Judge Won't Lock Up Columbine Tapes

By: Jennifer Hamilton, Associated Press Writer (AP) Four videotapes made by the Columbine High killers do not have to be locked away in an evidence room and can remain in lawyers' offices, despite fears of leaks, a federal judge ruled Friday.

The tapes are evidence in a lawsuit brought by a Columbine survivor against the pharmaceutical company that made an anti-depressant taken by one of the teenage gunmen.

The videotapes show Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold brandishing the weapons they used in the attack and donning the clothes they wore. The boys' parents had sought to keep the videotapes under lock and key during the trial, for fear they would be leaked to the media.

But U.S. District Judge Clarence Brimmer turned them down, saying: "In preparing a case for trial, you need to have the matters you will deal with to work on, and you need it in your office."

Other videos in which the killers said how they were going to carry out the attacks will remain locked up, along with writings by the killers.

Harris and Klebold shot to death 12 students and a teacher before killing themselves in 1999.

"There is a tremendous thirst by the press and the media for the images of these two men," said Mike Montgomery, a lawyer for the Harris family.

He said the parents do not want to run the risk that the videotapes could be broadcast on television, offered in video rental stores, or over the Internet, potentially glorifying the attack.

The lawsuit was brought by Columbine survivor Mark Taylor against Solvay Pharmaceuticals, which makes the anti-depressant Luvox. Taylor, who was wounded by Harris, claims Luvox made Harris homicidal.