Gelinas, Brian v. Office of the District Attorney - Northwestern District (SPR 20150704)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords December 21, 2015 SPR151704 Ms. Cynthia M. Von Flatern, Esq. Assistant District Attorney Northwestern District Attorney's Office One Gleason Plaza Northampton, MA 01060 Dear Attorney Von Flatern: I have received the petition of Brian Gelinas, of the Athol Daily News, appealing the response of the Northwestern District Attorney's Office (DAO) to his request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 10(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Gelinas requested information regarding an 2013 incident that led to the death of a child. In an initial response, the Communication Director for the DAO stated that it could not "confirm or deny the existence of an investigation." In an August 21, 2015 letter you clarified the earlier statement to "confirm to [Mr. Gelinas] that the matter [regarding the death of a child] remains under investigation." As such, you denied his request, citing the investigatory exemption to the Public Records Law. G. L. c. 4, § 7 (26) (f). In both a telephone conversation with me on December 17, 2015, and an email to this office dated December 18,2015, you confirmed the DAO is currently involved in "an ongoing investigation into the death of a child." You further stated that "[a] t such time as there is more information to report, for example an arrest or the closing of an investigation, that fact will be communicated to the public." I find the DAO through its August 21 response to Mr. Gelinas has satisfied its burden of specificity to support withholding records pursuant to Exemption (f) of the Public Records Law. Accordingly, I decline to opine upon any other exemptions cited by the DAO at this time. Further, I find the August 21letter supplemented by the email to th's office on December 18 cures any inconsistency in the initial response by the Co unicat' on Director for the DAO. cc: Mr. Brian Gelinas OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/ pre