Local Open Government Blog : Open Government Law : Foster Pepper Law Firm : Northwest, Seattle, Spokane, Portland Lawyer & Attorney

Less than twenty four hours after Wednesday’s post on New Mexico’s Supreme Court’s decision on disclosure of police misconduct records, the Washington State Supreme Court issued a decision in Bainbridge Island Police Guild v. City of Puyallup, No. 823740-0.  In Bainbridge Island, the Court addressed whether complaints alleging police misconduct must be disclosed under Washington State’s Public Records Act (“PRA”) even if the accusations are unfounded or unsubstantiated.

The case was brought by a citizen who alleged that a police officer sexually and physically assaulted her during the course of a traffic stop. Investigations were conducted by the cities of Puyallup (criminal) and Mercer Island (internal investigation).  Each investigation found the claims to be unsubstantiated.  The case garnered media attention, and several journalists and news organizations, in addition to the complainant herself, made public records requests for the investigative reports.  The cities of Puyallup and Mercer Island informed the requestors that the documents would be produced absent an injunction, which the Police Guild and the implicated officer sought (though not before at least one of the reports had been released and information published by some media sources).

Subsequent records requests and demands for injunctions led to in camera review of the documents by a Kitsap County Superior Court judge, who determined that the reports should be withheld under the investigative report exception to the PRA, RCW 42.56.240(1).  Injunctions were also sought against requestors in Pierce County Superior Court.  That court determined that the Puyallup report could be withheld from disclosure under the personal information exemption to the PRA, former RCW 42.56.230(2) and privacy concerns under RCW 42.56.050.  Injunctions enjoining disclosure of the reports were granted in King County Superior Court on the same grounds.

The Supreme Court accepted direct review.  The lead opinion (4 justices) overturned the King and Pierce County decisions, which had determined that the reports could be withheld in their entirety based on privacy concerns under the PRA’s personal information exemption.  Personal information is not defined in the PRA, but has been defined by the Supreme Court as “information relating to or affecting a particular individual, information associated with private concerns or information that is public and not general.”  Bellevue John Does 1-11 v. Bellevue Sch. Dist. No. 405, 164 Wn.2d 199, 211, 189 P.3d 139 (2008).  The Court rejected the trial courts’ determination that the reports should be withheld in their entirety, and instead instructed the agencies to produce the records, but redact identifying information (i.e. the officer’s name, social security number or other identifying data) in order to protect personal privacy interests.  The Court compared the unsubstantiated allegations against police officers with the Bellevue John Does case, where the Court found the names of public school teachers who are the subject of unsubstantiated allegations of sexual misconduct are exempt from disclosure, but the underlying investigative reports (with names redacted) were subject to release.  The Court also addressed the investigative records exemption to the PRA, RCW 42.56.240(1) (raised in the Kitsap County Superior Court case), and found it inapplicable, as the records are not essential to effective law enforcement.  Disclosure of the records (without identifying information) was justified by the public’s “legitimate interest” in knowing how the allegations of misconduct were investigated. Opinion at 18-22; see also RCW 42.56.050.

In contrast, the concurrence/dissent (4 justices) asserted that the entire record should be released, including the officer’s name.  Justice Madsen wrote that an officer’s name does not need to be redacted in an investigation or complaint against a police officer for sexual misconduct, because such allegations “in no way involve the details of one’s personal and private life.” Concurrence/dissent at 1.  “Public records relating to alleged misconduct of public servants and who government agents investigate such allegations are quintessential examples of the kind of information that the PRA opens to scrutiny.  The public has the right to know… .” Concurrence/dissent at 2.  That opinion would hold that the exemptions raised by the Police Guild and the officer did not justify nondisclosure.

Finally, Justice Johnson wrote a lone dissent finding that the two investigative reports “fit squarely” within the PRA exemption for investigative records, thus should not be disclosed at all. He found the lead opinion to be inconsistent with Bellevue John Does.

The practical result of these decisions is that disclosure outweighs privacy concerns in the arena of public employees’ misconduct. Investigative records detailing claims of misconduct must be released and available to the public. This will likely apply across the board to all public sector employees, and will not be limited solely to law enforcement or education. Even if allegations are unsubstantiated, the record must be released, though with redaction of names or personal identifying information.

Click here for a recent Seattle Times article on the decision.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

In a unanimous decision, the Washington Supreme Court again came down in favor of expansive public records disclosure and narrow reading of exemptions from disclosure, this time in the realm of investigation records during pending criminal trials. Among the public records at issue in Seattle Times Co., et al. v. Serko & Chushcoff, et al., Case No. 84691-0 (Nov. 18, 2010) were materials gathered during the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office investigation of the Maurice Clemmons police killings. In 2009, Clemmons shot and killed four Lakewood police officers, then evaded law enforcement with assistance from his friends and family before being killed himself by a Seattle police officer. Soon after, criminal proceedings began against Clemmons’ alleged accomplices.

