AG: Tapes can be witheld

The Texas attorney general’s office quickly ruled in favor of the Texas Rangers withholding the recorded 9-1-1 calls related to the Sept. 8 fatal shootings of three Odessa police officers.

In a letter dated Sept. 28, Pamela Smith, assistant general counsel, wrote that the Texas Rangers didn’t have to release the tapes because their public consumption would interfere with the investigation.

The Odessa American filed a Freedom of Information Act request Sept. 11 to the Rangers, the leading homicide investigators, for the recordings related to the shootings at Larry Neil White’s home.

According to Texas Government Code, public information laws don’t apply to ongoing investigations if releasing the information would undermine the criminal investigation. The Texas Rangers’ opinion request to the attorney general dated Sept. 25 referenced the government code exception.

Law enforcement authorities accuse White of killing three police officers, corporals Scott Gardner, Abel Marquez and Arlie Jones, after they responded to a 9-1-1 domestic disturbance call to his home. White is charged with three counts of capital murder and three counts of attempted capital murder.

He remains in the Ector County Detention Center without bond.

Meanwhile, authorities directly connected to the White investigation and prosecution wouldn’t confirm White has cancer despite some media reports.

Rangers Capt. Barry Caver has no personal knowledge of White’s medical history, and even if he did know, he said he likely couldn’t confirm it without violating White’s medical privacy rights.

Any medical circumstances would not affect how the Rangers handle the investigation, Caver said.

“Bottom line is it doesn’t matter to me if he has cancer or not,” he said. “We’ll proceed with the case as normal and let the case take its own course of action. However long it takes, it takes.”

Ector County District Attorney Bobby Bland hasn’t received the case, which remains under investigation, and he hadn’t heard of White’s medical condition other than in a published report that cited attorneys who aren’t involved in the case.

“I’m not aware of any medical condition that would keep us from prosecuting Mr. White at this time or him seeking justice inside of a courtroom,” Bland said. “He will be prosecuted, and we will begin the process once we get the file.”

Bland also said no motion to change the venue has been filed because the case hasn’t even been filed yet, and any discussion of a change of venue is speculation. Furthermore, anything that suggests that Bland would agree to a change of venue is inaccurate, he said.

“Just because some defense attorneys might believe that it is appropriate it does not mean that it’s going to be what happens,” Bland said. “I fully expect that a fair jury trial can be held here. …

“I think the state of Texas and its citizens have a right to expect the case to be heard where the act took place,” he said.