The state Office of Open Records last week ordered the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office to release dispatch records in the Nizah Morris case.
In June, PGN filed an open-records request, seeking all complete dispatch records in the D.A.’s possession for a vehicle stop by Officer Elizabeth Skala during the early-morning hours of Dec. 22, 2002.
Shortly before the vehicle stop, Skala gave Morris a Center City “courtesy ride.” Minutes after the ride, the transwoman was found with blunt-force trauma to her head.
She died two days later, and her homicide remains unsolved.
The D.A.’s Office says it’s actively investigating the Morris case. But advocates for Morris say the agency is engaged in a cover-up. They want state Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane to investigate. But so far, Kane hasn’t agreed to do so.
Skala’s vehicle stop took place while she was still assigned to handle Morris, who was extremely inebriated.
Skala ticketed a motorist at 13th and Filbert streets rather than responding to Morris, who was critically injured at 16th and Walnut streets.
It’s believed that complete dispatch records for Skala’s vehicle stop could help explain why Morris wasn’t promptly transported to a hospital.
By the time she was taken to a hospital — an hour after the first 91l call — Morris was brain dead.
The D.A.’s Office indicated to the open-records office that a document provided to PGN by the city’s Police Advisory Commission is a complete dispatch record for Skala’s vehicle stop.
But PGN argued that the PAC document is clearly redacted and missing several entries. Additionally, the D.A.’s Office hasn’t explicitly stated that the document pertains to Skala’s vehicle stop.
On Oct. 1, the open-records office ordered the D.A.’s Office to release the document by Oct. 31.
As of presstime, the agency hadn’t released the PAC document.
The PAC document actually contains three separate dispatch records, none of which appears to be a complete dispatch record for Skala’s vehicle stop.
Melissa B. Melewsky, media-law counsel for the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association, said the D.A.’s Office should clarify which record in the document is a complete dispatch record for Skala’s vehicle stop.
“The Right-to-Know Law is intended to allow citizens to understand and scrutinize government actions via public records,” Melewsky told PGN. “Agencies must provide public records in accordance with the letter and spirit of the law. If an agency doesn’t provide or identify responsive records, the intent of the law is frustrated because the public cannot determine which records contain relevant information. Providing unidentified or non-specific records does not allow meaningful review or accountability.”
Last year, the PAC recommended state and federal probes of the Morris case, citing an “appalling” local investigation.
The next Justice for Nizah (J4N) meeting will be held 6 p.m. Oct. 20 at the William Way LGBT Community Center, 1315 Spruce St.