The Seattle Times and others requested records related to the Clemmons investigation from the Sheriff, which he intended to release. The criminal defendants sought to stop the Sheriff from producing “any and all” records responsive to the requests, claiming the records were exempt “because their production would impair their right to a fair trial.” More specifically, the defendants argued that release of the materials would result in media coverage that could taint the future jury pool. Ruling for the defendants, the trial court relied on RCW 42.56.540, which allows the superior courts to enjoin disclosure of a public record if doing so “would clearly not be in the public interest and would substantially and irreparably damage any person… or vital government functions.”

The Supreme Court, however, vacated the trial court’s order and reaffirmed its previous holding that RCW 42.56.540 is a procedural provision allowing for injunctive relief to enforce records release exemptions, but does not otherwise provide any specific exemption. See Progressive Animal Welfare Soc'y v. Univ. of Wash., 125 Wn.2d 243, 257, 884 P.2d 592 (1994). The Court allowed that fair trial rights may sometimes be a basis for suppressing records, but that in this context the withholding must be analyzed like any other precautionary measure aimed at issues regarding pre-trial publicity, e.g. change of venue or a gag order. But the defendants had to show a probability of unfairness or prejudice from pre-trial publicity. And then the trial court would need to inquire into other alternatives to suppression and “find with particularity” that it is more probable than not that unfairness or prejudice would result from disclosure. The trial court’s order here was not particular regarding resulting unfairness or prejudice and did not consider alternatives, so the Court found the order suppressing records had no proper basis.

Beyond this main holding, the Court discussed several other public records issues:

• Writs of mandamus remain a proper tool for third parties seeking disclosure of information related to a criminal trial because intervention is unavailable. But the Court acknowledges that Washington’s rule may be out of step with other states that allow direct third-party intervention in criminal cases for the purpose of information gathering.
• The Court rejected the criminal defendants’ theories that the work-product privilege extends from the prosecutor’s office (from which records were not requested) to the law enforcement agency (from which records were requested). Police are not merely the investigatory arm of the prosecutor. Work-product only includes material prepared by the attorney, not prepared on behalf of the attorney.
• The PRA exemption for law enforcement investigative records exemption, RCW 42.56.240, has limited application, generally covering only the time before a suspect has been arrested and the matter has been referred to the prosecutor.
   

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Last month, the Supreme Court of Nebraska addressed a public records request for documents prepared by a private investigator at the direction of the mayor of the City of Kimball, Nebraska. Evertson v. City of Kimball, No. S-08-524 (Neb. July 2, 2009). The Court found that the documents were public records, but that they were exempt from disclosure on the basis that they were prepared pursuant to an investigation into a possible violation of the law.

The mayor, after receiving complaints alleging that City police officers were engaged in racial profiling, hired a private investigator to look into the allegations. Most of the complaints focused on one officer. After concluding the investigation, the private investigator provided a verbal report to the mayor and the city attorney, confirming the allegations made about the officer. The verbal report resulted in the City’s termination of the officer.

The citizens who had made the original complaint understood from conversations with the private investigator that a report had been prepared, and requested a copy from the City. The City responded that no report existed. The citizens filed an action to compel the City to disclose the investigative report. The City refused on the basis that it had not requested or paid for a written report; and, the information received by the City was verbal.  As a result, the City claimed that none of the investigator’s investigative documents were public records. The City also claimed that the documents fell within certain exemptions of the Nebraska public records statute.

The Court rejected the City’s argument that because the City did not pay for or request a copy of the materials the investigative documents were not public records. The Court held that “documents or records that a public body is entitled to possess – regardless of whether the public body takes possession” are clearly public records. See in this regard the Washington Supreme Court’s analysis of a similar issue in Concerned Ratepayers Ass’n v. Public Utility District No. 1 of Clark County, 138 Wn.2d 950 (1999). In determining that the City was entitled to the possession of the investigative documents, the Court found that the mayor had delegated authority to the private investigator to investigate allegations of wrongdoing and that the investigator created the documents under this delegated authority. Accordingly, the documents were public records.

Even though it found the investigative documents were public records, the Court agreed with the City that the requested materials were exempt from disclosure on the basis that they were prepared pursuant to an investigation into a possible violation of the law (a recognized exemption under Nebraska’s public records statute). For Washington State’s similar exemption see RCW 42.56.240(1). The Nebraska Court found that the investigation concentrated on racial profiling, which, if proved, would constitute a violation of law. The mayor’s purpose in initiating the investigation was to enforce the law, and the requested documents were exempt from disclosure.

For a discussion regarding the treatment of investigative materials under Washington State’s Public Records Act, see Foster Pepper's news alert regarding Soter v. Cowles Publishing Co., 162 Wn.2d 716 (2006).

• Email This
• Print
• Comments (1)
• Trackbacks
• Share Link