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Judge to consider release of records in KPD killing of man

Channara Pheap was shot and killed in a confrontation with KPD K-9 Officer Dylan Williams after Williams encountered Pheap at an apartment complex.

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — A Knox County chancellor next week will consider a request to release videos and records made as a result of the killing of a man by a Knoxville Police Department officer.

Chancellor John Weaver will hear the motion Tuesday, Nov. 12, from attorneys Lance Baker and Josh Hedrick. They represent the family of Channara "Philly" Pheap, 33, who was shot and killed during a confrontation Aug. 26 with KPD K-9 Officer Dylan Williams.

The killing remains under investigation by the Knox County Sheriff's Office. Authorities have been mum about when they're come to a conclusion, although the lawyers have met with Knox County prosescutors.

The circumstances about Pheap's shooting are unclear from the public's perspective. 

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A document from the Regional Forensic Center released to Pheap's family indicates Pheap was shot in the side, suggesting he was turning away to flee. Williams' attorney in September said in a statement that the officer had been Tased with his own weapon by Pheap during a struggle and that he feared for his life.

Baker and Hedrick say in Chancery Court court papers filed Oct. 30 seeking the documents that they've been unable to get much information from police investigators.

They say they cannot even get public records created in the normal course of work in the case, such as Pheap's autopsy.

Credit: KPD

Baker and Hedrick have been hired to review whether the family should file suit "if it is determined that Mr. Pheap's death was the result of the violations of his constitutional rights or was brought about by negligence," their motion states.

They argue these are routine, public records that should be turned over:

*Records gathered when KPD was alerted about a hit and run crash the afternoon of Aug. 26 near W. Baxter Avenue and Elm Street. Authorities have suggested Pheap was evading police after the incident.

*Records after Williams was dispatched but before the shooting outside Clear Springs Apartments in North Knoxville, where he encountered Pheap. The officer's cruiser video, they argue, is part of that batch of records that should be released.

*Records of anyone Williams talked with at Clear Springs Apartments off Merchant Drive, his in-car video once he arrived at the complex and any use of force reports prepared as a result of the shooting.

"(The lawyers) acknowledge that certain records may be exempt from public access during the pendency of a criminal investigation or a criminal prosecution," they write, citing case law. "However, public records created in the ordinary course of business -- routine documentation of public business -- are 'the very sort of records for which the (state public records act) was enacted to allow citizens to inspect if they wish.'"

Deputy Law Director Ron Mills informed the lawyers in a letter Sept. 24 that much of what they sought couldn't be released because it was part of investigations by the Sheriff's Office and KPD's Internal Affairs Unit "and thus are not yet open for public inspection."

"When these investigations (and resulting criminal prosecutions, if any) are complete, the full investigative files will be available for public inspection and copying through the respective investigative agency."

KCSO is conducting the shooting review as a matter of routine business. The departments have an agreement to investigate each other's fatal shootings.

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