Local News
Barksdale records opened
Judge orders Department of Corrections to comply with state law and release files
A Montgomery judge has ruled the Alabama Department of Corrections must comply with the state’s Open Records Act and release the results of its investigation into the death of inmate Farron Barksdale.
Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Eugene W. Reese instructed DOC Commissioner Richard Allen to provide the records in an order released Wednesday.
In doing so, Reese dismissed the case Mary Barksdale filed against Allen in an attempt to find out how her son ended up comatose in his cell just three days after entering the state’s prison system.
The 32-year-old Barksdale pleaded guilty to killing two Athens police officers, Sgt. Larry Russell and Officer Tony Mims, in 2004 and was taken to the Kilby prison where he was found unconscious on August 11, 2007. He was taken off life support on Aug. 20.
“I think Judge Reese’s ruling will bring about much needed improvement to the accountability of Alabama’s prison system and to the treatment of its inmates,” Mary Barksdale said Wednesday, describing the past year as “waiting” and “frustration.”
The parties were scheduled to go to trial last month but it was delayed when both sides asked to have a judge decide the case instead.
“I was sort of shocked (about the ruling) because I didn’t expect it this fast, but I’m ecstatic,” Barksdale said.
Questions were raised about the death partly because Sheriff Mike Blakely of Limestone County, where Barksdale was convicted, said his staff received a call from the hospital indicating Barksdale appeared to have been severely beaten.
Prison officials said Barksdale, who suffered from mental illness, had a high fever, symptoms of a bad infection and marks like bruises on his pelvis, but said they were unaware of any assault.
An autopsy showed he died of natural causes resulting from complications from a type of pneumonia.
Prison officials argued that the results of the department’s death investigation were exempt from Alabama’s Open Records Act because they “specifically concern security or impact public safety.”
Corrections spokesman Brian Corbett said officials are reviewing the order to determine if an appeal is appropriate.
“We do wish to follow the law but we’re not sure that that order is in compliance with the law,” he said. “There are three major redactions that are also important to note.”
Reese wrote that corrections officials retain the right to redact sensitive information on a case-by-case basis if they believe its release will subject a person to “specific threat of harm,” will jeopardize a pending criminal investigation or violate state or federal laws.
Huntsville attorney Jake Watson, who filed the suit along with the Atlanta-based Southern Center for Human Rights on Mary Barksdale’s behalf, said Reese’s ruling should settle the issue.
“It’s our hope that it will affect requests for records in the future pursuant to the Open Records Act,” he said. “We hope that it will have positive impact on the public’s right to know.”
Watson said he hopes the DOC will release the records to Mary Barksdale in a timely manner.
“The judge ordered the release and we expect the Department of Corrections to comply soon,” said Watson. “We are pleased with the court ruling and we hope when Ms. Barksdale receives the information she requested she and the rest of her family can continue to learn what happened to her son the few hours he was in the custody of the Department of Corrections.
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