The lawsuit challenges the decision to withhold footage tied to criminal charges against an Essex County sergeant.

The Jersey Vindicator filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking the release of police body camera footage related to criminal charges against an Essex County prosecutor’s office sergeant accused of stealing a photojournalist’s camera bag during protests outside Newark’s Delaney Hall immigration detention center.

The suit, filed in Essex County Superior Court, comes after the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office denied a request for body camera footage recorded by Sgt. Darryl Brown, who was charged earlier this month with third-degree theft. Prosecutors allege Brown took a camera bag belonging to an Associated Press photojournalist who was injured while covering a May 30 protest outside Delaney Hall. An Apple AirTag attached to one of the missing items led investigators to Brown’s home in Sparta, where they recovered several pieces of equipment. The bag contained an estimated $10,000 worth of cameras and other gear.

Attorney General Jennifer Davenport announced charges against Brown on June 4. She said in a statement that Brown’s body-worn camera footage from that day “shows him interacting with a dark colored bag, consistent with the description of the victim’s belongings.”

Vindicator reporter Steve Janoski requested the footage as part of the newsroom’s ongoing coverage of Delaney Hall. The prosecutor’s office denied the request on June 10, arguing that the video is exempt from disclosure because it is part of an active criminal investigation and that releasing it could interfere with witness interviews and other investigative work.

The Vindicator’s attorney, CJ Griffin, disputes that claim. In court filings, she argues that the footage was recorded before any investigation into Brown began and therefore does not qualify for the exemption cited by the prosecutor’s office. She also argues that New Jersey’s body-worn camera law — enacted after the murder of George Floyd to increase police transparency — permits only four narrow categories of recordings to be withheld from public disclosure, and that this footage does not fall within any of them.

“This is exactly the type of video that the Legislature intended to be publicly disclosed because it sheds light on alleged police misconduct,” Griffin wrote in the filings.

The lawsuit also argues that the public interest in disclosure outweighs any claim of confidentiality because the footage could provide insight into the conduct of a law enforcement officer accused of a crime.

“There is a very strong public interest in favor of disclosure of the requested video because the public has a right to monitor the conduct of police officers and the alleged misconduct is egregious,” the complaint states. “In contrast, there is no overriding, countervailing interest in confidentiality of these records.”

The filings further argue that transparency is a central purpose of New Jersey’s public records laws and body camera requirements.

Quoting New Jersey case law, the brief notes that “an informed citizenry is essential to a well-functioning democracy.” It also argues that body camera recordings can help ensure that “citizens and the media play a watchful role in curbing wasteful government spending and guarding against corruption and misconduct.”

According to the lawsuit, the footage should be disclosed because it does not fall within any of the limited categories of body camera recordings that can be withheld from public view under state law.

The complaint also notes that Delaney Hall has become the focus of intense public scrutiny in recent weeks following detainee hunger strikes, protests, arrests, and allegations involving the treatment of journalists covering demonstrations outside the facility.

The lawsuit seeks a court order requiring the release of the footage under both the Open Public Records Act and New Jersey’s common law right of access. The Vindicator has also asked the court to preserve the footage while the case is pending and is seeking attorney’s fees and costs.