TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

Tag: depositions

  • Columbine depositions to remain sealed

    Court upholds decision to keep Columbine depositions sealed:

    The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a decision that depositions given by the parents of the Columbine shooters remain sealed in the National Archives for 20 years.

    Previously U.S. District Judge Lewis T. Babcock ordered the depositions sealed after families of the victims among others had requested that the depositions be made public. The depositions were given by Wayne and Kathy Harris, the parents of Eric Harris, and Thomas and Susan Klebold, the parents of Dylan Klebold. They’re from a civil lawsuit that the family of Columbine victim Daniel Rohrbough filed against the killers’ parents.

    In the new ruling attorneys argued that since the records were made by a court that they qualify under the Federal Records Act. The court disagreed stating the depositions should have been returned to the people who made them. If that had happened I’m sure they’d be nothing but ash by now.

    Judge Babcock originally ruled that way stating that if the depositions were to be made public that would inspire a whole new generation of school shooters. I disagree. In case you haven’t noticed school shooters and would be shooters don’t need some depositions to find inspiration. You would need to erase the memories of Columbine and every school shooting since from everyone on the planet before they would no longer find inspiration. The private journals of both cowardly scumbag killers have been released and that didn’t cause an outbreak of shootings.

    Conversely, I think it would benefit greatly if the depositions were made public. We could learn from the Harrises and Klebolds mistakes in their parenting techniques on how to tell if our children are on a dangerous path like those of the killers.

    Now there will just have to be a 20-year wait for that knowledge. I still say if any school shooting deaths happen between now and then that the blood will be on the hands of Judge Babcock.

  • Appeal to be filed on sealing of depositions

    Appeal to be filed on sealing of depositions

    Columbine parents launch appeal of decision to seal depositions:

    As expected, some of the parents of Columbine victims have filed a formal notice that they will appeal Judge Lewis Babcock’s decision to have the depositions of the parents of the Columbine killers sealed for 20 years.

    Attorney Barry K. Arrington filed the notice of appeal in U.S. District Court on behalf of parents Brian Rohrbough, Susan Petrone and Dawn Anna. The notice does not discuss the grounds for appeal and Arrington did not immediately return a call.

    Rohrbough and Petrone are the parents of Daniel Rohrbough and Dawn Anna is the mother of Lauren Townsend. Their children were among 12 students who were killed at Columbine on April 20, 1999.

    Judge Babcock’s reasoning for sealing the depositions was to prevent copycats of Columbine. Obviously, that didn’t work.

  • Columbine parents call for release of evidence

    Columbine parents call for release of evidence

    Columbine Parents Call For Release Of Reports:

    Yesterday at a news conference at 11:20 AM, the exact 8th anniversary of Columbine, Brian Rohrbough called once again for the release of all the evidence pertaining to Columbine. Most notable, the basement tapes and the sealed depositions.

    “How much more blood must be spilled?” Rohrbough asked

    Rohrbough said if he can raise the money, he’ll appeal a decision by U.S. District Judge Lewis Babcock to seal depositions given by the parents of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold for 20 years.

    If he sets up a fund for donations, I’ll be more than happy to contribute.

  • Could Columbine records have prevented Va. Tech?

    Could Columbine records have prevented Va. Tech?

    Truth about Columbine may have helped prevent Va. rampage, Rohrbough says:

    If you’ve been following Columbine as long as I have, you’re familiar with the name Brian Rohrbough. He lost his son Daniel at Columbine. He’s been very outspoken about how he thinks the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department handled Columbine. Sometimes I agree with him, sometimes I don’t. This time I agree with him 100%.

    The father of one of the victims of the Columbine tragedy said he isn’t surprised that the Virginia Tech gunman refers to the shooters responsible for his son’s death as “martyrs.”

    “Because Jefferson County lied so much about what happened in Columbine, they raised the interest in these guys,” Brian Rohrbough said Wednesday. He lost his son Daniel Rohrbough at Columbine. “When (officials) refused to release the basement videos, they created a cult following for these two guys.”

    Rohrbough has long sought the release of videos – the so-called basement tapes – and other documents created by Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris long before they went on their rampage at Columbine.

    “If the videos were released, then parents, schools, law enforcement and counselors would have a benchmark to look for potential murderers, and the odds of stopping this before it happens would increase dramatically,” Rohrbough said.

    “The basement tapes and the documents give a very clear picture on how to identify these guys. There is so much information that would help identify these serious threats.”

    He said that until the truth about Columbine is told, school shootings will continue to occur.

    “When you withhold the truth and you create mystery, imaginations and conspiracy theories run wild,” he said.

    Are you paying attention, Judge Babcock?

  • Sealed depositions may end study

    Sealed depositions may end study

    Sealed depositions may be end of Columbine study:

    Read the words of one Professor Del Elliott, director of the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence at the University of Colorado.

    Professor Del Elliott said Tuesday he doubts he will undertake a study into the causes behind the Columbine High School shootings now that depositions of the killers’ parents have been sealed.

    In the meantime, the nationally recognized expert on violence prevention said he expects the ruling will translate into more lives lost.

    “We’ve not had a chance to learn much about was going on in the lives of (killers) Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold that precipitated this event,” he said.

