A coalition of media organizations joined Axios this week in petitioning for the release of body and dash cam footage that may shed light on a North Carolina state trooper’s involvement in a fatal Raleigh crash last year.
Why it matters: The filing comes after questions have mounted about the trooper’s role in the October crash, which law enforcement said at the time involved only one car driven by 31-year-old Tyrone Mason.
- The trooper, Garrett Macario, was reportedly first on the scene.
What they’re saying: “This process, led by the North Carolina State Troopers, has been shroud in a lack of transparency, to say the least,” Bakari Sellers, a well-known civil rights attorney representing Mason’s mother, Henrietta Mason, told Axios last month.
- Mason is also being represented by national civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who joined Sellers and the Mason family in a press conference about the case last month.
Driving the news: A judge on Wednesday ordered the Raleigh Police Department and State Highway Patrol to produce video footage and other recordings related to the crash by May 8 for confidential review.
- The order follows a petition from Axios, WRAL, The News & Observer, WTVD, WUNC, Indy Week and The Assembly.
- A hearing in the case is scheduled for May 16.
Between the lines: Body and dash cam footage is restricted from public access in North Carolina unless a court orders its release…