Avonte Oquendo's mom is going to court to force the city to turn over the NYPD's private files on her son being allowed to walk out of a Queens school.
Vanessa Fontaine, in court papers filed Wednesday in Manhattan Supreme Court, is trying to overturn the city's denial of her request for internal reports on the incident.
The city rejected Fontaine's request under the Freedom of Information Law, saying that the release of that data would interfere with a police investigation.
Later, the agency said the release could also involve an “invasion of privacy” and “endanger the life or safety” of a person.
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The city Medical Examiner confirmed Tuesday that the body parts found on rocks in College Point, Queens, matched the DNA of the teenager who was not able to speak and was supposed to be under close supervision in the school because he had a history of unauthorized departures.
Fontaine's lawyer, David Perecman, in court papers rejected the citys arguments saying evidence of how he left the school was “simply not relevant” to the police search.
“All that is sought is information about how Avonte came to be outside of his school unattended. Such information does not give rise to any legitimate concern about the privacy of Avonte,” he said.
Perecman said that the family knows from press reports and limited data released by city officials that there was a delay by school officials of 45 minutes to an hour before the NYPD was notified of the boy's disappearance.
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Perecman also wrote in the court papers that the school could not immediately view its security tapes “because of confusion surrounding the attempt to obtain the access codes from the School Security Division needed before school administrators could review the videotapes.”
In addition, he noted, there are conflicting reports about the actions of a school safety agent: By one account, she told school administrators that Avonte had disappeared into the building; another account has her closing the side door that he used to leave theLong Island City facility.
Perecman is asking Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Carol Huff to overturn the city's denial as arbitrary and capricious, in anticipation of filing a $25 million dollar lawsuit against the city.
A spokeswoman for the city Law Department said, “This involves a terrible tragedy, and the City's thoughts are with Avonte's family. We will review the legal case thoroughly once it's received.”
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Meanwhile, Cyril Wecht, forensic specialist and former coroner of Alleghaney County, PA, believes that the medical examiner will never determine Avonte’s cause of death.
Wecht said Avonte’s rate of decomposition and the fact that among the body parts missing are the lungs, which is usually tested to see if he drowned.
“Even if they find the lungs, they won't be able to determine the cause of death with this degree of decomposition. And you need the lungs to determine if the person was alive (when he ended up in the water).
“They're never going to be able to rule out drowning,” he said. “They're also not going to be able to rule out homicide. What if someone threw him in the water?”
The NYPD's prevailing belief is that Avonte fell into the water and drowned.
Cause of death has yet to be determined.
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