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Pellerin family attorneys file motion against temporary restraining order for body cam footage, officer identities

Trayford Pellerin
Posted at 3:47 PM, Sep 11, 2020
and last updated 2020-09-11 17:20:57-04

LAFAYETTE, La. — The attorneys representing the family of Trayford Pellerin who was fatally shot by Lafayette Police Department officers in August have filed a motion against a temporary restraining order that would prevent the release of body cam footage and the identities of the officers involved.

The temporary restraining order (TRO) was filed Tuesday by the counsel for the individual officers involved in the incident and prohibits the release of information related to the shooting death of Pellerin and the identities of the officers involved.

In the motion filed Friday, the family's attorneys ask that the family be allowed to intervene in the TRO hearing.

The family's attorneys state that the TRO was filed immediately after Mayor-President Josh Guillory requested that 15th Judicial District Attorney Keith Stutes allow a private viewing of the body cam footage to the Pellerin family while obscuring the identities of the officers involved.

The family's attorneys argue that if the TRO becomes a permanent protective order, then the court will effectively enable the "cops and prosecutors to hide—into perpetuity—all the evidence of Trayford Pellerin’s killing."

"Ultimately, the police will be trusted to police themselves," the motion states. "No transparency to the Lafayette community, no transparency to the media, and worst of all, no transparency to the Pellerin family."

The motion also criticizes the argument from the officers' counsel that releasing the autopsy report and body cam footage would “impair the integrity of the
ongoing investigations and anticipated civil litigation.”

"The suggestion that disclosing evidence would undermine the integrity of civil litigation is akin to saying oxygen undermines the integrity of water," states the motion.

A hearing on the TRO and the motion to intervene over the body cam footage and the officers' identities is set for Tuesday, Sept. 15 at 10 a.m. at the Lafayette Parish Courthouse.

You can read the full motion here.

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