Activists push for court to open Mattingly case files

• Louiville Officer Murdered Michael Newby  --  Black Teen Shot in the Back

• Ex-police detective's trial records were sealed 

Community activists reiterated their belief yesterday that videotapes and transcripts from the trial of former Louisville Metro Police detective McKenzie Mattingly should be made public. A jury acquitted Mattingly in September in the January 2004 shooting death of 19-year-old Michael Newby during what authorities describe as an undercover drug deal gone bad. Mattingly had been charged with murder, manslaughter and reckless homicide. At the request of Mattingly's attorney, a Jefferson Circuit judge ordered that the case be expunged last month. The charges were deleted from court records, and all court documents and videos from the trial were sealed, as allowed by state law when a defendant is acquitted. Members of the Newby Network, a loose coalition of community and civil-rights groups that formed last January after Newby's death, said it is important for the public to have access to trial records. The coalition's members, which include the Kentucky Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, said they will try to challenge the sealing in court. During a news conference yesterday, the coalition also announced its continued support for Police Chief Robert White and denounced a survey conducted by the Fraternal Order of Police in which nearly 500 officers said they do not have confidence in White's leadership. The network also renewed its push for the Metro Council to create an independent citizen review panel that could look into police actions, including use of deadly force. [more]