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 ustin,
Texas city lawyers have decided to send a tape recording of the
911 call that led to underage-drinking citations for 19-year-old
presidential daughters Jenna and Barbara Bush to the state attorney
general's office for a legal analysis of its contents, according
to law enforcement officials. The Austin police department has received
several media requests for the tape's release, but city lawyers,
after listening to the recording, decided to seek a legal opinion
from the attorney general on whether the tape contains information
that should not be made public.
"I don't know what is on the tape that they may be concerned about,"
says Laura Albrecht, spokeswoman for the Austin Police Department.
Albrecht says that when police receive a request for the public
release of a tape, they check the recording for information that
might be deemed non-public — perhaps someone's Social Security
number or medical records or other confidential information —
before they release the tape. "If there's anything on a tape that
is not public, we will send it to the [city] legal department,"
Albrecht says. Now, the tape will be forwarded to the attorney general.
Texas' attorney general, John Cornyn, is a Republican who was elected
in 1998.
The process could delay release of the tape for several weeks and
perhaps months. Texas's open records law allows the police department
to wait ten business days after the first request before sending
an inquiry to the attorney general. Then, the law gives the attorney
general 45 business days to make a decision. Altogether, that could
amount to nearly three months' delay.
Mia Lawrence, manager of Chuy's restaurant, called 911 on the night
of May 29 to report that the Bush daughters had attempted to buy
alcohol, with Jenna Bush allegedly using a false identification
card. The police officer who answered the call suggested that Lawrence
simply confiscate Jenna Bush's fake ID. The officer explained that
since police had not actually witnessed the alleged crime, they
would have to perform an investigation before charging the Bush
daughters with any wrongdoing. Police spokeswoman Laura Albrecht
says Lawrence was not happy with the officer's advice. "She wasn't
pleased that they [the Bush sisters] did not receive a citation
immediately," Albrecht says. "But that's something the officer has
to determine at the time."
It is not known if the tape of the 911 call will reveal any new
information about the incident or about Lawrence's demeanor, or
whether it will shed light on Lawrence's decision to call 911, which
experts say is an unusual reaction to such a minor offense. Both
Jenna Bush and Barbara Bush are charged with what are known as Class
C misdemeanors, the least serious criminal charge that police can
make.
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