New lawsuit seeks footage of incident involving Oklahoma's Joe Mixon
Another lawsuit has been filed in relation to a July 2014 incident involving Oklahoma running back Joe Mixon.
Mixon was suspended from the football team for the entire 2014 season after surveillance cameras at a Norman restaurant captured the running back striking a woman. Mixon was charged with assault and eventually reached a plea deal. Police said the then-20-year-old woman involved suffered a “fractured jaw, fractured cheek bone, fractured sinus and a fractured orbit which caused a hematoma on the left eye.”
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Since then, there have been a series of lawsuits and court battles regarding the possession – and possible public release – of the footage of the incident.
According to the Oklahoman, the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters filed a lawsuit “against Cleveland County Court Clerk Rhonda Hall, the court clerk’s office and the City of Norman” on Tuesday.
Video of the incident was viewed by OU president David Boren, athletic director Joe Castiglione and head coach Bob Stoops, who reached a decision to suspend Mixon for his entire freshman season. Norman Police also arranged a viewing for local media members.
Here is SoonerScoop.com’s account of the footage:
Following the slap (from Molitor) across the left side of his neck, Mixon unloads a violent right handed hook. There’s really not a nice or clean way of saying it. Molitor immediately falls to the floor from the strike, hitting her face on the edge of the table in the process. Mixon immediately bolts out of frame.
The Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters (OAB) said the video should be made public in a previous lawsuit, but a Cleveland County District Judge dismissed the suit. That decision was later overturned by a Court of Civil Appeals in February and the lawsuit was reinstated. Per the Oklahoman, that Civil Court ruling stated, “the surveillance video is part of the court file in the possession of the court clerk and, as such, is accessible to OAB – or another member of the public – for inspection and copying.”
Still, the city of Norman did not release the video and a Cleveland County judge later ruled that the tape would remain in custody of the city of Norman and not released to the public.
In May, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that the video is an open record and the OAB has the right to sue for it. Many outlets have asked for access to the footage.
From the Oklahoman:
The OAB, The Oklahoman and other media outlets have requested the footage since that ruling and have been told the video was not in possession of the court clerk’s office.
Norman Assistant City Attorney Rick Knighton said a copy was in the city attorney’s litigation file.
The lawsuit filed this week includes Oklahoma Open Records Act requests for the video to the court clerk’s office, Cleveland County district attorney Greg Mashburn’s office and Knighton’s office as well as denials for those requests. The suit seeks the release of the video, an injunction against disposing or altering the video before its release and attorney fees for the OAB.
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Mixon was a five-star recruit in the class of 2014. He was reinstated to the team before spring practice began in 2015 and rushed for 753 yards and seven touchdowns last season.
For more Oklahoma news, visit SoonerScoop.com.
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Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