    “Unfortunately, it’s going to be repeated,” he added, “and maybe then we’ll learn more about the circumstances which lead young people to commit these kinds of horrendous acts.”

    I hope you’re paying attention, Judge Lewis Babcock. I hope that robe can help you clean the blood of future victims off your hands.

  • Columbine depositions to remain sealed

    Columbine depositions to remain sealed

    Columbine depositions to stay sealed:

    U.S. District Judge Lewis Babcock has done the unthinkable and ruled that the depositions from the Columbine killers’ parents will remain sealed for 20 years in the National Archives, where they will do no one any good whatsoever.

    Judge Babcock claimed copycat fears as to why he ordered the documents to remain sealed. I hate to tell you this Judge but sending the depositions to the National Archives will not stem the tide of copycats. This website is a testament to that. Those documents might have actually prevented copycats, but we won’t know that until I’m 58.

    The fact that he wouldn’t even let a state Attorney General and a recommended violence expert look at them smacks of a cover-up.

    Brian Rohrbough, the father of slain student Daniel Rohrbough, is justifiably angered and is considering an appeal.

  • It helps to read them

    It helps to read them

    Judge to read Columbine records privately to decide on release:

    US District Judge Lewis Babcock is the judge who wants the depositions from the Columbine killers’ parents sent to the National archives for 25 years before being destroyed.

    In a written statement, Judge Babcock has said that he wants to read the depositions before making his final decision. Wait. What? You mean he hasn’t read them yet?

    If he hasn’t even read them, then why the hell is he so adamant about sending them to the National Archives, then destroying them?

  • National Archives will not destroy depositions

    National Archives will not destroy depositions

    Archives wants Columbine records here:

    The National Archives have suggested holding the depositions of the Columbine Killers’ parents for 20 years, but after the 20 years, they would unseal the records.

    The agency said that any materials from Columbine given to it would be of significant historical value and would never be destroyed. Archives officials said their general philosophy is open access to records.

    The agency’s proposal was in response to U.S. District Judge Lewis Babcock’s suggestion that the Columbine depositions be sent to the National Archives, where they would remain sealed for 25 years.

    Then, Babcock proposed, the National Archives would decide if the depositions are of significant social value. If they are, the agency could release them to the public. If not, they’d be destroyed.

    The National Archives said, however, that after receiving court records, the normal practice of its Denver center is to assume legal custody after 20 years. Then it normally gives the public full access to the records, it said. But if Babcock rules to seal the records for a longer period of time, the agency said it would abide by his wishes.

    That’s better than having them destroyed after 25 years, but still not acceptable. The depositions must be made public, and they must be made public now.

    The Denver Post agrees with me.

    On Monday in Boulder, Del Elliott prepared congressional testimony about stopping violence among teenagers.

    On Monday in Salt Lake City, an 18-year-old hid a shotgun and a pistol under his trench coat and randomly killed five people and seriously wounded four at a shopping mall.

    Are you paying attention, Judge Babcock? Lewis Babcock is the federal jurist who will soon decide whether to seal the civil depositions of the parents of Columbine High School killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold for 25 years.

    Babcock or anyone else who thinks that nothing bad can come from blocking access to those documents for a quarter-century is deaf and blind.

    The Utah shootings didn’t occur in a school. But the trench-coated teenage perp who went on a seemingly casual killing spree reeks of Columbine.

    In 25 years or even 20, the depositions will provide no answers. We need those answers, and we need them now. I’m still puzzled as to why Judge Babcock wants to keep them sealed for a quarter of a century. That’s too long for victims and their families to get answers.

  • Release the depositions

    Release the depositions

    Release depositions by Columbine parents:

    This is an opinion piece from The Denver Post about the suggested plan to seal the depositions from the Columbine killers’ parents in the National Archives. I’ll give you just a taste.

    That action may respect the privacy of the killers’ parents, but it would do little to advance the study and public debate about youth violence and how future Columbines could be avoided. It’s also difficult to imagine that the wishes of the killers’ parents should somehow trump the desires of victims’ parents to possibly learn what led to the senseless slaughter of their loved ones.

    I couldn’t have said it better myself. Read the rest as it is definitely worth your time.

  • The other killer’s parents want records destroyed

    The other killer’s parents want records destroyed

    2nd Columbine gunman’s family not opposed to sealing records:

    Here’s another shocker. The parents of the other Columbine gunman Dylan Klebold, Thomas, and Susan Klebold, want their depositions destroyed but don’t oppose them being sent to the National Archives for 25 years.

    Thomas and Susan Klebold’s position on the proposal, outlined in a federal court filing, is similar to the wishes of the parents of gunman Eric Harris. The Klebolds said if the judge chooses to send the documents under seal to the National Archives and Records Administration, they would like some information – such as names, addresses – blacked out.

    Hmmm. I wonder whose name and address they want blacked out. Maybe if they didn’t allow their kid to plot one of the most horrific mass murders in American history, then this wouldn’t be an issue.

    The more I write about this story, the more it makes no sense to me whatsoever. Who is Judge Babcock covering up for? JeffCo. Sheriffs or the killers’ parents? He shouldn’t be covering up for either. The decent thing to do would be to give the victims’ families the answers they’ve been seeking. Unsealing the depositions would accomplish that.