Accused of releasing secret documents to the media in violation of a court order, a lawyer suing Little Rock Police Chief Keith Humphrey says he's done nothing that Humphrey hasn't done himself.
Humphrey's lawyers have accused attorney Chris Burks of violating a 2-week-old secrecy agreement between the sides, and have asked Pulaski County Circuit Judge Chris Piazza to sanction Burks for the recent disclosure of Humphrey's text messages to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Burks represents eight current and former officers who are suing the chief over claims of workplace mistreatment.
In his written response to the accusations, Burks denied wrongdoing Wednesday, saying that Humphrey himself "has unclean hands" for releasing text messages and documents to an opinion writer for The Washington Post. Burks further contends Humphrey also has spoken to the Post, one of the country's largest newspapers.
Burks said all he did was confirm for the Democrat-Gazette the authenticity of what had been published in the Post. Everything else he gave and anything else he said to the Democrat-Gazette happened before the secrecy agreement was reached by the parties and formalized Nov. 17 as a court order by the judge, Burks wrote in his response.
Burks said his most recent communication with the Democrat-Gazette, reflected in an article published Saturday, was "only attempting to confirm the authenticity of text messages ... that had already been released and given to The Washington Post by Humphrey."
What Humphrey's lawyers really want to do is delay the litigation and "muddy the waters" because they knew Burks is now asking the judge to release redacted versions of records about the human-resources investigation into the chief, Burks said. Humphrey has falsely claimed that investigation has cleared him of wrongdoing, Burks contended.
Burks argues that Humphrey has waived any interest he has in keeping those records secret by giving the materials to the Post and by holding a news conference where he talked about the human-resources inquiry.
Humphrey has further given up any secrecy claims he might make through the contempt motion against Burks that discloses more information about the human-resources investigation, Burks states.
"Humphrey has himself again waived his privacy interest in the Human Resource investigation into him by releasing and excerpting publicly from the transcript of the deposition about it in his present motion," Burks' pleading states.