Does v. Foti

81 So. 3d 101, 2011 La.App. 1 Cir. 0014, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 1489, 2011 WL 6111673
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 8, 2011
DocketNo. 2011 CA 0014
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 81 So. 3d 101 (Does v. Foti) 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
Does v. Foti, 81 So. 3d 101, 2011 La.App. 1 Cir. 0014, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 1489, 2011 WL 6111673 (La. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinions

CARTER, C.J.

|sThis case arises in the context of a public records request. At issue is whether the Attorney General’s investigative file into the circumstances surrounding numerous deaths at Tenet Health System Memorial Health Center following Hurricane [104]*104Katrina is presently subject to disclosure under the Louisiana Public Records Act. Concluding the file presently pertains to reasonably anticipated criminal litigation, we hold that the file is exempt from disclosure pursuant to La.Rev.Stat. Ann. § 44:3 A(l). So holding, we reverse the district court judgment.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, Louisiana in August 2005. In the immediate aftermath of the storm, forty-three bodies were removed from Tenet Health System Memorial Medical Center, Inc. (Tenet-Memorial). LifeCare Hospitals of New Orleans, LLC (LifeCare) operated a separate acute care facility on the seventh floor of Teneb-Memorial, and several of the deceased were LifeCare patients.

In September 2005, Charles Foti, then Louisiana Attorney General (AG), began an investigation into the Tenet-Memorial deaths. The AG investigation began as a Medicaid fraud investigation and culminated in the accumulation of thousands of documents and the July 17, 2006, arrests of three medical professionals for second degree murder.

Following the arrests, AG Foti gave a complete copy of the investigative file to the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office. In February 2007, then Orleans Parish District Attorney (DA) Eddie Jordan empanelled a special investigative grand jury to consider the matter. Two | f,healthcare professionals were granted immunity in exchange for their testimony. On July 24, 2007, the special grand jury returned a “no true bill,” refusing to indict the remaining healthcare professional.

Thereafter, the Cable News Network (CNN), the Times-Picayune, LLC (Times-Picayune), and others submitted numerous public records requests to the AG requesting production of the investigative file. In response, the AG filed suit seeking a declaratory judgment clarifying what portions of its investigative file, if any, were subject to release under the Public Records Act.

Several healthcare professionals, who worked at Tenet-Memorial during and after Hurricane Katrina and who referred to themselves only as Jane and John Does, filed petitions seeking a declaratory judgment that the AG and DA investigative files are not subject to disclosure under the Public Records Act. Named as defendants were the AG, the DA, the Orleans Parish Coroner, Rose Agnes Savoie (a LifeCare patient who died at Tenet-Memorial in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina), CNN, Times-Picayune, and “all other persons or entities who have made requests under the Louisiana Public Records Act.” In response, CNN and Times-Picayune filed a cross-claim and a motion for a writ of mandamus and preliminary injunction seeking to compel the release of the investigative file. Several interested parties (including the Louisiana State Board of Nursing, Lori Budo, Cheri Landry, LifeCare Hospitals of New Orleans, LLC, Tenet-Memorial, and Dr. Anna Pou) were allowed to intervene.

The AG filed under seal a copy of his investigative file, including an index. On September 19, 2007, the trial court signed a judgment holding that |7the majority of the investigative file was public record and subject to release. The district court denied the motion for a writ of mandamus and preliminary injunction. Numerous parties sought supervisory review with this court, and on April 18, 2008, this court granted the writs in part and denied the writs in part, giving identical reasons for each application. A majority reasoned that because there is no prescriptive period for homicide charges, criminal litigation was not finally adjudicated by the grand [105]*105jury’s return of a no true bill. Accordingly, the investigative file was exempt from disclosure as it pertains to reasonably anticipated criminal litigation pursuant to La. Rev.Stat. Ann. § 44:3 A(l). The majority further concluded that the investigative file was prepared in conjunction with, and in preparation for, the eventual presentation to a grand' jury. Thus, the investigative file contents were shielded from disclosure by persons present at the grand jury meeting or having confidential access to information concerning the grand jury proceeding pursuant to La.Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 434.

CNN and Times-Picayune sought review with the Louisiana Supreme Court. On July 1, 2009, the supreme court reversed and set aside the decisions of the district court and this court. A Matter Under Investigation, 07-1853 (La.7/1/09); 15 So.3d 972, 994. The supreme court concluded that La.Rev.Stat. Ann. § 44:3 A(l) “exempts from the required disclosure under the Public Records Act records held by the offices of the Attorney General and the District Attorney that pertain to any criminal litigation which can be reasonably anticipated until such litigation has been finally adjudicated or otherwise settled.” Investigation, 15 So.3d at 994. The supreme court set forth an illustrative list of factors for a court to consider in determining 18whether criminal litigation is reasonably anticipated. Investigation, 15 So.3d at 992. Finding the record in the instant case was insufficient to make the determination, the matter was remanded to the trial court for further proceedings. Investigation, 15 So.3d at 994.

On remand, the district court considered additional evidence, including the testimony of current AG James D. “Buddy” Caldwell and current DA Leon A. Cannizzaro.1

On August 30, 2010, the district court signed a “Final Judgment” ordering, adjudging, and decreeing in pertinent part that:

[The] investigatory file created by the Louisiana Attorney General in connection with his investigation of certain deaths occurring at Memorial Medical Center during the days following Hurricane Katrina does not pertain to criminal litigation which is either pending or which can be reasonably anticipated, and as a result, the exemption contained in Louisiana Revised Statutes section 44:3(A)(1) does not apply.
[The] investigatory file created by the Office of the Attorney General, and held by the Office of the Attorney General and the District Attorney for Orleans Parish, is non-exempt from production under the Public Records Act, as such file involves criminal litigation which is not “reasonably anticipated” as defined by the Louisiana Supreme Court in In re A Matter Under Investigation, 2007-1853 (La.7/1/09); 15 So.3d 972.
As this court finds that La. R.S. 44:3(A)(1), as asserted by the Attorney General for the State of Louisiana and the District Attorney for Orleans Parish, does not contain a reasonable and viable exception to production, and such exception has not been sufficiently borne by the Attorney General for the State of Louisiana and the District Attorney for Orleans Parish.

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Bluebook (online)
81 So. 3d 101, 2011 La.App. 1 Cir. 0014, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 1489, 2011 WL 6111673, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/does-v-foti-lactapp-2011.