Jordan M. Rice v. Department of State Police - Crime Lab (SPR 20200107)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supen•isor of Records February 3, 2020 SPR20/0107 Darina Griffin, Esq. Department of State Police Crime Lab 124 Acton Street Maynard, MA 01754 Dear Attorney Griffin: I have received the petition of Jordan Rice appealing the response of the Department of State Police Crime Lab (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Rice requested 17 categories of records related to an identified criminal case. Previous appeals This request was the subject of previous appeals. See SPR19/1087 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (June 13, 2019); SPR19/1398 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (July 30, 2019); SPRl 9/1898 Determinations of the Supervisor of Records (October 1, 2019; November 5, 2019). In my November 5th determination I ordered the Department to provide Mr. Rice with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with the order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations. The Department provided a response on November 20, 2019. Mr. Rice appealed and SPR20/107 was opened as a result. 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, § lOA(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). 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, § 1O (b )(iv); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(3); see also Dist. 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

Darina Griffin, Esq. SPR20/0107 Page 2 February 3, 2020 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. Current appeal The Department initially responded to the request by withholding the responsive records pursuant to Exemptions (a), (c), and (f) of the Public Records Law. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26)(a), (c), (f). The Department's November 20th response included responsive records with portions redacted pursuant Exemptions (a), (c), and (f). In his current appeal petition Mr. Rice asks this office to order "the Department confirm or deny the existence of any and all Public Records in regards to the bloody palm print: (a) paragraph no(s). 5,11,12,13,14 & 15 set forth in the May 4, 2019 Public Records Request&, (b) other sa[i]d records involving the said print that has been withheld in this matter; (2) this office moves to exercise the power of notifying the Attorney General of the Commonwealth who 'may take whatever measure to ensure compliance' by the Department in regards to your order to release any and all Public Records in regards to the bloody palm print. ..." Mr.Rice also references a December 30, 2019 letter he wrote. I find the basis of Mr. Rice's appeal is unclear. In particular, it unclear whether Mr. Rice believes more records exist, nor is it certain whether he objects to the Department's exemption claims. Fmiher, although Mr. Rice references the Office of the Attorney General (AGO), he has not sufficiently described the basis for referring this matter to the AGO for enforcement. See G. L. c. 66, § 1O A(b ). As a result, Mr. Rice has not adequately described the type of action he seeks from this office. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1)(±) (all petitions for appeal shall be in writing and shall specifically describe the nature of the requestor's objections to the response. Mr. Rice may resubmit an appeal to this office once the appeal has been clarified. Sincerely, ~ Rebecca S. MulT~ Supervisor of Records cc: Jordan Rice