During a hearing Wednesday in Fresno civil court, attorneys representing Daniel Padilla Jr.'s mother filed a writ mandate asking the district to provide records related to the March 9 incident.
"You have a 14-year-old boy that dies within their custody. I think the parents frankly and any interested member of the community is entitled to answers," said Germain Labat, an attorney for the family.
According to statements made in court, the family submitted a public records request shortly after Daniel's death. Judge Robert M. Whalen questioned the timeline of the legal action that followed.
"You're pushing this so aggressively that within two months time you file this written mandate it just seems as though your definition of prompt may be a little bit skewed," Whalen said.
Daniel's family is still awaiting autopsy results as well as a written update from the district.
The family's attorneys also told the court they were informed by a source about a surveillance video that allegedly captured the entire sequence of events leading up to and following Daniel's collapse. The family is seeking access to the video.
"What was he doing? What were others doing? What people may have been not been involved? How much time elapsed from the time that he collapsed until the time he got aid? What kind of aid did he get?" Labat said.
An attorney for Fresno Unified argued the request is premature and said the district is not withholding information. He told the court the district is reviewing approximately 300,000 documents while also addressing privacy concerns.
"It's not that we've been hiding it. There's in fact a surveillance video from an unknown source we know about it. We've been open about that, but there are a lot of protections that need to be held because we're dealing with an entire student body," said Joshua Milton, an attorney for the district.
No formal lawsuit has been filed.
Judge Whalen ultimately ruled that the district does not have to immediately provide the requested documents. Attorneys for the family said they were disappointed by the decision but will continue seeking information about what happened.
"Whether or not Daniel could've been saved that is something that the parents deserve to hear and deserve to find out," attorney Benjamin Drake said.
"We're a little disappointed with the judge's ruling, but it wasn't unexpected. It is a very difficult situation that the family is going through," Drake added.
The next hearing is set for early September. That's when both sides hope to have a clearer timeline on potential information.
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