robert Dyer testified in 2019 to the Texas legislature about the night his son died in police custody. Graham had taken LSD and was having a bad reaction. He was picked up and charged with assaulting an officer. Then Mesquite PD refused to release the documents and videos to the Dyer family that would show what led to his death.

DYER: If somebody dies in police custody, I should think this is when we'd want to open all of our records.

DAVIES: That's not how the Texas police union sees it. The group objected to Moody's bill, and Governor Greg Abbott threatened to veto it. It never passed. The Dyer family eventually did get the information through a federal Freedom of Information request. That took over two years. This could offer a clue about what to expect with information from Uvalde. But Moody says his committee will be releasing a report about what went wrong at Robb Elementary.

MOODY: That's the job of this committee - is to lay bare the facts, and that's what we intend to do.

DAVIES: Still, despite promises of openness, the committee is essentially¹⁴ operating in secret and not releasing who the witnesses are, their testimony¹⁵ and even the specific goals of the investigation¹⁶. Kelley Shannon says because of the lack of trust, the public deserves unfiltered information.

SHANNON: Transparency and openness is the key to healing and moving on, if it's even possible from something like this.

DAVIES: And she promises reporters are not going to give up until the whole truth comes out about the police response that day in Uvalde. She says the 19 children and two teachers who died deserve that. For NPR News, I'm David Martin Davies in San Antonio.

(SOUNDBITE OF AYYALDO, HANN. AND KANIMAYO'S "SUMMER BLUES")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 contradictory   

adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立

参考例句：

• The argument is internally contradictory.论据本身自相矛盾。
• What he said was self-contradictory.他讲话前后不符。

3 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

4 invoke   

v.求助于(神、法律)；恳求，乞求

参考例句：

• Let us invoke the blessings of peace.让我们祈求和平之福。
• I hope I'll never have to invoke this clause and lodge a claim with you.我希望我永远不会使用这个条款向你们索赔。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 intimidation   

n.恐吓，威胁

参考例句：

• The Opposition alleged voter intimidation by the army.反对党声称投票者受到军方的恐吓。
• The gang silenced witnesses by intimidation.恶帮用恐吓的手段使得证人不敢说话。

7 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

8 exemptions   

n.（义务等的）免除( exemption的名词复数 )；免（税）；（收入中的）免税额

参考例句：

• The exemptions for interpretive rules, policy statements, and procedural rules have just been discussed. 有关解释性规则、政策说明和程序规则的免责我们刚刚讨论过。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• A: The regulation outlines specific exemptions for some WPM. 答：该规定概述了某些木质包装材料的特定的例外情形。 来自互联网

9 moody   

adj.心情不稳的，易怒的，喜怒无常的

参考例句：

• He relapsed into a moody silence.他又重新陷于忧郁的沉默中。
• I'd never marry that girl.She's so moody.我决不会和那女孩结婚的。她太易怒了。

10 flipped   

轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥

参考例句：

• The plane flipped and crashed. 飞机猛地翻转，撞毁了。
• The carter flipped at the horse with his whip. 赶大车的人扬鞭朝着马轻轻地抽打。

11 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

12 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

13 dreaded   

adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The dreaded moment had finally arrived. 可怕的时刻终于来到了。
• He dreaded having to spend Christmas in hospital. 他害怕非得在医院过圣诞节不可。 来自《用法词典》

14 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

15 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

16 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。