Globe Newspaper Co. v. Bratton

1 Mass. L. Rptr. 136
CourtMassachusetts Superior Court
DecidedSeptember 7, 1993
DocketNo. 92-75171
StatusPublished

This text of 1 Mass. L. Rptr. 136 (Globe Newspaper Co. v. Bratton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Superior Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Globe Newspaper Co. v. Bratton, 1 Mass. L. Rptr. 136 (Mass. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

Flannery, J.

In this action, plaintiff Globe Newspaper Company (the Globe) seeks access to, and copies of, materials compiled during the Boston Police Department’s (the Department) internal investigation of alleged police misconduct during the Carol DiMaiti Stuart homicide investigation, pursuant to G.L.c. 66, § 10 (the Public Records Law). Defendant Boston Police Commissioner William J. Bratton4 and intervenor Ralph C. Martin oppose the Globe’s request, contending that the material falls within one or more of the statutory exceptions to disclosure. Following a bench trial pursuant to Mass.R.Civ.P. 65(b)(2), the court ordered the Department to produce the sought-after materials for in camera inspection. After examining these materials in camera, the court makes the following rulings and order.

[137]*137I. INTRODUCTION

On October 23, 1989, Carol DiMaiti Stuart and her husband Charles Stuart were shot in their car in the Mission Hill section of Boston. Carol Stuart died from the gunshot wounds and Charles Stuart was seriously injured. The Boston Police Department conducted a highly-publicized investigation of the shooting (the homicide investigation), in the course of which they interviewed numerous potential witnesses, and obtained warrants to search at least three residences. In addition, several witnesses testified before an investigative grand jury. The grand jury investigation of the Stuart homicide concluded in September 1991.

The Department of Justice Investigation

While the homicide investigation was still ongoing, the United States Department of Justice undertook an investigation into Boston police officers’ conduct during the homicide investigation; specifically, the investigation of suspect Willie Bennett. On July 10, 1991, the United States Attorney’s Office released the results of this investigation to the public in a press release (the U.S. Attorney’s Press Release or Press Release). Although the United States Attorney elected not to prosecute members of the Boston Police Department for criminal civil rights violations, the Press Release revealed specific instances of alleged police misconduct. In the course of doing so, the Press Release disclosed the identities of several witnesses, the information the witnesses provided to police, and their grand jury testimony. The Press Release presented this information by way of summary and direct quotation. See Appendix A — United States Attorney’s Press Release.

The Boston Police Department’s Internal Investigation

As a result of the United States Attorney’s Press Release, the Boston Police Department conducted an Internal Affairs Division (IAD) investigation into the specific allegations of police misconduct during the Stuart homicide investigation. In addition to reexamining the materials compiled during the homicide investigation (hotline tips, audio tapes and transcripts of witness interviews, grand jury testimony, etc.), IAD investigators interviewed several witnesses and police officers who participated in the homicide investigation.5

The Department presented the results of the IAD investigation at an August 1992 press conference. In addition to a statement by Boston Police Commissioner Francis M. Roache relating the Department’s conclusion, the Department released a report entitled “The Stuart Investigation: A Response to the U.S. Attorney’s Report” (the Response). The Response addressed each of the specific allegations contained in the United States Attorney’s Press Release. In doing so, it summarized witness interviews conducted during both the IAD investigation and the underlying homicide investigation. Moreover, the Response summarized Internal Affairs Department interviews of police officers and referred to several citizen witnesses’ grand jury testimony. As in the United States Attorney’s Press Release, the Response included direct quotations from witnesses. See Appendix B — The Stuart Investigation: A Response to the U.S. Attorney’s Report.

The Globe’s Public Records Request

By letter dated September 15, 1992, the Globe requested that Boston Police Commissioner Roache (Commissioner) produce the materials compiled during the Boston Police Department’s internal investigation into possible police misconduct in the Stuart homicide investigation, pursuant to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, G.L.c. 66, §10 (the Public Records Law). The Commissioner denied the Globe’s request, claiming that the requested materials fell within the exemptions to the Public Records Law set forth in G.L.c. 4, §7 cl.(26). Specifically, he alleged that the materials were protected under either the statutory exemption, G.L.c. 4, §7 cl.(26)(a); the privacy exemption, G.L.c. 4, §7 cl.(26)(c); or the investigatory exemption, G.L.c. 4, §7 cl.(26)(f).6 As a result of the Commissioner’s refusal, in December 1992 the Globe filed a complaint seeking declaratory and injunctive relief. The court agreed to consolidate the hearing on the request for a preliminary injunction with a trial on the merits pursuant to Mass.R.Civ.P. 65(b)(2).

II. THE PUBLIC RECORDS LAW

Public records include all “documentary materials or data, regardless of physical form . . . made or received by any . . . authority of the Commonwealth,” unless the materials falls within one of seven statutory exceptions.7 G.L.c. 4, §7 cl.(26). If a record is public, the record’s custodian must furnish one copy (at a reasonable fee) in response to documentary requests. G.L.c. 66, §10(a). If the custodian refuses to comply with a records request, the Superior Court has jurisdiction to order compliance. G.L.c. 66, §10(b).

In actions seeking disclosure, there is “a presumption that the record sought is public.” G.L.c. 66, §10(c). To overcome this presumption, the custodian has the burden of proving “with specificity” that a particular exemption applies. Id. Moreover, in light of the statutory presumption favoring disclosure “exemptions must be strictly construed.” Attorney General v. Ass’t Comm’r of the Real Property Dep’t., 380 Mass. 623, 625 (1980). Accordingly, the existence of some exempt materials in a document does not “justify cloture as to all of it.” Reinstein v. Police Comm’r., 378 Mass. 281, 290 (1979). “fT]he right to access extend[s] to any non-exempt ‘segregable portion’ of a public record.” Id. at 288.

The Boston Police Department premises its refusal to comply with the Globe’s document request upon three of the seven statutory exceptions to disclosure: (1) the statutory exemption, G.L.c. 4, §7 cl.(26)(a); (2) the privacy exemption, G.L.c. 4, §7 cl.(26)(c); and (3) the investigatory exemption, G.L.c. 4, §7 cl.(26)(f).

1. The Statutory Exemption

Public records do not include materials “specifically or by necessary implication exempted from disclosure [138]*138by statute.” G.L.c. 4, §7 cl.26(a). This exemption prevents the disclosure of Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) as defined in G.L.c. 6, §1678 to the public. Reinstein v. Police Comm’r., 378 Mass. 281, 293-94 (1979).

2. The Privacy Exemption

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