What's Lt. Governor Tim Murray hiding?

Murray's wreck records deemed public, state police refusing to turn them over

BOSTON (FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) - Massachusetts State Police are refusing to turn over information from a crash involving a top state leader even after the Secretary of State deemed it a public record.

Lt. Governor Tim Murray said he was inspecting storm damage when his state-issued Crown Victoria skidded on black ice and crashed in Sterling on Interstate 190 at 5:30 a.m. early last month. The car was totaled.

Murray quickly requested a breathalyzer test to prove he had not been drinking and he told police he was driving the speed limit.

While the vehicle was demolished, the vehicle data recorder inside the car was in tact. That black box records important information including how fast he was driving at the time.

However, State Police said they had no plans of downloading the black box because they didn’t need that data for their investigation.

FOX Undercover filed a formal request under the Massachusetts Public Records Law, and when the State Police still refused to turn it over we appealed to the Secretary of State’s Public Records department, which decides what is and is not a public record.

The Secretary of State ordered the State Police to “review the records, redact where necessary and provide (FOX Undercover) with the responsive records... within 10 days, or provide this office with a more comprehensive response to support the Department’s exemption claim.”

Late Thursday, the State Police said they will provide more information to the Secretary of State’s office to try and overturn their ruling.

Their main argument for withholding the data is that they only download the black box information when crashes result in death, serious injury, or possible criminal charges, which was not the case in this accident.

A State Police spokesman also says the State Police don’t want to release the data because it can be misleading if not read in context, such as if a car was spinning on ice or flipped over. That might record a higher than actual speed because the tires are spinning.

There is nothing in the state’s Public Records Law that says the government can withhold information because it might be misinterpreted.

As for Murray, he’s not pushing for the State Police to release the information. A spokeswoman says the lieutenant governor will not ask the State Police “to deviate from their normal policies and procedures.”