Dennis Shelton v. Office of the District Attorney - Worcester District (SPR 20171020)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords August 9, 2017 SPR17/1020 Lindsay Corcoran Records Access Officer Office of the District Attorney - Worcester County Worcester Trial Court 225 Main Street, G301 Worcester, MA 01608 Dear Ms. Corcoran: I have received the petition of Dennis Shelton, aka Shakir Maris Abdullah, appealing the response of the Office of the District Attorney for Worcester County (DAO) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 1O A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1 ). Specifically, Mr. Shelton requested a copy of the probable cause hearing transcript in Commonwealth v. Dennis Shelton, (Docket No. WOCR1990-0 1148). The DAO provided a response informing Mr. Shelton that his criminal trial file was provided to his current Legal Counsel. Status of the Requester and Appeals to the Supervisor While Mr. Shelton may be seeking his own records, the Public Records Law does not distinguish between individuals seeking public records. Mr. Shelton should be advised that his status as the subject of the records offers him no greater right of access than any other person in the public realm. See G. L. c. 66, § 1O (a) (public records are to be provided to "any person"); see also Bougas v. Chief of Police of Lexington, 371 Mass. 59, 64 (1976). Access to a record pursuant to the Public Records Law rests on the content of the record, regardless of the circumstances of the requester. Mr. Shelton informed this office and the DAO that he is seeking these records to challenge his criminal conviction. It is my understanding that Mr. Shelton is currently represented by Legal Counsel in the post-conviction process, and was directed by the DAO to contact his Legal Counsel who was provided with all the responsive records in the pre-trial discovery process by the DAO. Mr. Shelton should be advised that the appeal process under the Public Records Law shall not apply to records in which an individual, or a representative of the individual, has a unique right of access to the records through statutory, regulatory, judicial or other applicable means. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1)(a). The records are directly related to Mr. One Ashburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 • (617) 727-2832• Fax: (617) 727-5914 sec.state.ma.us/pre • pre@sec.state.ma.us

Lindsay Corcoran SPR17/1020 Page 2 August 9, 2017 Shelton's criminal judicial proceedings and he has a unique right of access through the judicial process. Accordingly, whereas Mr. Shelton has a unique right of access through the judicial process, I decline to continue any further review of his petition. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Dennis Shelton