D.A.'s Office withheld key Morris document from city agency

http://www.epgn.com/news/local/8467-d-a-s-office-withheld-key-morris-document-from-city-agency

Tim Cwiek February 5, 2015

In January 2011, the PAC requested from D.A. Seth Williams "any and all 911 tapes, transcripts or other documents or materials that relate in any way to the matter of Nizah Morris."

Last week, a representative of the D.A.'s Office acknowledged that the office had in its possession since 2008 a seven-page list of Morris-related documentation.

But the office didn't provide the list to the PAC, despite the PAC's written request — and a subsequent subpoena — for all Morris-related documentation in the D.A.'s possession.

Morris was a transgender woman of color who was found with a fatal head wound in 2002, minutes after entering a police vehicle for a Center City "courtesy ride."

The evidentiary list was created by the city Law Department in 2003, in response to a wrongful-death suit filed by Morris' mother, Roslyn Wilkins.

That suit was settled in its early stages by a $250,000 city payment.

PGN obtained a copy of the list from an alternate source, and gave it to the PAC, after the D.A.'s Office indicated by omission that it didn't have a copy.

The list shows that dozens of Morris evidentiary items are unaccounted for by police and/or the D.A.'s Office, including comprehensive 911 transmissions.