The U.S. Attorney’s Office is lending its support to the media’s push for the unsealing of a cache of court documents involving racist recordings of former Pilot Flying J president Mark Hazelwood and his subordinates.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Trey Hamilton and David Lewen have filed a response to a legal effort by USA Today Network – Tennessee and other media organizations in Knoxville, Chattanooga and Cleveland, Ohio, to convince U.S. District Judge Curtis Collier to release court documents and recordings that have served as the basis for his decision-making in the ongoing trial of former Pilot Flying J executives and staffers on federal fraud charges.
The prosecutors are not backing the full disclosure sought by the media of all documents and recordings, but are supporting the unsealing of a substantial portion of the information believed to be hidden from public view – including a redacted transcript of a sealed hearing Collier held in chambers and out of public view in December that led him to allow prosecutors to introduce portions of racist recordings.
Read more at our news partner’s website, knoxnews.com.