A judge has ordered the release of Denver police body-worn camera footage related to the case of a man accused of shooting and killing 52-year-old Emmanuel Amani in April.

An attorney for defendant Elroy Lee had invoked a provision in Colorado’s new body-cam footage law that permits objections to the public disclosure of recordings on constitutional grounds “if criminal charges have been filed against any party” to an incident.

Releasing the footage could taint the testimony of a witness and jeopardize Lee’s right to a fair trial, the attorney argued during a court hearing and in an objection filed with the court.

But Denver District Court Judge Jay Grant wrote in an Aug. 14 order that he “is not persuaded that the disclosure of the BWC (body-worn camera) footage would amount to a violation (of) the defendant’s right to confrontation … If there is any ‘contamination’ due to a witness viewing the BWC footage prior to trial, that can be effectively addressed during the cross examination of a witness.”

The body camera footage law that went into effect last year generally requires the public disclosure of unedited video and audio recordings of incidents “in which there is a complaint of peace officer misconduct by another peace officer, a civilian, or nonprofit organization” within 21 days after a request is made. Constitutional objections are allowed before the 21-day period expires.