Naples Daily News by Brett Murphy

March 5, 2018

Prosecutors asked a Florida judge Monday to deny media outlets the surveillance videos showing how deputies responded to a Broward County high school shooting that killed 17.

The media organizations — including the USA TODAY NETWORK – FLORIDA, The New York Times, The Miami Herald, CNN and the Sun-Sentinel — argued in a petition last week that the footage should be released because of overwhelming public interest.

The USA TODAY NETWORK – FLORIDA includes the Naples Daily News, the (Fort Myers) News-Press, the Pensacola News Journal, Florida Today, the Tallahassee Democrat, and Treasure Coast Newspapers.

The video will allow people to consider “whether a different course of action may have lessened or averted the tragic outcome,” the news organizations argued in a petition filed by lawyer Dana J. McElroy, of Thomas & LoCicero in Tampa.

Broward County Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey R. Levenson is expected this week to schedule a hearing in the case.

Reiterating recent responses to media public records requests, the Broward Sheriff’s Office denied in a court filing Monday that the media had a strong enough reason to compel the video’s release because “it is active criminal investigative information that is part of active criminal investigations.”

The Sheriff’s Office also argued the videos may reveal safety information in the school district’s security system.

That position was underscored Monday by State Attorney Michael J. Satz, the Broward County prosecutor whose office is overseeing the criminal case against Nikolas Cruz, the 19-year-old former student charged in the case. [READ MORE]