Naomi Judd.Photo: Paul Redmond/Getty
The familyofNaomi Juddhas reportedly requested a voluntary dismissal of a lawsuit blocking access to police investigation records surrounding her death.
The family previously expressed concern in a petition over public access to the details of Naomi’s death in April, arguing it would cause “significant and irreparable harm.” On Tuesday, however, theAssociated Pressreported they are willing to have it dismissed — though it’s still subject to approval.
According to the outlet, part of the reason for the dismissal is because the journalists who requested the police records are not requesting photographs or body cam footage from inside the home.
The notice also mentions the introduction of a bill which aims to keep death investigations private, so long as the death is not the result of a crime, according to the AP.
In August,the family filed a petitionin a Tennessee court to seal police reports and recordings from the investigation into thecountry legend’s death, which also included interviews with the family after her death.
Ashley Judd, Naomi Judd and Wynonna Judd.Ke.Mazur/WireImage
In the petition, Strickland stated that he was unaware that his interviews with police were being recorded and he consequently provided personal information.
According to the documents, Ashley was in “clinical shock, active trauma and acute distress” following her mother’s death, and she did not want the recordings of interviews to be made public.
The petition also stated the family wanted to prohibit the disclosure of Naomi’s medical records.
Later that month, Ashley, 54, wrote a guest essay forThe New York Timesand opened up about how the aftermath of her mother’s suicide has made hertake legal actionto protect grieving families from unwarranted intrusion into their private lives.
“The trauma of discovering and then holding her laboring body haunts my nights,” Ashley wrote inThe New York Timesabout her mother’s April 30 death, adding that it was “the most shattering day of my life.”
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“In the immediate aftermath of a life-altering tragedy, when we are in a state of acute shock, trauma, panic and distress, the authorities show up to talk to us,” she wrote, adding that she was too shaken to think through her answers or even begin to consider her own questions about privacy.
“I felt cornered and powerless as law enforcement officers began questioning me while the last of my mother’s life was fading,” she added. “I wanted to be comforting her, telling her how she was about to see her daddy and younger brother as she ‘went away home,’ as we say in Appalachia.”
source: people.com
