A Dane County judge granted a motion Wednesday allowing a portion of the digital recording of the 911 call of the Brittany Zimmermann murder to be used by the counsel of the Zimmermann estate in their wrongful death lawsuit

Zimmermann was a University of Wisconsin junior found slain in her Doty Street residence in April 2008. An emergency call was made, but no police were sent to the residence.

The Zimmermann family sued Dane County and the property manager of the residence, Wisconsin Management Company Inc., in a wrongful death civil suit.

In order to build the case in the discovery phase of the proceedings, Robert Elliott, attorney for the Zimmermann family, sought to have access to a portion of the 911 call during the incident made available to him and his clients, calling it a “seminal piece of evidence” to start the discovery process.

David McFarlane, an attorney representing Dane County and 911 dispatcher Rita Gahagan, argued against the motion, saying it would risk the recording reaching a greater audience than just the pertinent legal parties.

“This limited release … makes it easier for news media to make open records requests,” McFarlane said, adding granting the motion would cross this threshold.

Elliot said a gag order would solve this problem, and the motion would still be valid.

Media organizations previously brought a case before a judge to be allowed access to the 911 call, but this was ultimately denied.

Judge Maryann Sumi granted the request, given the limited nature of the motion and how it only calls for specific uses for the digital recording. Sumi emphasized the motion is not calling for the release to the general public.

Sumi also denied the motion from Dane County to delay the case until the conclusion of the police investigation into the murder.

Elliot argued it has been a year and a half since the plaintiffs filed the case, and it should start to get underway on the basis that there is dwindling evidence and witnesses for his case.

“My case is eroding if we don’t get started,” Elliott said.

Sumi said she does not intend to delay any of the proceedings, and both sides have the right for the case to come to an end.