Covenant School Seeks Intervention in Open Records Lawsuits as Journal and Suicide Note Delivered to Court

Covenant claims release could cause 'safety and security' issues

The Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County Courthouse and City Hall as seen from 2nd Ave. N, on March 29, 2023. Chase Smith/The Epoch Times

An unredacted copy of the journal and suicide note found in the vehicle of Covenant School shooter Audrey Hale was delivered Friday to a Nashville court for review as part of a public records lawsuit, a lawsuit for which the Covenant School is now seeking court approval to intervene in due to the nature of the documents and its relation to the school and associated Covenant Presbyterian Church.

Those documents were delivered on Friday morning to the Metro Nashville Chancery Court, while on Monday, attorneys for the church and school filed the motion to become an intervening party due to “confidential information” pertaining to the church, school, employees, and students contained in the documents the lawsuit seeks to gain access to, according to court records reviewed by The Epoch Times.

The lawsuit that Covenant seeks intervention in was originally two separate cases but was merged by the court due to similar arguments and outcomes.

The suits were filed by individuals alongside the National Police Association (NPA) and Tennessee Firearms Association (TFA), claiming the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) violated open records laws by denying requests to release investigative documents related to the assault on the school.

The delivery of the aforementioned documents to the court Friday came as an order from Chancellor I’Ashea Myles, seeking the documents for her private “in-camera review.”

The unredacted documents were delivered alongside a version with proposed redactions “based on exceptions to the Tennessee Public Records Act,” Wally Dietz, Legal Director for the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson-County, told The Epoch Times in an email.

A Metro Nashville Police car in Nashville, Tenn., in January 2021. Google Maps

Myles ordered Metro to begin delivering “sealed, unredacted copies” of Hale’s writings Friday, which will be discussed on Thursday, May 18, and at a “show cause” hearing scheduled for June 8.

“[MNPD] shall continue to deliver such documents to the chambers of Chancery Court Part III on a rolling basis as Respondent is able to prepare them for the Court’s in-camera review,” Myles wrote. “Counsel for the Respondent shall provide a ‘Counsel Only’ privilege log to counsel for the Petitioners of the documents that the court has in chambers for the in-camera review. Such log shall be updated as documents become ready.”

It is unclear if additional documents will be delivered to the court under seal. The documents being sealed mean they will not yet be available to the press or the public.

Covenant Seeks Intervention

Attorneys for Covenant filed the motions to intervene alongside motions for the court to expedite their request for intervention in the case.

“The Covenant School… [seeks] to intervene in this matter in order to protect its interests relating to the release of records sought in this matter,” attorneys wrote in Monday’s filing. “The records sought … may include and/or relate to sensitive information owned by The Covenant School, including, but not limited to, the schematics of school facilities, and confidential information pertaining to The Covenant School employees and students.”

Covenant argues release of the documents “may impair or impede its ability to protect its interests and the privacy of its employees and students… [and] could cause security and safety issues for the school, its employees and students.”

The expedition request asks the court to consider intervention by the school and church on Thursday, as parties and the court will already be convened for a scheduling conference.

Attorneys for Covenant did not respond to requests for comment regarding whether they sought a full stop of the documents being released or if they sought redactions of personal information relative to the church and school.

An ambulance leaves Covenant School, Covenant Presbyterian Church, in Nashville, Tenn., on March 27, 2023. John Amis/AP Photo

Myles issued an order to grant the expedition and hearing on Tuesday afternoon regarding Covenant’s request to intervene, court records showed.

Metro Supports Intervention

In subsequent court filings, Metro Nashville and the parties seeking the release of the documents responded to Covenant’s motion to intervene.

Metro Nashville said in a filing Tuesday the government “does not oppose the intervention” of the church or school.

“The Metropolitan Government believes these entities have important interests in whether the documents in MNPD’s investigative file are released to the public,” the filing said. “The Metropolitan Government supports their intervention and asks that the Court give them an opportunity to participate in the show cause hearing and consider their interests and arguments.”

The wording in the filing stating that the church and school have an interest in “whether” the files are released to the public is the first time Metro has signaled some of the records could not be released.

In response to a question regarding whether Metro police would go back on previous statements about releasing the documents to the public, Dietz referred The Epoch Times back to the same document the question was raised in.

“Here’s our response to the motions to intervene,” Dietz said in an email Tuesday. “Otherwise, we are not commenting.”

Other Parties Support Limited Intervention

The individual and NPA stated in a filing there was no opposition for Covenant to intervene for the “limited purpose of allowing Covenant Church to claim the specific interest alleged.”

However, attorneys also said their lack of opposition does not indicate they agree that Covenant has “any interest that can be asserted” in the suit against the government under the public records act.

