Judge properly published videos from a fatal crash

Raleigh, NC – A judge in Wake County ordered the North Carolina State Highway Patrol to publish all recordings associated with a fatal October accident in Raleigh.

The Dash and Body Cam video of the responding state troops and other officers on site will be made available for the access of the media in early October to show the public what the night mason happened. The hearing on Friday took place after a jointly submitted media petition.

During a virtual hearing, the lawyers argued whether these videos should be published and whether this could affect the ongoing internal examination of the Highway Patrol.

Joseph Vellon represented the Highway Patrol on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

“When we talk about film material that capture the circumstances of potential crimes and potential misconduct, the release that the public has an indirect effect and put pressure on the decision -makers in different types of procedures,” said Vellon.

Mike Tadych, a media lawyer, said the argument had no earnings.

“If a picture is worth more than a thousand words, recorded video and audio in the area of ​​transparency and accountability has even greater,” said Tadych.

The judge's decision could lead to more answers and transparency in a case that already led to a dismissal of around 180 other cases in Wake County by district prosecutor Lorrin Freeman.

Freeman spoke in detail why these cases were released.

“Every time we have questions about the credibility of an official, it is alarming and worrying,” she said. “We will not prepare cases in which we have reason to distrust what could be behind them.”

At the center of the case are the answering officer, Trooper Garrett Macario and his supervisor SGT. Matthew Morrison.

The investigators said Macario tried to stop Mason before the fatal crash on Capital Boulevard in October.

However, documents show that Macario Morrison called after the crash and Morrison Macario advised not to say Raleigh police officers on site that he tried to stop Mason.

Instead, Macario said that according to arrest warrants, he only drove on the wreck.

Henrietta Mason, Tyrone Mason's mother, spoke in March about how the case developed and called for transparency in treating the case.

“I born my baby into this world. I never thought that my baby would leave this world in front of me,” she said.

Macario and Morrison have had administrative leave for several months.

Tadych said that the judge had the publication of this film material until next week.

“Today's decision is a victory for justice and proves what we have always believed,” said lawyers for Mason's family.