Appman v. Worthington

OPINION

COOPER, Justice.

This appeal presents the issue of whether records of the investigation into the death of an inmate of a state correctional facility are available for inspection under T.C.A. § 10-7-503 of the Public Records Act. We hold that they are not where, as in this case, the records are relevant to a pending criminal prosecution.

Carl Estep, an inmate in the Morgan County Regional Correctional Facility, was killed by fellow inmates on January 15, 1985. Sergeant James Worthington, Administrative Assistant for Internal Affairs at the correctional facility, immediately began an…