BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) — A judge has denied requests from the Burlington Police Department and Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation to reject efforts to obtain the records of a fatal police shooting.
The Hawk Eye reports that Administrative Law Judge Karen Doland ruled that an April hearing will be held as scheduled to determine whether the two agencies should release the records and videos related to the shooting.
Burlington officer Jesse Hill accidentally shot 34-year-old Autumn Steele in January 2015 while responding to a fight between Steele and her husband. The newspaper and Steele's family want to see investigative files related to the shooting, but the two law enforcement agencies say the records are investigative and thus don't have to be released.
The judge ordered that the hearing will be held April 19.
Steele's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the department in November, 2016.