State News v. Michigan State University

735 N.W.2d 649, 274 Mich. App. 558
CourtMichigan Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 21, 2007
DocketDocket 271433
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 735 N.W.2d 649 (State News v. Michigan State University) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State News v. Michigan State University, 735 N.W.2d 649, 274 Mich. App. 558 (Mich. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

Per Curiam.

Plaintiff State News appeals as of right the trial court’s order dismissing its action against defendant Michigan State University (MSU) brought under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). 1 State News filed a FOIA request for a copy of a police incident report related to an assault that occurred in a dormitory on MSU’s East Lansing campus. MSU denied the request under FOIA’s privacy exemption 2 and its law-enforcement-purpose exemption. 3 The trial court agreed that the incident report was exempt from disclosure under these provisions and dismissed the complaint. We remand this matter to the trial court to determine whether there are nonexempt portions of the incident report that can be separated from exempt material and released to State News.

I. FACTS

A. THE REQUEST BY STATE NEWS

On March 2, 2006, State News requested from MSU its “police incident report” detailing an incident on February 23, 2006, involving the arrest of three men in connection with an alleged assault that occurred in Hubbard Hall, a student dormitory on MSU’s East Lansing campus. Two of the assailants were nonstudents and the other was a student, as was one of the victims. In a news story dated February 27,2006 (which is part of the record before us), before it made its FOIA request to MSU, State News had already identified the *562 three arrested men as “MSU student Albert Robinson, a general business administration and pre-law freshman, and nonstudents Roy Holt and Joel Hamlar ... According to the FOIA complaint that State News later filed with the trial court, this incident followed a shooting in the parking lot near Hubbard Hall in September 2005, and there was also a “racially motivated confrontation” at Hubbard Hall in that period.

B. THE POLICE INCIDENT REPORT

According to an affidavit that MSU’s FOIA officer later filed with the trial court, the police incident report contained the following types of information:

a. Incident report persons sheets: These documents contain personally identifiable information about the victims, witnesses, responding police officers, and defendants (such as name, address, sex, race, weight, height, date of birth, driver’s license number, student number, criminal history, and other personal and sensitive information).
b. Narrative incident reports: These documents consist of statements from the responding officers, witnesses, victims, defendants, and a third party.
c. Physical evidence documents: These documents consist of photographs of evidence, property sheets, property inventory form, crime scene photographs, laboratory evidence documents, and advice of rights forms.
d. Inmate profiles/booking photographs: These documents are inmate booking sheets and inmate profile documents, including photographs.
e. CCH/LEIN [criminal history and Law Enforcement Information Network] information.

C. THE MSU DENIAL

On March 24, 2006, MSU’s FOIA officer denied State News’s FOIA request. Citing the privacy exemption and *563 the law-enforcement-purpose exemption, MSU’s FOIA officer denied the request in its entirety, without any reference to MSU’s obligation under § 14(1) of FOIA 4 to separate exempt material from nonexempt material and make the nonexempt material available for examination and copying.

D. THE STATE NEWS APPEAL

On March 29, 2006, State News filed an administrative appeal of the denial by way of a letter to MSU’s FOIA officer. However, this appeal was answered not by MSU’s FOIA officer, but by MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon. In a letter dated April 6, 2006, President Simon determined that “the police records at issue were properly withheld.” Like MSU’s FOIA officer, President Simon did not refer to MSU’s obligation under § 14(1) of FOIA to separate exempt material from nonexempt material and make the nonexempt material available for examination and copying. We note that, according to the February 27, 2006, State News story, Robinson, Holt, and Hamlar had previously been arraigned on charges of home invasion, felonious assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Thus, at least some information about these individuals was already part of the public record. We also note, however, that the same story indicated that the Ingham County chief assistant prosecutor would not release the names of any victims.

President Simon closed her April 6 denial letter by stating:

Finally, I note that in cases where law enforcement proceedings are pending, the University must carefully weigh the applicability of Section 13(1)03) of the FOIA *564 [MCL 15.243(l)(b)] so that it does not disclose information that would interfere with an ongoing criminal investigation, interfere with ongoing action by the Ingham County Prosecutor’s Office, or deprive any person of the right to a fair trial.

Counsel for State News on May 1, 2006, wrote to President Simon to request that she reconsider her decision to withhold release of the police incident reports. However, on May 8, 2006, counsel for MSU responded by asserting, among other things, that “release of the police report does not serve the core purpose of FOIA because the report would not ‘significantly contribute’ to the public’s understanding of University operations.”

E. THE STATE NEWS FOIA COMPLAINT

State News filed its original FOIA complaint in the Oakland Circuit Court on May 19, 2006. However, that court granted MSU’s change-of-venue motion, and, on May 31, 2006, State News refiled its complaint in the Ingham Circuit Court and moved for an order to direct MSU to show cause why it should not be ordered to comply with State News’s FOIA request. State News also moved for summary disposition under MCR 2.116(C)(9) and (10). At the time the complaint was filed, the preliminary examinations of two of the criminal defendants were scheduled for June 9,2006, and the other defendant was already scheduled for trial in the Ingham Circuit Court.

E THE TRIAL COURT DECISION

The trial court held a hearing on the motion to show cause on June 8, 2006. The trial court concluded that MSU had met its burden to show that the requested records were exempt from disclosure under the privacy exemption and the law-enforcement-purpose exemption, and dismissed State News’s complaint with prejudice.

*565 The trial court noted that the incident report included the names, addresses, criminal histories, and other identifying information of the parties involved.

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Bluebook (online)
735 N.W.2d 649, 274 Mich. App. 558, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-news-v-michigan-state-university-michctapp-2007.