By Pam Easton, The Associated Press
HOUSTON (AP) - The Houston Chronicle has sued Harris County Sheriff Tommy Thomas, asking that a judge require him to release the autopsy report of a man who was shot and killed by a sheriff’s deputy during a May traffic stop.
In the lawsuit filed by attorney Joe Larsen, the newspaper also asks state District Judge Elizabeth Ray to declare that autopsy reports and photographs of people who die in police custody are “not subject to any exception to the Public Information Act.”
Larsen said Wednesday that a copy of the lawsuit had been forwarded to the sheriff.
The sheriff’s department, which contends that release of the autopsy report would hinder its investigation of the shooting, had no immediate comment on the lawsuit. Spokesman Robert Van Pelt said the sheriff had not seen it.
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott’s office earlier ruled the sheriff’s department did not have to release the report because the shooting was being investigated.
The newspaper claims the Texas Public Information Act and the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure make autopsy reports “expressly public” and “not subject to any exception to release.” Further, the Chronicle argues that the attorney general’s ruling “provides no ... analysis on the legal issues presented and is therefore entitled to no weight before this court.”
The autopsy report concerns Hiji Harrison, who was fatally shot by Harris County Sheriff’s Deputy William Wilkinson May 16 after being stopped for speeding.
Wilkinson told investigators that Harrison fought with him and tried to take the deputy’s gun from its holster as Wilkinson attempted to handcuff Harrison.
Van Pelt said Wilkinson was placed on administrative duty during a review of the shooting and underwent mandatory counseling. He has since been returned to regular duty.
The newspaper first requested the autopsy report June 30. Thomas sought the attorney general’s opinion July 2.
The Chronicle filed its lawsuit Aug. 23, after the attorney general’s ruling supporting the sheriff.
Harrison was the second suspect shot by Wilkinson in two weeks.
The first shooting occurred May 7, Van Pelt said, while Wilkinson was working as a security guard at a store. Witnesses told authorities that Wilkinson fired at the car of a theft suspect as it sped toward him. The suspect was hit in the shoulder and survived.