“The only exception to the Public Records Act asserted by [MNPD] in denying [our public records] request was Tennessee Rule of Criminal Procedure 16,” the filing stated. “However, the Criminal Rules of Procedure apply only to ‘criminal proceedings’...and there can be no criminal proceedings if there is no criminal defendant.”

The Tennessee Firearms Association had a lengthier response to Covenant’s intervention request, stating they did not object to the court hearing Covenant’s motions, but they did not find “any basis” for the school or church “to intervene under the Open Records Act.”

“Two private entities, [Covenant Church] and [Covenant School], have filed separate but substantively identical motions to intervene,” TPA’s court filing stated. “Although [we] do not object to hearing the motions to intervene … [we] do object to the motions substantively since they do not indicate any basis for standing by Covenant Church or the Covenant School to intervene under the Open Records Act or other applicable law.”

In this image from video, Audrey Hale points a gun inside the Covenant School in Nashville, Tenn., on March 27, 2023. Nashville Police Department via The Epoch Times

Attorneys further state when a government denies an open records request, the Open Records Act places the burden on the government to justify with “a preponderance of evidence” the reason for not disclosing the records.

“Thus, the posture of this action at this time is for Metro to carry its burden to show cause why any documents in its possession as public records are subject to a specific state law establishing an exemption from disclosure or permitting redaction under the Open Records Act,” TFA wrote in the court filing. “ At this point, Metro has denied production of any public records based on Rule 16… Specifically, Metro has not asserted that ‘any of the police department records were part of a pending, open, or ongoing criminal investigation and therefore exempt from disclosure.'”

Covenant School and Church separately requested to intervene as a matter of right to “protect its interest.”

“Neither Covenant Church nor Covenant School has filed any accompanying pleading as required by Tennessee [law],” court records state. “Neither entity has stated in its motion any reason to demonstrate any statutory or state law basis on which it would have any grounds to object to the disclosure of public records that are or might [be] in the possession of Metro and within the scope of the pending open records requests.”

TFA attorneys go on to say allowing the church and/or school to intervene is “inappropriate.”

Lawsuit Moves Forward

The lawsuits sought all of the documents related to Hale’s March 27 assault on the school which left three nine-year-olds and three adults dead. The original suits were filed by a former sheriff and TPA and a Tennessee resident alongside NPA.

MNPD initially denied the records requests by citing rules and precedent that such records could be denied due to an ongoing criminal prosecution. However, as the requesters stated in the suit, there is no ongoing criminal prosecution as Hale, the only suspect named by police, was killed at the scene of her assault on The Covenant Christian school on March 27.

The home of the Nashville Christian School shooter sits quietly in its south Nashville neighborhood on Thursday, March 31, days after police agencies raided the home following Monday’s shooting. Chase Smith/The Epoch Times

“Since [the event], the actions of the Metro Police Department officers have been correctly characterized as commendable and heroic, and no one has suggested that these officers engaged in any criminal activity in their response to the incident,” the NPA said in their suit. “There is no criminal prosecution concerning the Covenant School incident, and despite extensive media coverage, including interviews of public officials, no one has suggested that there will be any criminal prosecution because of the incident.”

A statement by MNPD released on Twitter last week stated that the public release of the documents was being delayed as a direct result of the lawsuits. An agency spokeswoman stated MNPD would delay the release of writings until the court weighed in.

MNPD said in an interview with The Epoch Times in late April that Hale’s writings were being readied for public release.

“We are in the process of going through the writings so that they can and will be released publicly,” MNPD Public Affairs Officer Kristin Mumford told The Epoch Times on April 28. “The FBI is assisting because they have the expertise in this area, but we are the lead, and the release will come through us.”

Mumford said at the time, there wasn’t a timeline for the release of the writings, but the review period was for redactions to be made if necessary.

Following MNPD’s Tweet using the lawsuits as its new reason for denying the release of records, the Tennessee resident, alongside NPA, filed an amended complaint with the court on Friday, saying their use of the lawsuit as a reason to delay was improper.

Audrey Hale in an undated image. Nashville Police Department via The Epoch Times

“This statement constitutes an admission that its Rule 16 basis for denial is invalid because there would be no reason to assert this excuse to deny access if the Rule 16 excuse was valid,” attorneys wrote. “This statement also sets forth a completely invalid reason to deny access under the Public Records Act. This statement presents the ultimate ‘Catch-22’ position that a records requester can sue to obtain records, but the very act of filing such a suit acts as an exception to the Public Records Act.”

NPA continued by stating the lawsuit is “not an exception” to public records laws that would “allow a records custodian to deny access to the requested records.”