Court scheduling hearings on police video petitions after WBTV investigation

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - The Mecklenburg County Superior Court has scheduled nearly two dozen cases to be heard involving petitions to release law enforcement video, a little more than a week after a WBTV investigation found a massive backlog of cases waiting to be heard.

A court calendar posted on the court’s website shows nearly three dozen petitions have been set for hearing for Friday September 4.

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Court records obtained by WBTV show a backlog of at least 31 petitions for police video. North Carolina law requires a judge’s order to make any law enforcement video public.

The backlogged petitions date back to April 2018, despite a requirement in the law that the petitions be heard “as soon as practicable.”

Cases on the calendar include high-profile police incidents involving use of force , video of the in-custody death of Harold Easter and police video from the response to the UNCC campus shooting.

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