Wilson v. Drug Enforcement Administration

414 F. Supp. 2d 5, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5139, 2006 WL 212138
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedJanuary 27, 2006
DocketCiv.A. 04-1814 JDB
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 414 F. Supp. 2d 5 (Wilson v. Drug Enforcement Administration) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wilson v. Drug Enforcement Administration, 414 F. Supp. 2d 5, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5139, 2006 WL 212138 (D.D.C. 2006).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

BATES, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on defendant’s renewed summary judgment motion, as supplemented, and plaintiffs opposition. Having considered the motion and the entire record of the case, the Court will grant summary judgment for defendant.

I. BACKGROUND

Briefly stated, pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), see 5 U.S.C. § 552, plaintiff requested the following records from the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”):

1) Copy of the Case Agent’s investigative notes, surveillance logs, and criminal complaints that defines [sic] the criminal conspiracy and federal offenses by date, time, and place, for Paris L. Wilson.
2) Copy of drug laboratory report containing drug type and drug amount attributed to Paris L. Wilson.
3) Copy of all records and D.E.A. files pertaining to Paris L. Wilson.

Wassom Decl., Ex. A (FOIA request .signed on December 23, 2003). 1 Plaintiff filed the instant action after the DEA failed to make a determination on his request within 20 working days, as is required under 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(6)(A)(i). See Compl. ¶ 6.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Summary Judgment Standard

The Court grants a motion for summary judgment if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with affidavits, show that there is no genuine issue of material fact, and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(c). The moving party bears the burden of demonstrating an absence of a genuine issue of material fact. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). Factual assertions in the moving party’s affidavits may be accepted as true unless the opposing party submits his own affidavits or documentary evidence to the contrary. Neal v. Kelly, 963 F.2d 453, 456 (D.C.Cir. 1992).

*9 In a FOIA case, the Court may-grant summary judgment based on the information provided in affidavits or declarations when the affidavits or declarations describe “the documents and the justifications for nondisclosure with reasonably specific detail, demonstrate that the information withheld logically falls within the claimed exemption, and are not controverted by either contrary evidence in the record nor by evidence of agency bad faith.” 2 Military Audit Project v. Casey, 656 F.2d 724, 738 (D.C.Cir.1981). Such affidavits or declarations are accorded “a presumption of good faith, which cannot be rebutted by ‘purely speculative claims about the existence and discoverability of other documents.”’ SafeCard Servs., Inc. v. SEC, 926 F.2d 1197, 1200 (D.C.Cir.1991) (quoting Ground Saucer Watch, Inc. v. CIA, 692 F.2d 770, 771 (D.C.Cir.1981)).

B. Adequacy of Search

“An agency fulfills its obligations under FOIA if it can demonstrate beyond material doubt that its search was ‘reasonably calculated to uncover all relevant documents.’ ” Valencia-Lucena v. United States Coast Guard, 180 F.3d 321, 325 (D.C.Cir.1999) (quoting Truitt v. Dep’t of State, 897 F.2d 540, 542 (D.C.Cir.1990)); see Campbell v. United States Dep’t of Justice, 164 F.3d 20, 27 (D.C.Cir.1998) (FOIA requires agency to conduct search using methods reasonably expected to produce requested information). The agency bears the burden of showing that its search was calculated to uncover all relevant documents. Steinberg v. United States Dep’t of Justice, 23 F.3d 548, 551 (D.C.Cir.1994).

To meet its burden, the agency may submit affidavits or declarations that explain in reasonable detail the scope and method of the agency’s search. See Perry v. Block, 684 F.2d 121, 126-27 (D.C.Cir. 1982) (per curiam). In the absence of contrary evidence, such affidavits or declarations are sufficient to demonstrate an agency’s compliance with the FOIA. Id. at 127. If the record “leaves substantial doubt as to the sufficiency of the search, summary judgment for the agency is not proper.” Truitt v. Dep’t of State, 897 F.2d at 542.

DEA’s Investigative Reporting and Filing System (“IRFS”) “contains all administrative, general and investigative files compiled by DEA for law enforcement purposes.” Wassom Decl. ¶ 18 (emphasis in original). IRFS components include headquarters files and investigative case files established by the field office conducting an investigation. Supp. Wassom Decl. ¶¶ 6-8. Investigative case files are “titled *10 according to the name of the principal suspect violator or entity known to DEA at the time the file is opened.” Id. ¶ 8. Information generated during an investigation “is systematically gathered and included in the investigative case file.” Id.

The means by which to retrieve information from the IFRS is through its index, the Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Information System (“NADDIS”). Wassom Decl. ¶ 19. A NADDIS search “points to investigative files and particular Reports of Investigation (ROI) which contain information regarding a particular individual or subject of an investigation.” Id. Information about an individual is retrieved in NADDIS by his name, Social Security number, and date of birth. Id.

DEA staff at the agency’s Freedom of Information Operations Unit (“SARO”) determined that the IRFS was the only system of records likely to contain information responsive to plaintiffs FOIA request. Wassom Decl. ¶ 18. On February 20, 2004, staff conducted a NADDIS search using plaintiffs name, Social Security number, and date of birth as search terms. Id.

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Bluebook (online)
414 F. Supp. 2d 5, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5139, 2006 WL 212138, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wilson-v-drug-enforcement-administration-dcd-2006.