Judge: JCPS must turn over Gilpin interviews

This from Toni Konz at C-J:

Jefferson County Public Schools must give the commonwealth attorney's office its interviews with players, coaches and other witnesses that are part of its investigation into football player Max Gilpin's death last fall, a judge ruled Friday.

Circuit Judge Susan Schultz Gibson ordered district officials to turn over the interviews that prosecutors had subpoenaed for its criminal case against Jason Stinson, Max's former head football coach at Pleasure Ridge Park High School.

However, the judge ruled that those interviews must be sealed from the public "until further order of the court." And she instructed the school board to notify the court "when the investigation is complete." ...

Schultz Gibson ruled that while prosecutors may have those statements, the rest of the district's findings don't have to be released until district officials close their investigation.

The judge said that the "release of the (school board) investigation to the public while the investigation is ongoing could potentially result in a chilling effect, which would call into question the truthfulness and accuracy of any subsequent statements and contribute to the very problem of conflicting testimony."

She noted the school system has "publicly stated" that the investigation will be released, meaning "the public will ultimately have access to the same materials requested now by the commonwealth." ...