MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Videos depicting Mooresville Mayor Chris Carney and a “female companion” in Mooresville Town Hall in the middle of the night must be released to the public, a judge ruled on Wednesday.
Channel 9 has reported on the controversy involving the mayor after he was allegedly seen inside the town hall without his pants during an incident last year. A town employee filed a lawsuit saying he was wrongfully terminated for reporting the incident.
Following a public record request and subsequent denial, the town was sued to compel the release of the video.
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The town challenged the lawsuit in court which has been ongoing for nearly a year – the town’s attorneys made several arguments to withhold the videos from release. One of the main arguments the town made is that the videos are confidential and protected by state public record law. The town argued the videos are exempt by state law under exceptions for criminal investigative materials and/or sensitive public security information.
The judge didn’t agree with the town’s argument.
Chief of Police Ron Campurciani admitted in a deposition the videos were not created by the police department.
He also said that after watching the videos he “…determined that there was no need to continue any type of investigation into this because there was no criminal activity.”
Carney sat down with Channel 9 previously said his pants were off because he got sick on them. Three federal lawsuits filed by former employees who saw the videos paint a different picture of the events of that night.
The town commission held a vote of no confidence in Carney, but he told us he’s going to stay in office through his term.
The judge gave the town five days to turn over the videos, or to submit proposed redactions to the videos prior to releasing them. If redactions are requested, the town will need to justify any redactions under state public record law. Ultimately, it will be up to the judge to determine if any of the videos can be redacted.
Channel 9 has reached out to the Town of Mooresville for a comment, and to find out if they plan to appeal the judge’s order, at this time the town has not responded but this article will be updated if any response is received.
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