RALEIGH, N.C. — A judge in Wake County ordered the North Carolina State Highway Patrol to release all recordings tied to a deadly October crash in Raleigh.

What You Need To Know

  • A Wake County judge has ruled that the North Carolina State Highway Patrol must release the videos from a deadly crash in Raleigh in October

  • Trooper Garrett Macario and Sgt. Matthew Morrison are under investigation for their handling of the crash 

  • A petition was filed by news outlets to release the videos on the grounds of compelling public interest

  • Recordings should be made public next week, according to the judge's order

The dash and body cam video from the responding state trooper plus other officers on scene early Oct. 7 will be made available for media access to show the public what happened the night Tyrone Mason died. Friday’s hearing came after a jointly filed media petition.            

During a virtual hearing, lawyers argued about whether those videos should be released and whether it could impact the Highway Patrol’s ongoing internal investigation.

Joseph Vellon represented the Highway Patrol on behalf of the state Department of Justice.

“When we talk about footage that captures the circumstances of potential offenses and potential misconduct, releasing that into the public could indirectly impact and apply pressure to decision makers in different types of proceedings,” Vellon said.

Mike Tadych, a lawyer for the media outlets, said that argument had no merit.

“If a picture is worth a thousand words, recorded video and audio has even greater worth in the realm of transparency and accountability,” Tadych said.  

The judge’s decision could lead to more answers and transparency in a case that already led to the dismissal of about 180 other cases in Wake County by District Attorney Lorrin Freeman.

Freeman has talked at length about why those cases were dismissed.

“Any time we have questions about an officer’s credibility, it’s alarming and concerning,” she said. “We’re not going to put cases forward in which we have reason to mistrust what might be behind them.”

At the center of the case are the responding officer, Trooper Garrett Macario, and his supervisor, Sgt. Matthew Morrison. 

Investigators said Macario tried to stop Mason before the deadly crash on Capital Boulevard in October. 

However, documents show that Macario called Morrison after the crash and that Morrison advised Macario not to tell Raleigh police officers on the scene that he tried to stop Mason. 

Instead, Macario said he just drove up on the wreck, according to warrants. 

Henrietta Mason, Tyrone Mason's mother, spoke in March about how the case has unfolded and has demanded transparency in the handling of the case. 

“I watched my baby born into this world. I never thought my baby would be leaving this world before me,” she said.

Macario and Morrison have been on administrative leave for several months.

Tadych said the judge is ordering the release of that footage by next week.

"Today's decision is a win for justice and it proves what we've believed all along," lawyers for Mason's family said.