Yellow Scene Magazine Sues City of Boulder Over Failure to Make Public Unedited Police Video from the Boulder Police Department Shooting of Jeannette Alatorre
April 10, 2024
Boulder, Colo. – Today Hutchinson Black and Cook, LLC, legal counsel for Yellow Scene Magazine, filed a lawsuit against the City of Boulder for failure to comply with a state law that requires prompt release of body-worn camera (“BWC”) footage. Instead of complying with the law’s requirement to make such video available “to the public” within 21 days of a request, Boulder conditions the release of BWC video on the requestor’s payment of exorbitant fees, which effectively shields the unedited video from public disclosure.
Colorado’s legislature passed the Law Enforcement Integrity Act, SB 20-217, in the wake of the murder of George Floyd to prevent and deter police brutality and misconduct. Among other provisions, the Act mandates that Colorado law enforcement officers use body-worn cameras and provides a mechanism for speedy release of unedited BWC footage.
This lawsuit is being brought by Yellow Scene Magazine as a result of the City of Boulder’s refusal to release the full, unedited video from the December 17, 2023, police shooting in which officers killed Jeanette Alatorre. Yellow Scene Magazine requested BWC and related video concerning the police killing free of charge, but Boulder would not provide it absent a payment of $2,857.50.
Attorney Dan Williams, lead counsel for Yellow Scene Magazine, stated: “Boulder’s response to Yellow Scene Magazine’s request for unedited video of the shooting of Ms. Alatorre reflects a troubling refusal to be transparent. Boulder touts its recent Reimagine Policing plan, but refusing to comply with state-law accountability requirements isn’t the reimagination we had hoped for.”
An as-filed copy of the Complaint can be found here: Yellow Scene Magazine v. City of Boulder Complaint.pdf
Media Contact: Anna DelValle, (303) 535-3533, anna@gratalegal.com
Download a PDF of this release here: Press Release - Yellow Scene Magazine v. City of Boulder.pdf