James Hahn appeared as Los Angeles City Attorney representing the Los Angeles Police Commission's interest in obtaining access to the Fuhrman tapes — the recordings made by screenwriter Laura Hart McKinny that became central to the defense's attack on Detective Mark Fuhrman's credibility. Across two hearing appearances in August and September 1995, Hahn argued that the Police Commission needed its own copies of the tapes and transcripts to conduct a proper internal investigation into the allegations against Fuhrman, contending that the existing arrangement of listening and taking notes at the McKinny attorneys' office was too cumbersome for reliable investigative work. Judge Ito, while sympathetic, expressed uncertainty about whether he had jurisdictional authority to grant access to non-parties and instead brokered a compromise involving supervised copies of the prosecution's transcript.