Brown v. Serpas

112 So. 3d 385, 2012 La.App. 4 Cir. 1308, 2013 WL 1163804, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 544
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 20, 2013
DocketNo. 2012-CA-1308
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 112 So. 3d 385 (Brown v. Serpas) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brown v. Serpas, 112 So. 3d 385, 2012 La.App. 4 Cir. 1308, 2013 WL 1163804, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 544 (La. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

DANIEL L. DYSART, Judge.

| plaintiff Ethan Brown appeals the district court’s ruling denying his request, under the Public Records Act, to obtain certain supplemental police reports. For the reasons that follow, we reverse the district court’s ruling and remand for further proceedings.

BACKGROUND:

Ethan Brown filed a Petition for Writ of Mandamus under the Louisiana Public Records Act, naming Roñal Serpas as the defendant, both in his capacity as superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department and as custodian of the records maintained by the department (hereinafter referred to collectively as “NOPD”). Brown sought “any and all records in the custody and control of the New Orleans Police Department concerning Aaron Harvey. Mr. Harvey is deceased. The specific information sought was from all cases in which Harvey was a suspect, defendant, witness, complainant or victim. The petition listed six known cases.

Prior to filing the Petition for Writ of Mandamus, Brown and the NOPD exchanged a series of emails. After seeking clarification of the exact documents requested, NOPD informed Brown that the City Attorney’s office had advised that only initial reports would be released and that no supplemental reports would be forthcoming. Subsequently, Brown specifically requested confirmation of what documents, i.e., photographs, arrest registers, chain of custody forms, crime lab reports, etc., would be released. He received no response.

Brown sent another email to NOPD requesting, as per a previous offer, to inspect and review the information deemed “public” by the NOPD/City Attorney’s Office. He received no response and the subject petition was filed.

A hearing was held on January 17, 2012, after which the trial court requested Brown’s counsel to prepare the judgment.

On March 20, 2012, Brown filed a proposed judgment relative to the January hearing, which indicated by way of certificate that the NOPD objected to the judgment as written, including entitling the pleading “partial judgment.” Contemporaneous with the filing of the proposed judgment, Brown filed a Motion to Compel Disclosure of Public Records seeking specific documents which Brown alleged should be contained within the initial reports, and a Motion for Attorney Fees and Costs.

The trial court signed the judgment as prepared on March 22, 2012, wherein it denied Brown’s request for supplemental police reports and granted Brown’s request for initial reports. The judgment indicated that the parties consented to | -¡produce all reports, both initial and supplemental, as to one of the six cases listed in the petition. The transcript reveals that this particular case had resulted in a conviction. The transcript of the hearing further reflects that the trial court stated it was reserving judgment “with respect to [387]*387all items encompassed within Plaintiffs initial public records request but not specifically delineated within that initial request.” The trial court orally ordered Brown to submit a specific request to the NOPD, and further reserved judgment as to attorney fees and costs pending a final accounting and written submission by Brown.

On May 14, 2012, the trial court rendered a judgment on Brown’s motion to compel and motion for attorney fees and costs, and on defendant’s Motion to Alter or Amend the Judgment [of March 22, 2012]. The trial court denied NOPD’s motion to amend the previous judgment, denied Brown’s motion to compel, and granted Brown $500 in attorney fees and costs. This appeal followed.

DISCUSSION:

A. Procedural Issues:

Our initial review of this appeal raised jurisdictional questions, which this Court requested the parties address in post-argument briefs. The first issue was whether the March 22, 2012 judgment was appealed timely, and the second issue was whether the May 14, 2012 “final” judgment was interlocutory in nature, and therefore not appealable.

In his post-argument brief, Brown argues that the March 22 judgment did not adjudicate two claims raised in his Petition for Mandamus, specifically: 1) the records encompassed within but not specifically identified in the |4records request; and 2) attorney fees, costs and damages. Thus, the judgment was not final and appealable as of right. La.Code Civ. Proc. art. 1915 A. As such, to be appealable, the subject judgment had to be designated by the trial court as a final and appealable judgment. La.Code Civ. Proc. art. 1915 B(1). Brown asserts that because the trial court signed the judgment as prepared and entitled over the objection of the NOPD, and further denied the NOPD’s motion to alter or amend the judgment, it is clear that the trial court intended the judgment to be a partial judgment not subject to immediate appeal.

NOPD’s argument is based on what is contained in the transcript, that is, the trial court never indicated that it was reserving judgment until such time as the appellant submitted a list of specific items requested from the NOPD.

When the oral reasons or minutes conflict with the written judgment, the latter governs. J.L. Philips & Co., Inc. v. Barber, 150 La. 907, 91 So. 293 (1922); Marino v. Marino, 576 So.2d 1196 (La.App. 5 Cir.1991); Selfe v. Travis, 29 So.2d 786 (La.App. 2 Cir.1947). Additionally, the jurisprudence clearly holds that the trial judge may, within his authority, render a judgment which differs substantially from his prior oral statement. The oral reasons form no part of the judgment. Marino v. Marino, supra; Sanford v. Sanford, 468 So.2d 844 (La.App. 1 Cir. 1985); Margan v. Precision Motors, Inc., 317 So.2d 664 (La.App. 4 Cir.1975); appeal after remand, 360 So.2d 621 (La.App. 4 Cir.1978). Consequently, the minutes and oral opinion of the trial court are of no moment in our analysis.

|BThus, because the partial judgment as rendered states that issues were reserved until a later date, we find that the March 22, 2012 judgment was a partial judgment not designated for immediate appeal. The instant appeal is timely.

B. Merits of Trial Court Ruling:

The sole issue on appeal is whether the trial court erred in ruling that supplemental police reports are exempt pursuant to the Public Records Act.

Louisiana Revised Statute 44:3 provides [388]*388in pertinent part 1

A. Nothing in this Chapter shall be construed to require disclosures of records or the information contained therein, held by the offices of the attorney general, district attorneys, sheriffs, police departments, Department of Public Safety and Corrections, marshals, investigators, public health investigators, correctional agencies, communications districts, intelligence agencies, or publicly owned water districts of the state, which records are:
(1) Records pertaining to pending criminal litigation or any criminal litigation which can be reasonably anticipated, until such litigation has been finally adjudicated or otherwise settled, except as otherwise provided in Subsection F of this Section; or
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(4)(a) The records of the arrest of a person, other than the report of the officer or officers investigating a complaint, until a final judgment of conviction or the acceptance of a plea of guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction.

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Related

State v. Trung Le
188 So. 3d 1072 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2015)
Brown v. Serpas
146 So. 3d 748 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2014)
Innocence Project New Orleans v. New Orleans Police Department
129 So. 3d 668 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2013)

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Bluebook (online)
112 So. 3d 385, 2012 La.App. 4 Cir. 1308, 2013 WL 1163804, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 544, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brown-v-serpas-lactapp-2013.