After South Bend Police Tapes ruling, attorneys inform Common Council of possible next steps

This past Thursday, ABC57 was the first to break the news that a ruling in the 14-year court battle had come down. The St. Joseph Superior Court judge determined the tapes were obtained illegally and are therefore subject to destruction.

No decisions were made in the executive session, called by Common Council President Canneth Lee to discuss possible next steps in the 14-year court battle.

All nine council members were in attendance and engaged, according to At-Large Councilmember Oliver Davis. He compared the session to a "legal class" from their attorneys, Bob Palmer and Matthew Anderson, to educate the council on the case thus far.

"It was great to get that education from the attorneys, because they gave us the rationale of what they believe may be the judge's point of view, they gave us their point of view, and now we can all go home and dissect it and see where we are going to go in the future," Davis said.

In Judge Jamie Woods' ruling, the recorded conversations of a South Bend police line were deemed to be in violation of both the Indiana and Federal Wiretap Acts. However, the tapes must be preserved until all appeal options are exhausted.

The Common Council must file within 30 days of the ruling; otherwise, the case will be considered closed, and the tapes will be destroyed.

Over the years, the council has maintained its position that the tapes should be made public, believing they may contain some illegal content.

Davis previously told ABC57 he wants the ruling appealed. He called for the original subpoena back in 2012, but now many on the council are new to this ongoing court battle, so the executive session was a chance to catch everyone up to speed so they can all make an informed decision.

"We have been dealing with the same case in the sense that nothing's really been new about this," Davis said. "What they argued and what we learned back in 2012 are some of the same things we are arguing now. You know, freedom to hear the tapes. And they argued their case in front of us, why our attorneys still believe that."     

The remaining council members declined to talk to the news media following the executive session.

Davis said they have "homework" ahead of them to decide what they believe the best next steps should be. It's a big decision, considering the taxpayer dollars being spent on the litigation.

A spokesperson for the City of South Bend confirmed Wednesday night that roughly $2.5 million has been spent on legal expenses since 2011, including attorney fees and settlements. This does not include ancillary litigation arising from this case.

The next two scheduled Common Council meetings are June 8 and 22, and it's possible the public could get more information about a decision then, but that remains unclear at this time.