Monica Ramsey v. Middlesex District Attorney's Office (SPR 20252779)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records October 6, 2025 SPR25/2799 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 Monica Ramsey 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). On August 21, 2025, Ms. Ramsey requested, “... copies of my documents from the case [for an identified defendant].” The Office provided a response on September 12, 2025. Unsatisfied with the Office’s response, Ms. Ramsey petitioned this office and SPR25/2779, was opened as a result. Subsequently on October 3, 2025, the Office provided a further response. 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 agency or municipality 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); 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). 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. 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

Meaghan Horn, Esq. SPR25/2779 Page 2 October 6, 2025 If there are any fees associated with a response a written, good faith estimate must be provided. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(viii); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.07(2). Once fees are paid, a records custodian must provide the responsive records. Current appeal In her appeal, Ms. Ramsey states, “[r]equesting an appeal if proper records in which I stated copies of Incident report I have and that it’s disjointed [and] lies in the police report and I made a Formal Complaint to the Police and no response.” The Office’s September 12th and October 3rd Responses In its September 12, 2025 response, the Office stated that the records are related to an open criminal investigation and cited Exemption (f) to withhold the requested records in their entirety. In its October 3, 2026 response, the Office advised “...that the case was nolle prossed about a week ago. If you need to confirm on Masscourts, it should be out of Somerville District Court, and I think the correct docket number is 2310CR001276 ... it looks like there is no further investigation, nor do we expect any more proceedings related to this incident. My understanding from her is that he did have access to all responsive materials already because they had been provided to his attorneys through discovery.” The Office further stated that the matter is now closed.” Based on the Office’s October 3rd response advising that the requested documents were provided to counsel for the defendant and that the pending criminal case is now closed, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. If Ms. Ramsey is not satisfied with this resolution, she may submit an appeal within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Monica Ramsey