The CEO and Editor-in-Chief of The Star News Network, which owns and operates The Tennessee Star, Thursday filed an open records request with the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD), seeking the release of a toxicology report conducted at the autopsy Audrey Elizabeth Hale, the person who shot and killed six people at The Covenant School a month ago.
Hale identified as transgender. A toxicology report done concurrent to her autopsy would identify what, if any, drugs were in the killer’s system at the time of the mass shooting.
Leahy wrote in his open records request:
The Tennessee Public Records Act (TPRA) grants Tennessee citizens the right to access open public records.
As a Tennessee citizen and CEO of Star News Digital Media, Inc., a national news organization headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee and the operator of The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network news websites, I am officially requesting to both inspect and copy the autopsy report of Audrey Elizabeth Hale and the toxicology report from that autopsy. Audrey Elizabeth Hall was killed by Metro Nashville Police Department officers on March 27, 2023, moments after she murdered six people at Covenant Presbyterian School.
I agree to pay copying and duplication costs in an amount not to exceed $500.
I request to inspect all these documents at the locations in Nashville where they are held by the Metro Nashville Police Department, and I will pick up the copies at the offices of Metro Nashville Police Department in Nashville.
Please provide these copies for my pick up within the seven days from today you are required to respond by law.
Earlier this week, MNPD rejected an open records request from Leahy seeking the contents of Hale’s manifesto and other writings, which were confirmed the day after the shooting to have been left behind by Hale.
Deborah Fisher, the Executive Director of Tennessee Coalition for Open Government (TCOG) told The Tennessee Star Thursday that MNPD is potentially misusing Rule 16, which bars police from commenting on ongoing criminal investigations, to delay the release of the manifesto.
“Essentially, my understanding is that when the investigation is over is when you decide you’re not charging anybody,” she said. “As far as I know, there is nothing that would lead you to believe that they’re looking at another suspect, or looking at another crime.” She noted that it is her understanding that Rule 16 does not apply to either a toxicology report or an autopsy report.
Fisher said she has seen Rule 16 used as a way to delay releasing public information before.
“I don’t think the Rule 16 holds up unless they have another suspect, or another crime that they’re thinking of charging someone with,” she said.
The TCOG executive said police have given no indication that there are other suspects or other crimes under investigation, and she is unsure why MNPD is delaying.
MNPD is working in conjunction with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to examine the manifesto.
Multiple queries to those agencies regarding the status of the examination by The Star have proven fruitless.
Meanwhile, several lawmakers and other elected officials, along with private entities, have turned the heat up on MNPD, demanding the release of the document before the state legislature’s upcoming special session, which will focus on gun control.
Lawmakers say it is critical that they understand Hale’s motive before they make any decisions about gun control.
State Sen. Todd Gardenhire (R-Chattanooga) is one of those lawmakers.
He said, “[g]iving an indication of Republican lawmakers’ resistance to passing gun control reform, whether in a special session or in the just-completed regular session, Gardenhire said Gov. Bill Lee ‘should know better than to rush a special session under these circumstances.'”
U.S. Rep. Jeremy Faison (R-TN-11) echoed that sentiment.
“Audrey Hale murdered 6 Christians, and many Tennesseans are demanding that their state legislature ‘do something,’” Faison said Tuesday on Twitter. “We cannot possibly address this horrific situation until we know what was in her manifesto. I am calling on the Metropolitan Nashville Police Deparment [sic] & the FBI to immediately release this document so we can examine it, then take the appropriate steps.”
Gov. Bill Lee called the special session with the intention to pressure the legislature into passing what he calls “order of protection” laws, which are commonly known as red flag laws.
House Republicans have described any type of red flag laws as a “non-starter.”
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter.
