A Dane County judge has ruled that recordings of the Brittany Zimmermann 911 call should not be released at this time because Madison police say keeping the audio secret could help them catch the University of Wisconsin-Madison student's killer.

Judge Richard Niess' ruling on Monday settled for now one of the last questions in a lawsuit that has forced the Dane County 911 center to release dozens of pages of reports on how the dispatch center didn't send police after receiving a call from the homicide victim's cell phone at about the time she died.

Niess said that "a lot of crucial information was withheld" and has now been released as a result of the open records lawsuit filed May 13 by news organizations including the Wisconsin State Journal.

Niess criticized the response of public officials following the April 2 homicide and subsequent revelation on May 1 in the weekly newspaper Isthmus that the Dane County 911 center had mishandled the call, saying the response "has been clumsy at best."

He referred to "outright untrue statements" by officials that have been "inexcusable." He didn't provide examples, but public officials have contradicted each other several times about what is on the recordings. While county officials have maintained defective equipment wasn't the reason the 911 operator didn't hear anything on the line, they say they don't have any other explanation except a busy environment in the center.

Bill Lueders, president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, who attended the hearing, said the judge's decision "seemed wildly at odds with his reasoning."

"He started out talking for a good 15 minutes about the importance of openness and there was undeniable public interest in the content of this call. And he laid out pretty clearly that public officials have acted deplorably," Lueders said. "(Then) he ruled on grounds that he trusted them."

One document the judge ordered released last week revealed that Rita Gahagan, the veteran operator who handled the Zimmermann call, sent then-911 director Joe Norwick an e-mail asserting equipment problems may explain why she couldn't hear the scream on the call.

Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk released a summary of the 911 center findings in early May saying the call contained sounds that should have been significant to a communicator, but weren't heard by the communicator.

In response, a union official who heard the recording said contained background noise "like movement."

The sounds recorded from the minute-long call were described as a scream and the sounds of struggle, according to sworn statements from Madison police included in a search warrant that had been sealed for several months but unintentionally released on Dec. 3.

When dealing with a "clumsy public response that has dragged on and required a lawsuit," Niess said. "It seems to me to argue that sunlight is needed," referring to former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis' view that "sunlight is the best disinfectant."

However, Niess ruled against release of the Zimmermann recording, and significant portions of the 911 call placed about 48 minutes later by her fiance, Jordan Gonnering.

Niess said he couldn't hear anything on the audio recording that would explain why the operator didn't hear something that would have indicated an emergency. He acknowledged the question was not whether the recordings should be released, but when.

"I believe there is value on this tape that is of value to the investigation of this crime and apprehension of the murderer," Niess said.

Niess rejected arguments from the city of Madison, Dane County district attorney and attorneys representing Gonnering and the Zimmermann family that the records should be withheld because it would violate the victim's rights under the state constitution. He also dismissed the argument that 911 callers can expect a right to privacy, saying no such provision exists in state law.

The judge indicated the most compelling testimony came from Madison Police Detective John Summers, who was unequivocal in stating the release of the audio would harm the investigation.

Niess didn't agree with Summers' view that using the audio to rule out false confessors was compelling enough to withhold the audio, but he concurred the audio presented a real-time sequence of events and other details that could be used to obtain a confession from a suspect.

A Florida-based law enforcement expert testified last week that releasing more information, including a 911 call, typically helps police solve a homicide, especially after the trail runs cold. Niess rejected that opinion, agreeing with Madison police that they were still pursuing active leads and that the 911 call contained information "only the perpetrator knows."

City Attorney Michael May said he was pleased the judge favored the city's argument and protected the Zimmermann family "from having to relive this tragedy." He defended the city's position on withholding the recording.

"Police detectives and (assistant city attorney) Roger (Allen) have made a concerted effort to do what they can to comply with the open records law," May said.

Media attorney April Barker said her clients have been "generally happy with a lot of the progress that has been made on the case to date," though she said she would have to consult with them before commenting on whether they would appeal the decision.

She said a motion will be made in coming weeks to collect attorney's fees from the county, noting many documents would not have been released except for the lawsuit.

Topf Wells, chief of staff for Falk, said the county understands the judge's decision but doesn't have further comment on the documents that were released.

"We tried to be very careful, following the chief of police and district attorney," Wells said. "We tried to be careful in issuing documents or speaking in order to not impede the investigation."

The State Journal, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WTMJ-TV and WISC-TV filed the lawsuit.