The Colorado Supreme Court today agreed with The Denver Post that items seized from the homes of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold are criminal justice records, which clears the way for their release if Jefferson County Sheriff Ted Mink determines the release would benefit the public.
The Denver Post is seeking notes written by Wayne Harris about his son Eric and Dylan Klebold; medical records of the teenagers; the audio and videotapes they made; and their writings, including school papers, notations in the Columbine yearbook and the diaries.
Release of the items was strongly opposed by the Harris and Klebold families and by Mink, who must now decide whether to release the records.
If Mink refuses to release some or all the items requested, The Post can seek a judicial review of that refusal, said Steve Zansberg, The Post’s lawyer.
Zansberg said that the decision is precedent-setting in Colorado. He said it made clear that the public has a right to request to review documents like those generated by the Columbine killers.
On April 20, 1999, Harris and Klebold shot and killed 13 people and wounded 21 others at Columbine High School, before they killed themselves.
In the immediate aftermath of the massacre, Jefferson County officials made two points: that the parents of the Klebold and Harris should be held accountable for their sons’ actions and that they believed there were accomplices.
But a year later, officials issued a report in which they said no one could have predicted the massacre and that there were no accomplices.
Zansberg said that The Post had fought for the release of the documents so the public could determine on what basis the officials had reached such contrary views 12 months apart.
The ruling comes two months after the Supreme Court refused to release the intimate e-mails of former Arapahoe County Clerk Tracy Baker and his girlfriend, despite the fact they used their work computers to transmit the e-mails.
Romantic e-mails are protected from release but not necessarily items from a criminal investigation, the court said today.
“Evidence of crime necessarily loses its entirely private character when a criminal justice agency lawfully obtains it for use in a criminal investigation and/or prosecution on behalf of the public,” Justice Gregory Hobbs wrote in the unanimous opinion.
Judy Brown, parent of former Columbine student Brooks Brown, applauded the ruling.
“I think the people affected by the Columbine tragedy have every right to see every piece of information out there,” she said. “I think the court’s made the right decision.”
Staff writer Howard Pankratz can be reached at 303-820-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
