City officials are refusing to publicly release body-worn camera footage of a scuffle between police and Rochester’s former anti-violence coordinator Anthony Hall, claiming it would interfere with the criminal case against him.
Hall was arrested in early January, after he allegedly caused an injury to an officer during the arrest. The altercation happened after officers responded to a domestic issue at a house on East Main Street.
WXXI News requested officers’ on-scene video in early January and was denied earlier this month. Lawyer Elliot Shields, who represents Hall in separate litigation involving RPD, made a similar request and was denied as well. Shields sued the city on Monday in Monroe County Supreme Court, arguing the city is violating New York’s open records law.
The city’s denial sent to WXXI News stated that release of the video could result in “jury-tampering.” The responses to both WXXI News and Shields cited the same public officers' law, which states denials are valid if the release would “interfere with law enforcement investigations or judicial proceedings.”
Shields, a prolific filer of complaints against the Rochester Police Department, has represented Hall in civil litigation against the city, including in an ongoing federal complaint alleging police brutality during the social justice protests of 2020 and 2021.
"The city has a long history of asserting frivolous, unlawful denials that run contrary to FOIL’s (Freedom of Information Law's) principles of transparency and accountability," the lawsuit states.
That is particularly true in high-profile cases, Shields said in an interview, adding: “I think that the city has demonstrated that it would rather violate FOIL and then pay attorney’s fees, because that leads to a delay of the release of these public records.”
His complaint also argues the city’s narrative on Hall’s actions during his arrest are misleading, and he claims that the injured officer suffered a “boxers’ injury” to his hand after punching Hall in the head.
WXXI obtained a bystander's cellphone video of the interaction between Hall and police after the original publication of this story. That video is posted below. In response to follow-up questions, an RPD spokesperson reiterated the city's stance to not release the officers' body-worn camera video while asserting that the cell phone video lacks context and asking the public to "have patience and reserve judgement until all information can be publicly released."
Shields’ complaint cites a number of his own cases in which the city had denied requests for body-worn camera footage, lost in court when those denials were challenged, and was ordered to pay attorney fees.
The most high-profile among those was a complaint filed in September 2020 objecting to the denial of the release of all body-worn camera footage and communications surrounding the death of Daniel Prude. Prude died in March 2020 after being restrained by Rochester police officers while experiencing a mental health crisis.
The city lost that case, and was ordered to release the video and communications, as well as pay Shields nearly $50,000.
Last week, the city also lost another case in regard to the release of police disciplinary records via FOIL. That case was brought by the New York Civil Liberties Union, and was taken up by the state Appellate Court, the highest court in the state. The court determined the city was obligated to release those records, and could only offer denials for specific, case-by-case, reasons.
Shields’s complaint argues that the city’s denial out of concern for litigation of Hall’s criminal case is erroneous.
“The city’s contention that disclosing these materials ‘to the public’ somehow violates the legislative timing of criminal discovery misunderstands FOIL’s core function,” the complaint reads. “FOIL is not limited to litigants or criminal defendants; it is a broad-based transparency statute. The City cannot brandish the specter of ‘grand jury’ or ‘criminal discovery’ concerns to categorically withhold records which ... would have already been produced or ordered produced to the defense.”
A spokesperson for the city of Rochester said the city has not yet been served the complaint. The city also does not typically comment on ongoing litigation. Hall is being represented by the Monroe County Public Defender’s Office in the criminal case. A message left with the office was not immediately returned.
The city’s position on not releasing public records related to litigation echoes a legal opinion provided by District Attorney Sandra Doorley to the city law department last year. That guidance sought to solidify policy in relation to the release of records to the Police Accountability Board, a city agency.
The letter argued the city should not release any records related to any ongoing criminal matter, even post-conviction, and that Doorley’s office would “not consent to the release of any information related to an active criminal case or investigation.”
Hall’s next court date is March 3. He faces up to seven years in prison.
