Long awaited South Bend Police tapes trial pushed back to June

MISHAWAKA, Ind. -- Another delay in the controversial South Bend Police tapes trial.

The long- awaited case is now pushed back to next summer.

Back in May, a St. Joseph County Superior Court Judge set the date for Nov. 20, but after a Pre-trial hearing Friday morning, the bench trial will now begin June 18.

The case summary is more than 50 pages long, spanning over a decade, and Friday a new update was made.

The tapes at the center of the case are said to contain possibly racist, unethical, and even illegal comments between past leaders of the department.

The question at the center of the case is if they were obtained legally.

The South Bend Common Council has until the original trial date next month to file any motions.

The intervenor plaintiff will then have until Jan. 17 to respond.

A hearing on the motions, and a final pretrial conference will follow before the two-day trial in June can begin.

ABC57 first reported Common Council member, Oliver Davis’ call for the tapes to be subpoenaed back in 2012.

"And I think it's important for us to finally have that closure so we can clearly as a whole city continue to move forward. We have better police relations. We have more things on level and levels. We still O'Brien and we still groin in other areas and I think this can help us in the areas that we need to grow,” said Davis.

Mayor Mueller adding in a statement,

"I support the Common Council's call for transparency and believe that confronting truths together, however difficult, is the path toward healing in our community. I look forward to the Court resolving this matter once and for all after over a decade and millions of dollars of litigation expenses. While we wait on the Court's decision, we must continue building trust and making our city a fairer and safer place for everyone."

SBPD declined to comment.