New Orleans Memorial Medical Center
Photo by Alex Brandon, Associated Press
by Kaitlin Ahern
According to the Reporter's Committee for Freedom of the Press, both The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune and CNN are suing the state of Louisiana for the release of Katrina-related investigations records.
The argument by the two groups, brought before the Louisiana Supreme Court Monday, was for the release of state investigative files concerning patient deaths at Memorial Medical Center in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. According to an article in The Times-Picayune, the paper and CNN sought the records last year after a state grand jury did not indict Dr. Anna Pou on charges of murder and conspiracy to murder. Pou and two nurses were arrested in July 2006 and charged with killing 34 hospital patients with lethal doses of medication.
According to the article, investigative files in Louisiana are typically closed to the public while criminal charges are pending or “reasonably anticipated.” The media plaintiffs argued Monday that the court's decline to indict Pou in 2006 meant the case was closed, and that the public has a right to know if the investigation conducted by the state was fair.
A response by the state countered that the files should remain closed because an investigation could still occur in the future, noting that there are still three civil lawsuits pending against Pou and the former Memorial hospital owners.
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