Judge orders city to give up full video in case of Iowa mom killed by cop

Jason Clayworth | The Des Moines Register

Show Caption Hide Caption Video: Burlington officer fatally shoots woman From 2015: Burlington police officer Jesse Hill, responding to a report of a domestic fight, fired his weapon at a growling family dog and inadvertently hit and killed 34-year-old Autumn Steele.

A federal judge has ordered Iowa to release video and other records in the 2015 police shooting death of Burlington mother Autumn Steele, a ruling that could open more law enforcement video to public inspection.

Burlington Police officer Jesse Hill accidentally shot Steele after he responded to a report of a domestic dispute during which he said an aggressive dog attacked him.

Hill slipped on ice when the weapon fired and shot Steele, who was standing next to her toddler.

Authorities released abbreviated footage of the shooting from Hill's body camera.

But for more than three years, and despite the request of Steele's family, the city of Burlington and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation has blocked public release of other records in the case, including the entire police video of the incident.

Hill was never disciplined in the shooting, partly because of his report that he was being attacked by the family dog. That account has been challenged by the family, who say records and video do not support Hill's claim.

The case is seen by some open-records experts as a litmus test concerning police powers, specifically about whether Iowa law enforcement may suppress from the public unflattering footage captured by police dashboard or body cameras.

Previously: 3 years and $2 million later, Burlington police shooting of mother still shrouded in secrecy

Autumn Steele's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit in federal court, which they settled this year for $2 million.

On Tuesday, Judge James Gritzner of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, ordered that many of the contested records in the case be released.

Gritzner said the balance of interest between the common-law right of access and the benefits of maintaining confidentiality tip in favor of unsealing the records.

A long-running case before the Iowa Public Information Board also continues seeking access to the records.

Gritzner’s ruling arose from litigation filed by the Iowa Freedom of Information Council, a nonprofit group based in Des Moines that estimates it spent more than $10,000 pursuing the case.

The Iowa Public Information Board has fielded multiple complaints in the past four years from citizens who accused law enforcement of illegally withholding footage. The Des Moines Register filed a lawsuit and ultimately obtained the footage in one case where a man died after being tased by Worth County deputies; and — in the past two months — Ankeny Police have refused to release video of an officer accused of triggering a crash.

“From a public accountability standpoint, this is a significant decision,” Freedom of Information Council Executive Director Randy Evans said of Tuesday's ruling in the Burlington case. “I think this will finally allow the public to know what really went on.”

Gritzner gave Burlington officials two weeks to redact information such as Social Security numbers and to make the records available to the public.

State officials previously released 12 seconds of the video, which the family has said does not provide the public context into the shooting.

City officials did not respond Tuesday for comment.

The family will openly discuss the facts and how "Burlington sought to cover up the wrongful conduct" of Hill when the records are released, Dave O'Brien, a Cedar Rapids attorney who represents the family in the wrongful death lawsuit, said Tuesday.

"The Steele family is gratified by the court’s order releasing these records that support their long-held belief that Defendant Jesse Hill literally got away with murder in shooting and killing Autumn Steele," O'Brien said.