AirTalk dives into the implications of the LAPD’s new rules on releasing officer body and dash camera recordings. We also bring you the latest on Austin bombing suspect Mark Anthony Conditt, who killed himself as police closed in this morning; what Paula Jones’ lawsuit against then-President Bill Clinton can tell us about Zervos v. Trump; and more.
Austin bombings Suspect dies in standoff with SWAT team
A suspect in the Austin bombings died Wednesday after blowing up a vehicle as police closed in on him, authorities said.
Officers had tracked the suspect to a hotel and a SWAT team was pursuing him when he pulled to the side of the road in Round Rock, Texas and detonated a bomb, killing himself at about 3 a.m. local time, Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said. Law enforcement officials identified the suspect as 24-year-old Mark Anthony Conditt of Pflugerville.
Austin police and federal agents had been working around the clock to track down the bombing suspect. "Exotic" batteries ordered online helped lead authorities to the bombing suspect, according to authorities. A police officer suffered minor injuries from the blast.
Guests:
Audrey McGlinchy, reporter at KUT, NPR affiliate in Austin; she was at the scene this morning covering the story; she tweets
Danny Defenbaugh, Texas-based security consultant who worked for the FBI for 33 years and was lead investigator on the Oklahoma City bombing case; he was an FBI-certified bomb technician and served as a Special Agent in the Explosives Unit of the Laboratory Division at FBI Headquarters; he recently commented on the Austin case
What will change after LA Police Commission approves release policy for LAPD body, dashcam video
More than three years after the Los Angeles Police Department rolled out its plan for officers to use body-worn cameras, police commissioners have approved a policy allowing the release of videos from those body cams as well as from patrol car dashboard cams.
The Los Angeles Police Commission voted 4-0 on Tuesday to approve a policy for releasing footage of “critical incidents,” including officer-involved shootings, use of force that results in death, certain cases involving the death of a person in police custody, or any other police encounter the Commission decides is of public interest. Videos from these incidents will automatically be made public 45 days after they happen and could also include footage that LAPD acquires on security cameras or on bystanders’ smartphones. The rules also allow for delayed release of video that the Commission determines might undermine an active investigation or put the safety of individuals involved at risk. However, the rules specify that the reasons for a delayed release cannot be general and must be specific to the case at hand. The rules will take effect in 30 days and will apply to incidents on and after that date.
Some laud the move as a step in the right direction to improving community relations with police and increasing transparency in law enforcement, but many in law enforcement worry that the video release could potentially jeopardize the integrity of ongoing investigations, or even bias potential jurors when used during trials.
What are the short and long-term implications of this vote? What are the next steps in the process? Will other police departments follow suit?
Guests:
Matt Johnson, vice president of the Los Angeles Police Commission; he led the subcommittee that wrote the new video release rules
Craig Lally, president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League
Adrienna Wong, staff attorney for the ACLU of Southern California, where her work focuses on police practices
Before Zervos v. Trump, there was Paula Jones v. Bill Clinton. What lessons can the 1990s case provide?
A New York state judge refused to toss out a defamation lawsuit against President Donald Trump by a former contestant on "The Apprentice."
Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Schecter ruled Tuesday that Summer Zervos' lawsuit can proceed, despite lawyers for the president requesting that the lawsuit be tossed out or delayed until Trump is no longer president.
Schecter said the president has no immunity and is subject to the laws for "purely private acts."
She cited as precedent a civil rights lawsuit against then President Bill Clinton that was ordered to proceed.
Zervos was among several women who accused Trump of unwanted sexual contact.
Larry speaks with a panel of legal experts on the Paul Jones case against President Bill Clinton, and how that case could inform the suit brought forth by Zervos.
With files from Associated Press.
Guests:
Benjamin C. Zipursky, professor of law at Fordham Law School in New York, who specializes in torts, jurisprudence and defamation
Josh Blackman, associate professor of Law at the South Texas College of Law who specializes in constitutional law; he is the author of “Unprecedented: The Constitutional Challenge to Obamacare” (Public Affairs, 2013)
Michael Dorf, professor of law at Cornell University; coauthor of the book, “On Reading the Constitution” (Harvard University Press, 1991) with Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe
What WWE wrestler Daniel Bryan's return to the ring could mean for other athletes’ career-ending head injuries
In 2016, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) officials told popular professional wrestler Bryan Danielson, known in the ring as Daniel Bryan, that he’d probably never wrestle again.
He’d suffered a history of concussions and had even undergone surgery to repair damage to a nerve root in his neck. But Bryan began to dig into the results of his tests and as he did, he started to have doubts, which led him to seek out a variety of other treatment options. On Tuesday, WWE officials announced that after being evaluated by three independent brain injury experts, Bryan had been cleared to return to in-ring activity with the WWE.
The news was met with both surprise and excitement from the “WWE Universe” (how wrestlers and the WWE refer to their fans). Bryan was a fan-favorite during his first stints with WWE, and his signature “YES!” chant has taken on a life of its own even outside pro wrestling in GIFs and other internet memes. But it also raises the question of what might be learned from Daniel’s case, and how certain aspects of his treatment and evaluation might be applied to other athletes in other sports who have been forced into retirement due to repeated concussions and would like to make a comeback.
AirTalk reached out to WWE and Bryan Danielson (aka Daniel Bryan) directly for comment as well as permission to discuss specifics his treatment, but as of the airing of this segment we did not receive a response. In accordance with HIPAA, Dr. Kutcher will not be sharing any specifics about his evaluation of Mr. Danielson during this segment.
Guest:
Jeffrey Kutcher, M.D., one of the independent doctors who evaluated Daniel Bryan for his return to wrestling; he is a sports neurologist and global director of The Sports Neurology Clinic, a Michigan-based care center for patients suffering from neurological disorders and sports-related neurological injuries