Rochester must pay $10,000 in police video case

A state Supreme Court Justice, who ordered Rochester officials to provide police body camera video to a city resident, has now ordered the city to pay $10,000 in legal fees related to the battle over the video.

On Oct. 19, 2018, a Rochester police officer shot a dog owned by Charles Dempsey in Dempsey’s fenced-in backyard on Kosciusko Street, according to court papers. Dempsey claims the officer entered the property without his permission and without a warrant.

Dempsey asked the city for the body camera video of the incident and was told an email in January 2018 “that it did not possess any body-worn camera recording of (the officer) shooting and killing Tesla,” according to court papers.

But when Dempsey’s attorney, Elliot D. Shields, filed a request for the video under New York state’s Freedom of Information Law, city officials acknowledged that the incident actually was recorded, but refused to provide the recording.

Shields appealed the decision to state Supreme Court. In a decision dated April 25, Justice Ann Marie Taddeo ordered the city to provide the video, which has been provided, Shields said.

In the April decision, Taddeo also ordered the city to pay attorney fees and expenses related to the legal fight over the video. Shields subsequently filed a formal request for the money.

Shields asked for $37,540 in attorney fees and $798.85 in costs. The fees were calculated based on 65.1 hours of work at an hourly rate of $450 for Shields and 9.7 hours of work at a rate of $850 for David A. Roth, founding partner of Roth & Roth LLP in New York City, where Shields is an associate.

In a decision filed July 30, Taddeo ordered the city to pay fees and costs of $10,000 without any explanation about how she decided on the amount.

“We are pleased that the Court recognized the City’s claim that the body camera videos were exempt was meritless. Hopefully this decision will encourage the City to comply with their FOIL obligations in the future,” Shields said.

City officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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