Altin Berxhiku v. Middlesex District Attorney's Office (SPR 20251378)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records May 30, 2025 SPR25/1378 Meagan Horn, Esq. Assistant District Attorney Appeals and Training Bureau Middlesex District Attorney’s Office 15 Commonwealth Avenue Woburn, MA 01801 Dear Attorney Horn: I have received the petition of Altin Berxhiku appealing the response of the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office (Office) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). From April 30, 2025, through May 13, 2025, Mr. Berxhiku submitted the following requests, as summarized by the Office below: 1. Request received April 30, 2025, relating to communications between the Office and Mr. Berxhiku’s former attorney; 2. Request received May 5, 2025, relating to correspondence between Assistant District Attorney Christopher Tarrant and Billerica Police Chief Roy Frost; 3. Request received May 5, 2025, seeking specific email between ADA Tarrant and Chief Frost from April of 2024; 4. Request received May 6, 2025, relating to a meeting between Mr. Berxhiku and the Massachusetts State Police in February of 2024; and 5. Request received May 13, 2025, relating to former Assistant District Attorney Daniel DeBlander’s employment[.] Previous Petition These requests were the subject of a previous petition from the Office. See SPR25/1361 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (May 22, 2025). In my May 22nd determination, I found that I was unable to grant the Office’s request for relief from the obligation to provide responsive records. In a letter to this office on May 28, 2025, the Office requested that I reconsider my May 22nd determination. The Office’s request for reconsideration is currently under review by this office. 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

Meagan Horn, Esq. SPR25/1378 Page 2 May 30, 2025 Concurrent with its petition, the Office provided a response to Mr. Berxhiku on May 14, 2025. Unsatisfied with the Office’s response, Mr. Berxhiku petitioned this office, and this appeal, SPR25/1378, was opened as a result. In an email to this office on May 22, 2025, Mr. Berxhiku states the following: I’m writing to follow up on SPR25/1378, which was submitted in response to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office’s May 14 petition for relief under G.L. c. 66, § 10(c). As you know, your office issued a determination on May 22, 2025 (SPR25/1361), denying the MDAO’s request to be excused from responding to the public records requests at issue. Given that the two appeals address the same set of records and legal questions — one from the agency’s perspective and the other from mine — it appears that the Supervisor’s decision in SPR25/1361 has effectively resolved the matters raised in SPR25/1378. In light of Mr. Berxhiku’s May 22nd email, I will now consider this appeal closed. If unresolved issues remain following the issuance of the determination letter for SPR25/1361, Mr. Berxhiku may further appeal the substantive nature of any response from the Office within 90 days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Altin Berxhiku