The city’s Police Advisory Commission this week agreed unanimously to seek information from the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office about the possible existence of a 911 transcript in the Nizah Morris case.
Morris was a transwoman found with a fatal head wound shortly after receiving a courtesy ride from Philadelphia police. She died two days later, on Dec. 24, 2002, from complications of a fractured skull.
The homicide remains unsolved.
In May, the PAC subpoenaed the D.A.’s office for all of its Morris records.
The D.A.’s office declined to comply with the subpoena, but a compromise was reached allowing the PAC to view a Morris file at the D.A.’s office Oct. 5, and to tag records for photocopying.
No 911 tape or transcript was shown to the PAC during the onsite review.
The PAC questioned the lack of a 911 tape or transcript in the file, and received two emails from the D.A.’s office indicating that it doesn’t have any.
The emails were brought up at the PAC’s Nov. 21 meeting, but copies weren’t made public.
The emails appear to contradict a legal brief filed by the D.A.’s office in November 2010 referring to a 911 transcript in its possession. The brief was filed in response to PGN’s Right-to-Know Law request for Morris 911 recordings, which remains pending in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court.
“[The D.A’.s Office] states that it has no tapes in this matter and that [PGN] has all Philadelphia Police Department transcripts/radio room transmissions that are in the possession of the D.A.’s Office,” the brief states. “The D.A.’s Office is providing this information in this case only and will not view this disclosure, for any reason, as binding on any other matter and/or request presented to the D.A.’s Office in the future.”
PGN has no 911 transcript in the Morris case, thus the statement remains unclear.
Chuck Volz, an openly gay PAC member, said it’s important to reconcile the emails with the legal brief.
“This is probably just a matter of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing,” Volz said. “But it’s a loose end that needs to be tied up. So many problems have plagued the Nizah Morris case. If we can resolve this discrepancy, it’s well worth the effort.”
Volz said he wasn’t disputing the accuracy of the emails, but wants to know why a 911 transcript was referred to in the legal brief a year ago.
PAC member Ronda B. Goldfein said clarity is needed before the PAC can conclude its investigation of possible police misconduct, as alleged in a PAC complaint filed by Morris’ mother in 2003.
PAC attorney Virginia A. Chentis said she would seek clarification from Todd M. Mosser, chief of the D.A.’s litigation unit — who wrote the emails but didn’t write the 2010 legal brief.
At press time, Tasha Jamerson, a spokesperson for D.A. Seth Williams, couldn’t be reached for comment on whether the D.A.’s office would clarify the matter.
In 2003, the Philadelphia Police Department released a cassette tape of Morris 911 recordings. But computerized dispatch records released in 2006 indicate that numerous recordings are missing from the tape.
For example, dispatch records indicate a 911 recording was made by police at 3:16 a.m. — during the critical period between 3:13-3:25 a.m. when Morris was injured — but the recording wasn’t on the tape.
Because the police department lost its Morris homicide file in 2003, the city Law Department is under a court order to ensure that the file is properly reconstituted.
Police located the missing Morris file earlier this year, but it doesn’t contain a 911 tape or transcript.
This week, Deputy City Solicitor Joshua M.P. Stein said he couldn’t account for the 911 transcript referred to in the 2010 legal brief. He also said the Law Department has decided against seeking the transcript, if it exists.
“It is the opinion of the Law Department that the city has fulfilled all obligations under the [court order],” Stein said, in an email.
So far, the PAC has recieved none of the D.A.’s Morris records tagged for photocopying, but they’re expected to be received shortly, PAC members said.
Those records include confidential interviews with a sergeant and three officers involved in the Morris incident, along with several interviews with civilian witnesses that haven’t been made public.
The PAC’s next meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Dec. 19 at the McVeigh Recreation Center, 400 E. Ontario St. in the Frankford section.