City of Lakewood v. Koenig

250 P.3d 113
Court of Appeals of Washington·Decided March 29, 2011·No. 38657-7-II·Published·Cited by 12 cases

Opinion

250 P.3d 113 (2011)

CITY OF LAKEWOOD, Respondent,
v.
David KOENIG, Appellant.

No. 38657-7-II.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 2.

March 29, 2011.

*115 William John Crittenden, Attorney at Law, Seattle, WA, for Petitioner.

Matthew S. Kaser, City of Lakewood, Lakewood, WA, for Respondent.

Michele Lynn Earl-Hubbard, Christopher Roslaniec, Allied Law Group LLC, David M. Norman, Lee Smart P.S., Inc., Seattle, WA, amicus counsel for Allied Daily Newspapers of Washington.

WORSWICK, A.C.J.

¶ 1 David Koenig appeals the trial court's order compelling discovery. He argues that an agency is not entitled to discovery under the Public Records Act (PRA) and that if an agency is entitled to discovery, the City of Lakewood's (City) discovery was not reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible relevant evidence. We hold that, although an agency is entitled to discovery under the PRA, the interrogatory and request for production at issue were not reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence. Finally, because Koenig did not substantially prevail and because no court has found that the City violated the PRA, we deny his request for attorney fees. Accordingly, we vacate the trial court's order compelling discovery, affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.

FACTS

¶ 2 In October 2007, David Koenig requested information from the City and the Lakewood Police Department in connection with investigations into alleged wrongdoing by three police officers on various occasions. The City complied on November 30, but it redacted the driver's license numbers of the officers, victims, and eyewitnesses under several provisions of chapter 46.52 RCW and chapter 42.56 RCW.[1]

¶ 3 In a letter explaining the redactions, the City informed Koenig that it believed that its response was adequate, but it gave Koenig until the close of business on December 21 to notify the City whether the responses satisfied his requests. If Koenig did not respond, the City was prepared to take "appropriate legal action to determine that it has fully complied with each of these requests." Clerk's Papers (CP) at 101. Koenig did not respond.

¶ 4 On March 5, 2008, the City sought declaratory relief that it had fully satisfied its obligations to Koenig under the PRA.[2] On May 13, the City served Koenig with interrogatories and requests for production. Only interrogatory 6 and request for production 1 are at issue in this appeal. Interrogatory 6 requested information about any lawsuit to which Koenig had been a party to in the past 10 years, including bankruptcy and/or divorce proceedings.[3] Request *116 for production 1 requested copies of any settlements or favorable judgments from the litigation identified in interrogatory 6.

¶ 5 Koenig objected to several interrogatories as irrelevant and did not answer them.[4] Koenig stated that none of the City's discovery requests related to the question of whether driver's license numbers are exempt for the reasons asserted and that the City should first obtain a ruling on that issue before proceeding with discovery.[5] Koenig also argued that the interrogatories were irrelevant because the City could not consider his identity when complying with the PRA.

¶ 6 On November 13, the City filed a motion to compel, asking the court to direct Koenig to respond to request for production 1 and interrogatory 6. The City conceded that, although this information was not relevant to whether it violated the PRA, the information would become "highly relevant" as to the amount of penalties that may be imposed. CP at 23. The City argued that the per-day penalty amount would primarily be based on the City's good faith or bad faith, so its conduct could not be considered without measuring it against Koenig's conduct. The City argued that Koenig is a professional records requester who does not care about the underlying records, but who is instead concerned with "maximiz[ing] the amount of profit he can generate by delaying the commencement of suit." CP at 23. The City wanted Koenig's litigation history to support its argument for low-end penalties, should any penalties be imposed.

¶ 7 Koenig responded and brought a cross-motion for a protective order. Koenig argued that the City's discovery requests were burdensome and had no relevance to whether the City properly redacted the driver's license numbers. He requested that the trial court quash interrogatory 6 and request for production 1.[6] Koenig contended that the PRA did not authorize an agency to submit discovery requests to a records requester. In the alternative, Koenig argued that the trial court should deny the City's discovery requests because they were not reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible material or because discovery was premature.

¶ 8 The trial court found that the City's discovery was not overly burdensome, that Koenig had not identified any potential privilege that would prohibit him from answering, and that the discovery could lead to admissible evidence on the issue of potential economic loss. The trial court granted the City's motion to compel and directed Koenig to answer interrogatory 6 and request for production 1.

¶ 9 A commissioner of this court granted Koenig's motion for discretionary review and stayed the trial court's order pending appeal. We stayed Koenig's appeal pending the Supreme Court's opinion in Yousoufian v. Office of Ron Sims, 168 Wash.2d 444, 229 P.3d 735 (2010) (Yousoufian V). In April 2010, we lifted the stay.

ANALYSIS

DISCOVERY

A. An Agency is Entitled to Discovery Under CR 26

¶ 10 First, Koenig argues that the trial court abused its discretion in granting the City's motion to compel because the PRA does not authorize an agency to submit discovery requests to a records requester. He insists that agencies do not need discovery to determine whether an exemption applies to the requested records and that his personal *117 information is irrelevant because the City cannot consider his identity or the purpose of his request. The City argues that our Supreme Court has already stated that the Rules of Civil Procedure apply in PRA cases, thus this issue is settled. We agree with the City.

¶ 11 The Rules of Civil Procedure apply in a PRA action. Spokane Research & Def. Fund v. City of Spokane, 155 Wash.2d 89, 105, 117 P.3d 1117 (2005). As the court explained, the civil rules govern the procedure in the superior court in all suits of a civil nature with the exceptions stated in CR 81. Spokane Research, 155 Wash.2d at 104, 117 P.3d 1117 (citing CR 1). There is only one form of a civil action. Spokane Research, 155 Wash.2d at 104, 117 P.3d 1117 (citing CR 2). CR 81 states that the civil rules govern all civil proceedings except where inconsistent with the rules or statutes applicable to special proceedings. Spokane Research, 155 Wash.2d at 104, 117 P.3d 1117 (quoting CR 81(a)).

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City of Lakewood v. Koenig, 250 P.3d 113 (Wash. Ct. App. 2011).

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