Township Council Meeting — Agenda

MRS L 000300-20 05/22/2020 Pg 9 of 16 Trans ID: LCV2020932426 investigatory records exception under OPRA. In order to find a basis to deny access to records under the an investigation and that their release would be inimical to Courier News v. , 358 N.J. Super. 373, 380 (App. Div. 2003) (emphasis in original) (quoting , 354 N.J. Super. 146, 158 (Law Div. 2002)). In Courier News a 911 tape that was more than one year old, that was evidence in a matter that had yet to be adjudicated, fell within the criminal investigatory exception and to immediately release the record of the 911 call at issue to the plaintiff. The Court found that, [a]cceptance record associated with a criminal investigation until a trial has been completed and all potential appeals have been exhausted. Such a government records embodied in OPRA. [Id. at 381]. Here, although quasi-criminal case at issue may have been ongoing, there is no evidence to suggest that the BWC footage would not be subject to disclosure as contrary to the public interest. Unlike circumstances in Courier News, there is nothing here to suggest that there would be media coverage that could result in tainting the jury pool. See id. Requiring OPRA requestors to wait until the conclusion of a criminal or quasi-criminal matter in order to retrieve otherwise publicly available records is contrary to the legislative findings of See N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1. Therefore, the criminal investigatory records exception does not apply here. Indeed, defense counsel essentially conceded that such footage should be disclosed in the February 6, 2020 conversation l, when defense counsel stated that the Town had 9 Pa050