Bradenton Police Sued For Withholding Cold Case Documents: Report

BRADENTON, FL — The Bradenton Police Department has been sued for refusing to release records from a cold case homicide, the Herald-Tribune said.

Michael Barfield, a Sarasota paralegal and president of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, submitted an emergency petition to the Twelfth Judicial Circuit Court requesting the release of the documents, reports said.

According to the lawsuit, the BPD violated the Florida Public Records Act by not providing documents related to the 2000 murder of Tara Reilly. The 25-year-old woman’s naked body was found behind Walmart on Cortez Road in Bradenton, reports said.

The Herald-Tribune also was denied the documents after requesting them from the BPD on Dec. 18.

The newspaper published an investigative piece about the cold case Nov. 22. In the article, the brother of death row inmate Joseph Smith, who was convicted of kidnapping, raping and murdering 11-year-old Carlie Brucia in 2004, said he believes his brother is responsible for Reilly’s death.

BPD told the Herald-Tribune that it won’t release the documents requested because it’s part of an active criminal investigation, reports said.