CARSON CITY – This Is Reno’s second lawsuit against the City of Reno was heard Wednesday at the Nevada Court of Appeals. A full panel of judges heard the cases to ultimately decide whether a Reno City Council member’s social media messages are public record, as well as whether the city improperly denied police bodycam footage on three occasions.
Our Nevada Judges filmed the hearing. Watch it below.
This is the second lawsuit This Is Reno filed against the city. In the first, the same court ruled the city illegally denied public records related to the investigation into former Washoe County Sheriff’s Sergeant Dennis Carry. Carry faced seven felony charges after being investigated by Reno Police for more than two years.
The city continues to fight the release of investigative documents despite losing on this issue. Deputy City Attorney Mark Dunagan on Monday filed a motion to prevent This Is Reno from reporting on the records relating to the investigation into Carry, despite the records not having been released.
Dunagan said that Carry’s right to a fair trial could be impacted. Carry pleaded guilty to three felonies and faces sentencing at a hearing on April 2, 2024.
“The City’s initial and ongoing basis for declining to produce its investigative file in the Carry case to Petitioner is that the criminal prosecution against Carry was open and remains open,” Dunagan argued. “I believe publication of the [investigative] Report prior to the sentencing of Dennis Carry offends legitimate governmental interests in nondisclosure, which include protection of Mr. Carry’s constitutional right to a fair trial and avoidance of prejudice to the prosecution.”
This Is Reno intends to oppose the motion based on First Amendment grounds against prior restraint.
