A three-judge Mississippi appellate panel reversed a chancellor’s order dismissing a convicted prisoner’s public-records dispute against a police department, remanding the case for an evidentiary hearing, finding of fact, and other proceedings.
Omar K. Humphrey was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison in 1998. He made written requests for public records in March 2020 to then-Chief Steve Holts of the Senatobia Police Department and District Attorney John W. Champion. According to the Mississippi Court of Appeals’ opinion, written by Judge John H. Emfinger, Humphrey sought a copy and transcription of a wire tape recording between him and a jailhouse informant, any police reports concerning the wiring of him, and certain statements he made to police.
