Judge grants parents of Columbine gunmen input on release of evidence

Harris, left and Klebold

May 5, 2000
Web posted at: 7:13 PM EDT (2313 GMT)

GOLDEN, Colorado (CNN) -- The parents of Columbine High School shooters Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris will be allowed input when it comes to the public release of evidence related to the shootings.

Jefferson County District Judge R. Brooke Jackson on Friday granted the "motion to intervene" filed last Friday by attorneys for Thomas and Susan Klebold and Wayne and Katherine Harris.

The judge's order states, in part, that the families "have moved to intervene in order to be heard concerning materials taken from their homes. ... The motions are granted."

The parents wanted to keep private materials seized from their homes following their sons' deadly shooting rampage at the high school on April 20, 1999, which left 13 people dead and 26 others wounded. Both boys committed suicide.

The Klebold and Harris families wanted their legal and privacy rights considered by the court as the review for release of evidentiary materials continues.

Judge Jackson has ordered the public release of the Littleton Fire Department Training Video, which shows school interiors taped shortly after the shootings -- and tape shot during the shootings from KCNC-TV's helicopter. He has also ordered that the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department release its final report on the shooting by May 15.

Some 35 to 40 hours of 911 recordings are also under judicial review, and Jackson is expected to issue an order regarding which of those recordings, if any, he will approve for release. His decision could come as soon as Monday.

Also Friday, attorneys for the parents of Dylan Klebold filed a motion asking that their clients be allowed immediate access to certain evidentiary materials. The motion seeks to have the Klebolds see videotapes, the sheriff department's draft of their final report and all items taken from their home by investigators following the shootings.

All these materials have already been made available to the families of slain Columbine students Kelly Fleming and Daniel Rohrbough as a result of their lawsuit against Jefferson County Sheriff John Stone.

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