San Francisco has offered a freelance videographer nearly $400,000 to settle a legal claim the journalist filed against the city after police raided his apartment several times last year.
The proposed settlement of $369,000 from the city and county of San Francisco will be presented to the city’s Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, according to the San Francisco Examiner. Government officials have offered the settlement to stave off court action from journalist Bryan Carmody.
Police conducted a series of raids against Carmody in 2019, searching his home, office, and phone records. Police also confiscated Carmody’s equipment, notes, and other belongings, trying to find out who may have leaked official police records to the journalist.
In February 2019, Carmody received a police report on the death of Jeff Adachi, a public defender and critic of the city’s police department. Carmody then sold the leaked document to a number of local television stations. The document revealed that the city’s medical examiner ruled Adachi’s death an accidental overdose from alcohol and cocaine, contradicting Adachi’s family’s claim that the public defender died from natural causes.
Five San Francisco judges approved five search warrants for police to raid Carmody’s property and confiscate his possessions and records despite state laws creating special protections for journalists handling leaked documents and information.
“We think this proposed settlement is an appropriate resolution given all of the circumstances and the inherent cost of further litigation,” City Attorney’s Office spokesman John Cote said.
