By Ryan Boetel
Albuquerque Journal
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A federal court judge unsealed video evidence used against Davon Lymon at trial and said the materials can be released next week.
U.S. District Court Judge Christina Armijo announced the ruling Monday morning.
She said the portion of Albuquerque police officer Daniel Webster’s lapel camera video that was played during trial, and three other videos that prosecutors used against Lymon, can be released to the public. She said they can be released at noon next Monday.
Michelle Carlino-Webster, the widow, has asked that the videos remain sealed. She said in a court affidavit that releasing the videos would hurt her family and her deceased husband’s legacy.
The Journal and other local media outlets intervened in the case and said the videos shouldn’t be sealed, as they were played in open court last month and used to obtain a conviction. Lymon is facing up to 10 years in prison after being found guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Armijo ruled that the portions of the lapel video that weren’t used in trial, which show Webster calling for help and losing consciousness, will not be released.
Alexandra Freedman Smith, Carlino-Webster’s attorney, said her client was glad the images of her husband’s death won’t be released but was disappointed the judge unsealed some of the videos.
Police had accused Lymon of fatally shooting Webster during a traffic stop in October 2015. Lymon has been in custody since the shooting on federal firearms and drug trafficking charges.
But an arrest warrant on murder charges in state court wasn’t issued until last month, more than a year after the shooting.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted the federal firearms case, had filed a motion seeking the videos to be unsealed.
U.S. Attorney Damon Martinez said in a letter on Saturday that the office will release the materials to the media if asked.