The City Law Department last week denied PGN’s request to review the complete Police Internal Affairs Division’s investigation file relating to the Nizah Morris incident
In an Aug. 29 letter, city attorney Katharine L. Janoski said the file is composed of investigative records that render it off-limits to the public.
“As investigatory records, among other things, they are exempt from disclosure under the Right-to-Know Law,” her letter states.
Morris was a local transgender woman who became a homicide victim in 2002, shortly after entering a police vehicle for a “courtesy ride.”
The Morris case remains unsolved.
Typically, an IAD file is available to the public once the IAD probe ends. If the incident involves a homicide, the police-homicide file isn’t available to the public.
In the Morris case, the reverse is true. The entire Morris police-homicide file has been released to the public, yet the Morris IAD file continues to be withheld.
PGN is reviewing its legal options to gain access to the Morris IAD file.
The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office says it’s actively investigating the Morris homicide.
But members of the Justice for Nizah (J4N) committee say local authorities appear to be engaged in a cover-up, rather than an active investigation. They want state Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane to review the case. But so far, Kane hasn’t agreed to do so.
In the past, Mayor Nutter expressed a commitment to “transparency” in the Morris case. Nutter couldn’t be reached for comment for this story.
Earlier this year, N. Melville Jones, an openly gay Philadelphia police officer, also sought a court order for the city to release a copy of the Morris IAD file. Jones is suing the city for pervasive anti-LGBT bias within the police department and sought the Morris file to bolster his case that police don’t properly investigate allegations of wrongdoing by police against the LGBT community.
“The requested files are supposed to be open to public review, and are not considered private and/or privileged,” Jones stated in a court filing.
Jones also cited an executive order issued by Mayor Nutter in 2011, stating that IAD investigation files are to be released in their entirety after the IAD probe ends.
Before Common Pleas Judge Idee C. Fox could rule on Jones’ request, the city provided him with a copy of the Morris IAD file.
But Jones’ attorneys decline to release a copy of the Morris IAD file to PGN, citing the pending nature of Jones’ litigation.
According to documents at the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, Sgt. Michael Dougherty said he gave permission for the Morris courtesy ride.
Dougherty also reportedly told the D.A.’s Office he visited Jefferson University Hospital while Morris was still alive but on a life-support machine. The sergeant’s statements weren’t included in the portion of the IAD file released to PGN in 2008.
The city’s Police Advisory Commission also wasn’t aware of Doughery’s statements until 2009, when it reopened its Morris probe and reviewed Morris files at the D.A.’s Office.
A nondisclosure agreement between the PAC and the D.A.’s Office prevents the D.A.’s Morris files from being released to the public.
On April 1, D.A. Seth Williams said he would consider a request to lift the non-disclosure agreement. But at presstime, the agreement remained in effect.
The next meeting of the J4N committee is scheduled for 6 p.m. Oct. 27 at the William Way Community Center, 1315 Spruce Street.