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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
In Texas, a legal loophole may block access to Uvalde shooting records
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 | |
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2 contradictory | |
adj.反驳的,反对的,抗辩的;n.正反对,矛盾对立 | |
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3 recordings | |
n.记录( recording的名词复数 );录音;录像;唱片 | |
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4 invoke | |
v.求助于(神、法律);恳求,乞求 | |
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5 byline | |
n.署名;v.署名 | |
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6 intimidation | |
n.恐吓,威胁 | |
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7 massacre | |
n.残杀,大屠杀;v.残杀,集体屠杀 | |
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8 exemptions | |
n.(义务等的)免除( exemption的名词复数 );免(税);(收入中的)免税额 | |
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9 moody | |
adj.心情不稳的,易怒的,喜怒无常的 | |
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10 flipped | |
轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 ); 按(开关); 快速翻转; 急挥 | |
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11 vice | |
n.坏事;恶习;[pl.]台钳,老虎钳;adj.副的 | |
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12 custody | |
n.监护,照看,羁押,拘留 | |
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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) | |
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14 essentially | |
adv.本质上,实质上,基本上 | |
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15 testimony | |
n.证词;见证,证明 | |
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16 investigation | |
n.调查,调查研究 | |
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