The Tennessee Supreme Court ruled Friday to stop the release of police records about the investigation into Naomi Judd’s death.
With the move to overrule a lower court, the case will return to a state chancery court for another review. Previously, Williamson County Chancellor Joseph Woodruff ruled that the state records law allowed Judd’s records to be released. He found that the documents “do not appear to fall within any recognized exception to the Public Records Act.”
The matriarch of the Judd family and country music legend died at the age of 76 in April. Judd had reportedly dealt with depression for years before her death.
The family of Naomi Judd had filed a court petition requesting that documents related to her death remain confidential. The petition noted that Ashley Judd found her mother alive after a self-inflicted firearm wound and waited with her for around 30 minutes until help arrived, according to the Tennessean. The elder Judd died just one day before she, along with her oldest daughter Wynonna, were to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
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“Naomi Judd should be remembered for the way she lived and not in the matter in which she died,” said family statements contained within the petition.
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With the case sent the case back to the Chancery Court, the Tennessee Supreme Court said a new hearing should be held on the documents, which include family interviews with police.
