David J. Ring v. Massachusetts State Police (SPR 20181419)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords October 5, 2018 SPR18/1419 Daniel Brunelli, Esq. Department of State Police 470 Worcester Road Framingham, MA 01702 Dear Attorney Brunelli: I have received the petition of David Ring appealing the response of the Department of State Police (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Ring requested "records involving alleged crimes and alleged civil rights violations, reported by David J. Ring, Jr., submitted in writing to Col. Kerry Gilpin, or others and assigned to detective or detectives, or others, including copies of forensic laboratory work which may have been done, and the ultimate disposition of the matter, in electronic form, or if electronic form is not possible, in any suitable form." Unsatisfied with the Department's response, Mr. Ring petitioned this office. Previous appeals This request was the subject of a previous appeal. See SPRl 8/13 09 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (September 13, 2018). On September 13th I closed the appeal based on the Department's forthcoming response, which was mailed out September 13th. Mr. Ring appealed, seeking any additional responsive documents the Department has in its possession. The duty to comply with requests for records extends to those records that exist and are in the possession, custody, or control of the custodian ofrecords at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 66, § lO(a)(ii). The Public Records Law The Public Records Law strongly favors disclosure by creating a presumption that all governmental records are public records. G. L. c. 66, § 1 OA( d); 950 C.M.R. 32.03(4 ). "Public records" is broadly defined to include all documentary materials or data,-regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by any officer or employee of any town of the Commonwealth, unless falling within a statutory exemption. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26). 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

Daniel Brunelli, Esq. SPR18/1419 Page2 October 5, 2018 It is the burden of the records custodian to demonstrate the application of an exemption in order to withhold a requested record. G. L. c. 66, § 1 O(b )(iv); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(3); see also Dist. Attorney for the Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507, 511 (1995) (custodian has the burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption). To meet the specificity requirement a custodian must not only cite an exemption, but must also state why the exemption applies to the withheld or redacted portion of the responsive record. Existence of additional records The duty to comply with requests for records extends to those records that exist and are in the possession, custody, or control of the custodian ofrecords at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 66, § lO(a)(ii). The Department must confirm whether it possesses any additional records. Order Accordingly, the Department is ordered to provide Mr. Ring a response to his request provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten (10) business days. A copy of any such response must be provided to this office. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. Sincerely, ~ a y ~ Supervisor of Records cc: David Ring