Erivaldo Silveira v. Southbridge Police Department (SPR 20200037)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division

Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records

January 22, 2020 SPR20/0037 Gerald Arvelo Records Officer Southbridge Police Department 1 Mechanic Street Southbridge, MA 01550

Dear Officer Arvelo:

[ have received the petition of Erivaldo Silveira appealing the response of the — Southbridge Police Department (Department) to request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32,08(1). Specifically, on January 3, 2020, Mr. Silveira sought information about police records concerning an identified property. In an email dated January 7, 2020, the Department provided Mr. Silveira a response. Unsatisfied with the Department’s response, Mr. Silveira petitioned this office and as a result SPR20/0037 was opened.

Under the Public Records Law and the Access Regulations (Regulations) all requests for public records must be met with a response within ten business days of receipt of the request. G. L. c, 66, § 10(a)-(b). The response may contain, among other things, an offer to provide records, a fee estimate for provision of the records, or a denial. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b). All records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response.

Status of the requestor; reason for the request

Please note that the reason for which a requestor seeks access to or a copy of a public record does not afford any greater right of access to the requested information than other persons in the general public. The Public Records Law does not distinguish between requestors. Access to a record pursuant to the Public Records Law rests on the content of the record and not the circumstances of the requestor. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(a); see also Bougas v. Chief of Police of Lexington, 371 Mass. 59, 64 (1976). Therefore, Mr. Silveira’s interest in obtaining the reports shall have no bearing on the public nature of the record. Whereas, Mr. Silveira seeks the report for a court process, he may have a unique right of access to the records through statutory, regulatory, judicial or other applicable means, See Commonwealth v. Wanis, 426 Mass. 639 (1998). As such, Mr. Silveira may wish to consider another means of seeking to obtain any existing responsive records,

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

Gerald Arvelo . SPR20/0037 Page 2 January 22, 2020

Pending litigation 950 C.M.R. 32,06(1)(g) provides in pertinent part:

a request for records in which an individual, or representative of the individual has a unique right of access by statutory, regulatory, judicial or other applicable means, shall not be considered a request for public records

950 C.M.R, 32,08(2)(b) provides in pertinent part: the Supervisor may deny an appeal for, among other reasons if, in the opinion of

the Supervisor: 1. the public records in question are the subjects of disputes in active litigation, administrative hearings or mediation.

Mr. Silveira informed this office that he is “required to present the public records for his [Southbridge] property as evidence in a Housing Court.” A staff attorney of this office spoke with a representative of the Southbridge Police Department who advised that this matter is filed as a Summary Process action in the Central Housing Court as Docket No, 19SP-4535. In light of the fact that Mr. Silveira indicated that he is involved in related litigation in Housing Court, it is my determination that the records at issue in this appeal are the subject of a dispute in active litigation,

Conclusion Accordingly, I decline to opine on these matters at this time. See 950 C.MLR. 32.08(2)(b). It should be noted that a change in the status of this action could impact the applicability of 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2)(b),

Sincerely,

Lecco

Rebecca S, Murray Supervisor of Records

ce: Erivaldo Silveira