A Vermont judge has sided with VtDigger and ordered the Vermont Department of Public Safety to release state police audio and video recordings of the arrest more than a year ago of Addison County State’s Attorney Eva Vekos on a drunken driving charge.

Judge Timothy Tomasi, presiding in Washington County Superior civil court in Montpelier, where the lawsuit seeking the recordings was filed, issued the decision Friday.

Vermont Journalism Trust, VtDigger’s parent organization, filed the lawsuit against the state Department of Public Safety after VtDigger had been denied access by the Vermont State Police to video recordings from Vekos’ arrest in January 2024.

Tomasi in his 13-page ruling, granted summary judgment to the Vermont Journalism Trust and denied a summary judgement request from the state Department of Public Safety, effectively ruling in VtDigger’s favor as a matter of law. The judge also stated in his decision that the Department of Public Safety “shall produce all withheld records to VtDigger within 10 days.”

VtDigger submitted a request for the withheld records later Friday afternoon, but did not immediately receive any of the recordings.

Adam Silverman, a state police spokesperson, stated in an email Friday afternoon, “The Department of Public Safety is aware of the decision and is in the process of reviewing it.”

The news organization’s legal team included Heather Murray and Jared Carter of the Cornell First Amendment Clinic in Ithaca, N.Y., and attorney Timothy Cornell of Cornell Dolan, P.C in Boston.

“Releasing body cam footage promotes transparency and holds officers and the public official arrested in the case responsible for their actions,” Murray said Friday.

The state Department of Public Safety was represented by the Vermont Attorney General’s Office, which is also prosecuting the criminal case against Vekos.

The state Department of Public Safety had argued, in part, that releasing the recordings of Vekos’ arrest to the nonprofit news organization ahead of any trial could unfairly impede the state’s attorney’s ability to obtain a fair and impartial jury to hear the case.

VtDigger, meanwhile, contended that the withheld recordings should be publicly released pursuant to the state’s Public Records Act.

Following extensive briefing and oral arguments in the case, Tomasi ultimately ruled in VtDigger’s favor.

“There is no allegation whatsoever to the effect that disclosure will make the selection of a fair and unbiased jury impossible or unreasonably onerous,” Tomasi wrote in his decision. “The videos include the audio and visual aspects to what interested members of the public already know.”

Charging documents publicly filed in the case referred in text to the audio and video images captured by the police recordings.

Vekos was arrested on the night of Jan. 25, 2024, on the drunken driving charge after she allegedly drove impaired to the scene of a suspicious death investigation in Bridport, Vt.

According to charging documents, she refused state police requests to perform field sobriety tests or to take a breath test. Also, the documents stated, she would not agree to be photographed or fingerprinted once at the state police barracks in New Haven, Vt., where she was processed for the charge of driving under the influence.

She has since pleaded not guilty to the charge, which remains pending. A hearing in the case is set for later this month.

Vekos has continued to serve as the state’s attorney in Addison County while the case has been pending.

David Sleigh, an attorney for Vekos, said Friday afternoon he had “taken no position” on the public records lawsuit.