DAVID A.

ESCAMILLA TRANSACTIONS DIVISION

COUNTY ATTORNEY
JOHN C. HILLE, J R . , D I R E C T O R t
S T E P H E N H. C A P E L L E
FIRST ASSISTANT B A R B A R A J. WILSON

J A M E S W. COLLINS MARY ETTA GERHARDT

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT
STACY WILSON
3 1 4 W . 11 ™, S T R E E T
GRANGER BLDG., SUITE 420 TAMARA ARMSTRONG
AUSTIN, TEXAS 78701
JAMES M. C O N N O L L Y
P. O. BOX 1 7 4 8
AUSTIN, TEXAS 78767 TENLEY A. ALDREDGE

(512) 854-9513 JULIE JOE

FAX: (512) 854-4808
DANIEL BRADFORD

•CHRISTOPHER GILMORE

SARAH F. CHURCHILL
September 9, 2009
t Member of the College
of the State Bar of T e x a s
*Board Certified
Hand Delivered Commercial Real Estate Law
Texas Board of Legal Specialization

Ms. Amanda Crawford, Division Chief

Office of the Attorney General of Texas—Open Records Division
P.O.Box 12548
Austin, Texas 78711 -2548

Re: Request from Sara Black on 08/25/20091—Request for Ruling and

Supplemental Brief

Dear Ms. Crawford:

Under Government Code section 552.301, we request a ruling for this open
records request. Below is our supplemental brief setting forth the exceptions to
disclosure.

By copy of this letter, we are informing the requestor that we wish to withhold the
requested information, and that we are asking for a decision from your office.

The requested information may be withheld under Government

Code section 552.108(a)(4).

Government Code section 552.108(a)(4) states:

(a) Information held by a law enforcement agency or prosecutor that deals

with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime is excepted
from [required public disclosure] if. . .

(4) it is information that;

(A) is prepared by an attorney representing

the state in anticipation of or in the

The Travis County Attorney's Office was closed on September 7, 2009, Labor Day.

210954-1 214
 course of preparing for criminal
litigation; or

(B) reflects the mental impressions or legal

reasoning of an attorney representing the
state.

When a request essentially seeks the entire prosecution file, the information is
excepted from disclosure in its entirety. See Curry v. Walker, 873 S.W.2d 379 (Tex.
1994) (discovery request for district attorney's entire litigation file may be denied
because decision of what to include in file necessarily reveals prosecutor's mental
impressions or legal reasoning). In this instance, the request expressly asks for the entire
prosecution file for a criminal case (see request item 3). Curry thus provides that the
release of the requested information would reveal the mental impressions or legal
reasoning of prosecutors in the Travis County Attorney's Office. In addition, the
requestor asks, in request item 1, for documents by David Escamilla to any other person
regarding a particular criminal complaint investigation. The responsive information was
prepared by a prosecutor and represents his mental impressions and legal reasoning. We
have included a representative sample of the information, for both request items, for your
review.2

In conclusion, we ask that you rule on whether the enclosed information must be
released to the requestor. If you have any questions, please contact me at (512) 854-
3718, or by e-mail at daniel.bradford@co.travis.tx.us.

Sincerely,

Daniel Bradford
Assistant County Attorney

Enclosures: request letter, representative sample from files

c:

Sara Black
P.O. Box 49175
Austin, Texas 78765
(mailed, without enclosures)

' There is no responsive information for request item 5.

210954-1
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FORWARDING AND ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED MAILED FROM ZIP CODE 75 ?:"

Sara Black
P.O. Box49175
Austin, Texas 78765

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