The video is clear and in color.

James T. Daniels was in the chow hall of a Delaware correctional facility when he collapsed. The 40-year-old was unresponsive, but no one called 911 until he lost his pulse, state records state. He died about an hour later.

As the minutes ticked by, the video shows correctional officers standing over Daniels. It took nearly 10 minutes for a nurse to arrive, which an officer later said seemed "like forever."

The video shows the nurse taking her time walking to the patient and leaving the room twice. A hearing officer later called the medical response "egregious" and "incompetent."

Whether the medical response lacked urgency or raises other issues is a matter of opinion — an opinion that Delaware officials apparently don't want citizens to form. The state won't allow the video to be shared with the public.

"We have a right to monitor how our prisons are being operated," said John Flaherty, a director for the Delaware Coalition for Open Government. "By not releasing the video, it seems they’re trying to perpetuate a cover-up to deny what has happened here and prevent the public from taking corrective action to make sure this doesn’t happen in the future."

The Department of State said on Thursday it is denying a News Journal request to copy and publish the video. That denial came despite the fact that the footage was shown at a public hearing in 2017. The state also allowed a News Journal reporter to view the video last week.

"According to counsel, the video does not provide information that furthers insight to the workings of government and depicts a dying patient victim whose identity we cannot protect from subsequent dissemination," state department spokesman Doug Denison wrote.

The News Journal reported Daniels' identity last month.

Denison cited an attorney general opinion from 2017 that he interprets to mean that where a Freedom of Information Act request "does not seek information pertaining to the operation of a public body, and is clearly targeted toward furthering the requestor’s commercial interest, the balance of equity weighs in favor of non-disclosure."

The video shows the conduct of publicly employed correctional officers and a nurse, a state contractor with Connections Community Support Programs which receives about $60 million a year to manage correctional healthcare.

The event took place at a government facility, the Sussex Community Corrections Center.

"Taxpayers are paying the COs and medical people in the video," said Dover attorney Stephen Hampton, who is currently suing the Department of Correction. "Shouldn’t we have a right to see how our money is being spent?"

The News Journal plans to appeal the denial. The Delaware Freedom of Information Act states public records must be available to view and copy.

"All public records shall be open to inspection and copying during regular business hours by the custodian of the records for the appropriate public body," the law states. "Reasonable access to and reasonable facilities for copying of these records shall not be denied to any citizen."

In his response, Denison said "unfortunately" the state was unable to copy the video to "redact, or blur out, this victim and other persons depicted in the video to protect their privacy and integrity." But a reporter was able to see the unedited footage.

Flaherty said if the state allows one person to see the full video, it needs to allow access to everyone.

"There is no reason why the state of Delaware should not be willing to throw sunshine on a very difficult and contentious issue as corrections, particularly when you have contractors coming in," Flaherty said.

"To me, they’re embarrassed by what happened, and embarrassment is not an official reason to deny the public access to documents, or in this case, video."

Contact investigative reporter Christina Jedra at (302) 324-2837, cjedra@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @ChristinaJedra.

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