SeaWorld trainer's family can keep death photos, video private

ORLANDO, Fla. — The family of the SeaWorld Orlando trainer drowned by a killer whale last month gained a temporary order to keep photos and videos that captured her death out of the public eye.

An Orange County Circuit Court judge late Monday granted Dawn Brancheau's family its request for a temporary restraining order against the Medical Examiner's Office and the Orange County Sheriff's Office. The Sheriff's Office is investigating Brancheau's Feb. 24 death at the theme park.

At issue are photographs taken by Orange County deputies and SeaWorld video that park officials turned over to the Sheriff's Office after the orca grabbed Brancheau by her ponytail, pulled her into the water and then drowned her.

There are video records. One is an underwater view from a camera in a window in the pool. The second is an overhead view from a camera mounted on the park's Sky Tower, according to the Brancheau's complaint, which was filed Friday.

The underwater view doesn't show Brancheau until after she enters the water, the complaint said. The Sky Tower camera wasn't aimed at the scene until after the incident occurred.

Neither video shows events leading up to Brancheau being pulled into the water, according to the complaint.

"What the videos do depict is Mrs. Brancheau's drowning and her lifeless body," the complaint said.

By Florida law, materials collected by the Sheriff's Office as part of its investigation will become public record when the agency's investigation concludes.

Orange Circuit Court Judge Lawrence Kirkwood set a March 24 hearing to determine the length of the injunction. At that hearing, any other interested parties can be heard.

Several media outlets, including national networks and the Orlando Sentinel, have requests for any and all public records related to the case, the Sheriff's Office said.

Sheriff's Office attorneys take no position on the request. The Medical Examiner's Office filed no objection, according to Kirkwood's order.

Kirkwood has the "responsibility to balance the individual's interest in keeping the records private against the public's right do disclosure," he wrote in the six-page order.

The judge will be looking at several factors when deciding what to do.

He'll have to determine if releasing the information furthers the public's evaluation of "governmental accountability."

And he'll weigh how intrusive the videos and pictures are to the relatives if the information is released. Kirkwood will inquire whether other material that is "equally relevant" but less intrusive is available.

In an affidavit also filed Friday, Scott Brancheau stated he fears the release of the video footage and photos would lead to the "widespread and irreversible dissemination" of the items on the Internet.

The release of such images, "which graphically depict the circumstances of the death of my wife ... will cause me untold anguish, grief and pain," Brancheau stated.

The Brancheau family — including Dawn Brancheau's mother, sister and brother — is represented by Jon Mills, an emeritus dean at University of Florida's Levin College of Law and a former speaker of the Florida House of Representatives.

It is also represented by Karen Dyer, wife of Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, according to the order.

Mills was part of the legal team that represented the widow of NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt in her battle to prevent the release of her husband's autopsy photos after he was killed in a 2001 race crash in Daytona Beach.