Craig P. Shibley v. Worcester County District Attorney's Office (SPR 20212075)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records August 23, 2021 SPR21/2075 Lindsay Corcoran Records Access Officer Worcester County District Attorney’s Office Worcester County Courthouse 225 Main Street, G301 Worcester, MA 01608 Dear Ms. Corcoran: I have received your petition on behalf of the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office (Office) seeking relief from its obligation to produce responsive records requested by Mr. Craig Shibley. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). As required by law, it is my understanding that the Office furnished a copy of this petition to the requestor, Mr. Shibley. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c). In a letter dated August 2, 2021, Mr. Shibley requested: 1. All email accounts assigned by the WDAO to its State Police Detective Unit members from 2007 - Present; 2. All emails to and from then Trooper Egan specific to his hiring/ reassignment to the Unresolved Cases Unit on October 6, 2019 between September lst - October 6th; 3. All emails to and from Tpr Egan (assigned to the WDAO from May 5 2005 - July 20, 2019) and Tpr. Shawn Murphy (assigned to the WDAO from Sept 2 2007 - Oct 20 2018) specific to a.) all cold case "activations", b.) the alleged testing related to Tpr. Alje Savela's cold case in 2018 in which you disclosed to the Boston Globe how "the state is now conducting forensic testing" but you conveniently declined to provide any further information; 4. Any related inter-department policy/ agreement between MSP and WDAO outlining this assigned email arrangement allowing SPDU troopers to have a second "official" email account - one that the Executive Office of Technology Services and Security ("EOTSS") cannot access; 5. The WDAO email and login used by its attorneys to submit, download or review investigated records stored on MSP's ACISS system; The time period for 3(a): 2007 – 2019 | search terms: "cold case", "unsolved murder", Savela, "forensic test'1, "Crime Lab" The time period for 3(b): March 2018 - January 2019 | search terms: "Alje Savela", "unresolved case", "unsolved murder", "Crime Lab." 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

Ms. Lindsay Corcoran SPR21/2075 Page 2 August 23, 2021 Petition for an Extension of Time Under the Public Records Law, upon a showing of good cause, the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) may grant a single extension to an agency not to exceed 20 business days and a single extension to a municipality not to exceed 30 business days. In determining whether there has been a showing of good cause, the Supervisor shall consider, but shall not be limited to considering: (i) the need to search for, collect, segregate or examine records; (ii) the scope of redaction required to prevent unlawful disclosure; (iii) the capacity or the normal business hours of operation of the agency or municipality to produce the request without the extension; (iv) efforts undertaken by the agency or municipality in fulfilling the current request and previous requests; (v) whether the request, either individually or as part of a series of requests from the same requestor, is frivolous or intended to harass or intimidate the agency or municipality; and (vi) the public interest served by expeditious disclosure. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c). If the Supervisor determines that the request is part of a series of contemporaneous requests that are frivolous or designed to intimidate or harass, and the requests are not intended for the broad dissemination of information to the public about actual or alleged government activity, the Supervisor may grant a longer extension or relieve the agency or municipality of its obligation to provide copies of the records sought. Id. - The filing of a petition does not affect the requirement that a Records Access Officer (RAO) shall provide an initial response to a requestor within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records. 950 C.M.R. 36.06(4)(b). Current Petition The August 16, 2021 petition states that the Office “is requesting that the Supervisor of Records relieve this organization of the burden of complying with any further records being sought on this topic.” The Office “considers these requests to be both ‘frivolous’ and ‘designed to intimidate or harass’ members of this office. G.L. c. 66 § 10 (c)(vi); 950 CMR § 32.06 (4)(t).” The Office states that “[t]he contents of the Aug. 2 request are also a nearly exact copy to one Mr. Shibley previously made on March 22, 2021 and which this office replied to on April 5, 2021,” and that “[t]he Aug. 6 request from Mr. Shibley is contemporaneous to the new portion of his Aug. 2 request and is merely part of his ongoing campaign of repeated requests on the same topic that are both frivolous and harassing to [the Office].” Further, “[a]ll of these requests revolve around the same case,” which is the subject of “SPR19/2115, SPR19/2319, [and]

Ms. Lindsay Corcoran SPR21/2075 Page 3 August 23, 2021 SPR19/2444,” which the Office is “currently working with the Attorney General’s Office to comply with.” The Office asserted, “[i]n light of the pending appeals on the same topic, the anticipated resolution of all appeals by agreement, the repetitive nature of the requests, and the increasingly personal and harassing tenor of the requests, the… Office is requesting that the Supervisor of Records relieve this organization of the burden of complying with any further records being sought on this topic.” Referral to the Office of the Attorney General It is my understanding that the subject matter at issue in Mr. Shibley’s request is similar to the matter addressed in SPR19/2115 Determinations of the Supervisor of Records (October 29, 2019; December 4, 2019; January 21, 2020) and other related appeals. Please note that on February 5, 2020, I referred this matter to the Office of the Attorney General (AGO) for enforcement. In light of this referral, I decline to provide a determination at this time pending a resolution to the AGO’s review. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Mr. Craig Shibley