ORLANDO, Fla. _ Attorneys for the City of Orlando, the FBI and media outlets argued in federal court Thursday over the jurisdiction of a lawsuit that seeks the release of 911 calls and police transmissions from the Pulse shooting.
Following a two-hour hearing, U.S. District Judge Paul Byron said he would take the case under consideration and issue a ruling "in short order."
He will decide whether the lawsuit proceeds in federal court or state court, where it was originally filed on June 23. The City of Orlando named the FBI, which is leading the terrorism investigation into the attack, as a defendant in that suit, booting it to federal court.
Attorneys for 27 news organizations _ including The Orlando Sentinel, CNN and Politico _ want the FBI removed from the case as a party and the case sent back to state court. Lawyer Rachel Fugate argued that the suit is directed against Orlando, which possesses the 603 emergency calls made into its police dispatch, and does not pursue any action against the FBI.
"The Department of Justice and the city are seeking the same relief," she told Byron. "They are seeking to shield these documents from public disclosure."
Forty-nine people were killed and at least 53 injured when a gunman opened fire inside the gay nightclub on a Latin-themed dance night, making it the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Shooter Omar Mateen claimed allegiance to Islamic State during the rampage.
Also listed in the lawsuit is a request for 28 minutes of phone conversation between Mateen and Orlando Police crisis negotiators. The FBI has so far released only a fraction of those conversations, a transcript of a 50-second phone call Mateen made while inside the club.
Sean Flynn, an assistant U.S. attorney representing the Department of Justice, argued the records belong to the FBI because the agency is heading the investigation, as dictated in a memo of understanding with the Orlando Police Department. Moreover, he said, the federal government's interest in the case trumps state public records laws.
Releasing the recordings could "subject witnesses and officers to danger and have an impact on future prosecution," Flynn said, citing concerns that it could comprise an ongoing criminal investigation.
The City of Orlando, represented by Darryl Bloodworth, defended its decision to list the FBI as an interested party and said it needs guidance from the court about what to do.
In initial court filings, the city wrote that the FBI directed it not to release any of the records.
"The city is caught in the classic middle of the dispute between a federal agency with an ongoing investigation and the news media that is demanding to have it now," he said.
Wherever the case lands, Fugate said the media attorneys will be asking for expedited proceedings and an immediate next hearing. Attorneys also got into some issues that may arise later in the case, such as whether the DOJ will seek sovereign immunity.
