Police Officer Must Answer
30/04/07 09:03 Filed in: Government Liability
Police officer breaks promise, turns over tape of rape to news media despite promise to victim that tape would not be released.
Police officer breaks promise, turns over tape of rape to news media despite promise to victim that tape would not be released. A police officer in Oklahoma handled a rape case where the rapist had videotaped the raping. The victim had obtained a copy of the video and brought it with her when reporting the rape. The police officer assured the woman that the videotape would remain confidential. However, the officer then released the video to news media. The The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the officer could not escape liability for police misconduct and refused to extend a 'qualified immunity' protection to him against a lawsuit brought by the rape victim for releasing the videotape. Anderson v. Blake, 469 F.3d 910 (10th Cir. 2006).