Police Won't Release Audio Tape of Cedric Benson's Arrest
Posted May 21st 2008 10:50AM by
Josh Alper
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The Lower Colorado River Authority and Travis County Attorney's Office have announced that they will not release the audio tape of
Cedric Benson's arrest on May 3rd. Benson was arrested on charges of boating while intoxicated and resisting arrest and has charged that the police mistreated him during the incident.
KXAN, an Austin television station, issued a request for records associated with the case and were told that an audio tape existed. Their request for a copy of it was denied by the county and their denial was reinforced by a ruling from the Texas Attorney General.
Assistant county attorney Daniel Bradford says their decision to withhold this audio "is based on the public's desire to protect the integrity of the county's investigations into and prosecution of crime."
My first reaction to this was thinking the public would also be interested in knowing whether or not the police are treating people badly during arrests. I think there's some questions about integrity that need to be answered there, especially since there was no delay in releasing a police report characterizing Benson as hostile.
If this is going to be used as evidence at a trial, though, I suppose there would be some issues about what potential jurors might hear about the case. I'd think the same thing about the police report, though, and, again, that's public. The next court date is set for June 30th.