Judge to review police videos

ASHEBORO — Video that likely captured junior Courtland Smith’s final moments is being reviewed by a Randolph County judge, who will decide whether the footage should be released to the public.

The video was taken by dashboard cameras in the police cars that stopped the former Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity president, who was shot to death by Archdale police Aug. 23.

Attorneys working for a coalition of local media outlets argued in a court hearing Friday that the video is public record and should be released.

“The public deserves to know … whether the shooting was justified,” said attorney Hugh Stevens, who represents The Daily Tar Heel, WRAL and The (Raleigh) News & Observer, among several other news organizations.

“At least it will shed light on what is a very dark corner.”

One of the county’s assistant district attorneys, Andrew Gregson, fought to keep the video sealed, saying it is not a public record under North Carolina law and that releasing it could jeopardize the investigation and taint a potential jury pool.

“Everyone in the state would have seen it and made up their mind,” he said at the hearing, though he was careful to say that no decision has been made on whether to prosecute any officers involved.

Randolph County Superior Court Judge Brad Long said he will review the video and rule on the motion to release it sometime this week.

 Smith, a biology major, was shot to death Aug. 23 near Greensboro by Archdale officer Jeremy Paul Flinchum, 29, according to the State Bureau of Investigation.

The SBI is still investigating the incident, which is common in cases of officer-related shootings.

Flinchum and a second officer present at the time of the shooting were placed on paid administrative leave.

The 911 call Smith placed and police radio traffic related to the incident have already been released.

The call revealed Smith saying he was drunk and might have been armed. Smith told the dispatcher that he was trying to kill himself, that he had been drinking and that he had a 9 mm pistol in his back pocket.

The radio traffic showed that officers who stopped Smith had been told that he was potentially armed and suicidal.


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