Rodolfo Carr v. Boston, City of - Police Department (SPR 20200573)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records April 3, 2020 SPR20/0573 Shawn Williams, Esq. Records Access Officer City of Boston One City Hall Plaza, Room 615 Boston, MA 02201 Dear Attorney Williams: I have received the petition of Rodolfo Carr appealing the response of the City of Boston and the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office (Office) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, on February 5, 2020, Mr. Carr requested, “copies of [identified] victim Homicide Case Index, Section contents number four, Victim Information and 1974 Factual Case Summary number twelve…” Previous Appeals This request was the subject of previous appeals. See SPR19/1252 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (July 8, 2019); SPR19/1512 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (August 13, 2019). 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, § 10A(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, § 10(b)(iv) (written response must “identify any records, categories of records or portions of records that the agency or municipality intends to withhold, and provide the specific reasons for such withholding, including the specific exemption or exemptions upon which the withholding is based…”); 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). 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

Shawn Williams, Esq. SPR20/0573 Page 2 April 3, 2020 Current Appeal In his current appeal dated March 17th, Mr. Carr states he is “[a]ppealing response letter dated February-10-2020 sent by an unnamed official or without a name or signature of the official sender…” This appeal, SPR20/0573 was opened as a result. After a review of the file, it is unclear what Mr. Carr has appealed. As a result, Mr. Carr has not adequately described the type of action he seeks from this office. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1)(f) (all petitions for appeal shall be in writing and shall specifically describe the nature of the requestor's objections to the response). Mr. Carr may resubmit an appeal to this office once the appeal has been clarified. Please be aware that all petitions for appeal of a response by a records access officer must be made within 90 calendar days of the date of the response by a records access officer. See 32.08(1)(d). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Rodolfo Carr