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Bristol County DA withdraws motion to dismiss Harden public records lawsuit, explains why
The Bristol County District Attorney’s Office has withdrawn its motion to dismiss a public records lawsuit as both sides issue statements.
Erik Mack, the brother of Anthony Harden who died after an officer involved shooting in Fall River, released a statement on behalf of his family after Thursday’s proceedings.
“Today, we prevailed in court and D.A. Quinn withdrew his motion to dismiss because it was baseless. The reason he withdrew the motion is because what he and his office have done – and continue to attempt to do – is a blatant violation of the law. The law clearly entitles us to the information we have sought and D.A. Quinn’s refusal to provide us with the information is against the law.”
Bristol County District Attorney spokesperson Gregg Miliote stated that the assertion that the Harden family “prevailed” is not accurate.
“The motion to dismiss was withdrawn because we have now finalized our investigation, released a detailed final report and released a massive amount of public records. The release of records included audio recordings, video recordings, photographs, reports from the state police lab, as well as all existing Fall River Police and Massachusetts State Police reports associated with this case. These records have also been made available to all members of the public to view.
“Because of the release of all this information, our motion to dismiss is no longer applicable. We filed the motion at a time when the investigation was still open due to the premature filing of a lawsuit by the plaintiff. The case was continued today by the court to June 22nd for status. Any claim by the plaintiff that they “prevailed” in court today is inaccurate.”
With the release of the information last Friday, Mack took exception to information in the report that highlighted previous incidents involving Harden that led up to the shooting.
“On Friday, D.A. Quinn released information that was purportedly in response to our public records request. However, this was not a good-faith attempt to work with me and my family by providing us with the information we requested. Rather, it was an attempt to humiliate my brother by providing information related to an incident that occurred more than two years ago under the guise of providing the information we requested.”
Mack feels more information should still be released related to his brother’s death including interviews from the investigation and stated that his family will “continue our pursuit of the truth about our brother’s death.”
Miliote stated that “our sympathies continue to go out to the Harden family for their tragic loss.”
Eric Mack
April 9, 2022 at 4:50 am
The DA immediately withdrew the motion at the beginning of the hearing because he was going to lose. The motion was not “moot” – it was inappropriate from the beginning because the case law says what they were doing was illegal. To quit before the actual game starts and then argue you did not lose absurd. I got the exact outcome I desired and they got nothing. Where I come from, I won and they lost. This is political spin at its finest!
Eric Mack
April 9, 2022 at 7:11 am
The DA withdrew their motion because they were going to lose. The law was completely clear that the motion was inappropriate – either before or after they produced information. The motion was not “moot” because they provided information. Furthermore, my lawsuit was not premature. I could have filed my lawsuit the day my brother was shot. There is no blanket investigatory exemption for the production of public information. To quit before the game actually starts to save face and then argue “well, technically, we didn’t lose” is absurd.