TV Show May Not Have to Release Investigation Tapes

A reality-based television police show may not have to release tapes of a quadruple homicide investigation to the defense, as a Municipal Court commissioner had previously ruled.

A state court of appeals this week granted “A&E; Detectives” a stay of the earlier ruling until it can review the matter.

Commissioner Gerald Richardson last month ordered that the tapes be turned over after saying he had seen footage of detectives discussing how to delay the release of a document and plotting to keep a young witness from speaking to the defense. He said those images were vital to the defense, but delayed the release to allow the television show time to appeal.

The stay, which was granted Monday, was announced at a hearing in Richardson’s court Wednesday.

Lawyers for the production company have opposed the release, arguing that the California shield law, which protects journalists as they gather news, shelters the tapes from confiscation.

Deputy Public Defender Howard Waco has been trying to obtain the tapes for months, after he learned that cameramen from A&E; filmed the Saugus crime scene moments after his client, Sandi Nieves, allegedly killed her four daughters and tried to kill her son.

The crew had followed the investigators as they worked the case, taping 13 hours of interviews and conversations.

Prosecutors said the evidence referred to on the tapes was turned over to the defense months ago and the witness--the defendant’s 14-year-old son--has on many occasions refused to speak to his mother or her lawyer.