Okla. judge releases 911 tape

The recording of a 911 call from a Pryor, Okla., woman who drowned after her car was swept into the floodwaters was released, Tulsa World reported. An attorney representing the victim's family argued that the release served no public purpose and would cause the family "severe and irreparable injury and harm" in the form of "emotional trauma."

A Mayes County judge on Monday approved the release of a 911 recording from a Pryor woman who died this month after her car was swept away in floodwaters.

In issuing his order, District Judge Terry McBride blocked a permanent injunction sought by William Kendrick against 911 service operator Mayes Emergency Services Trust, which contacted the Kendrick family after receiving media requests for the recording. William Kendrick's daughter, Kimberlyn Rae Kendrick, pleaded for help in a 911 call to the emergency service before she drowned May 2.

On Monday, McBride told the court that Kimberlyn's "final words seem private. However, there is no exception in the Oklahoma (Open) Records Act that I could find to deny access to those public records."

More here.