FREEDOM
OF
INFORMATION COMMISSIONOF THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT
18-20 Trinity Street
Hartford,
CT
06106Telephone:
(860)
566-5682Toll-free
(CT
only):
(866)374-3617
Fax:
(860)566-6474
Kevin
Brookman,Complainant(s) Notice of Meeting
against
Docket
#FIC
2009-551John Rose, Corporation
Counsel,
Office
of the Corporation Counsel,City of Hartford; and City of Hartford,
Respondents)
February
23,2010
Transmittal of
Proposed
Final
Decision
In accordance with Section
4-179 of the
Connecticut General Statutes,
the
Freedom
of
Information
Commission hereby transmits to you the proposed
finding
and decision prepared by
the
hearing
officer
in the
above-captioned matter.
This
will notify
you
that
the
Commission
will
consider this matter
for
disposition
at its
meeting which will be held in the Freedom of
Information
Commission Hearing Room,
18-20
Trinity
Street, 1st
floor, Hartford, Connecticut,
at 2
p.m.
on
Wednesday, April
14,
2010.
At
that time and place you will be allowed to
offer
oral argument concerning this proposed findingand order. Oral argument shall
be
limited
to ten
(10)
minutes.
For
good cause shown, however,the Commission may increase the period of time for argument. A request for additional timemust
be
made
in
writing
and
should
be
filed
with
the
Commission
ON OR
BEFORE
APRIL
2 2010.
Such request
MUST BE 1) copied to
all
parties, or if the parties are represented, tosuch
representatives,
and 2) include a notation indicating such notice to all parties or theirrepresentatives.
Although a brief or memorandum of law is not required, if you decide to submit such adocument, the Commission requests that an
original
and
twelve
12)
copies
be
filed
ON
OR
BEFORE
APRIL
2
2010.
PLEASE
NOTE:
Any
correspondence,
brief
or
memorandumdirected to the Commissioners by any party or representative of any party MUST BE 1)copied to all parties, or if the parties are represented, to such representatives, 2) include anotation indicating such notice to
all
parties or their representatives and 3) be limited toargument. NO
NEW
EVIDENCE MAY BE SUBMITTED.
If you have already filed a briefer memorandum with the hearing
officer
and wish tohave that document distributed to each member of the Commission, it is requested that
twelve
12) copies
be filed
ON OR
BEFORE
APRIL
2,
2010
and
that
notice
be
given
to all
parties
or
if
the parties are represented, to their representatives, that such previously
filed
documentis being submitted to the Commissioners for review.
By Order
of the
Freedom
of
Information Commission
W.
Paradis, Acting Clerk of the CommissionNotice
to:
Kevin BrookmanJohn Rose,
Jr., Esq.
FREEDOM
OF
INFORMATION COMMISSIONOF THE STATE OF CONNECTICUTIn the Matter of a Complaint by Report of Hearing
Officer
Kevin
Brookman,
Complainantagainst Docket #FIC
2009-551
John Rose, Corporation Counsel,
Office
of the Corporation
Counsel,
City
of
Hartford;
and
City
of
Hartford,
Respondents February
11,
2010
The
above-captioned matter
was
heard
as a contested case on
December
17,2009,
at
which time the complainant and the respondents appeared and presented testimony,exhibits
and
argument
on the
complaint.
After
consideration of the entire record, the following facts are
found
andconclusions
of law are
reached:
1.
The
respondents
are
public agencies, within
the
meaning
of
§1-200(1), G.S.2. It is
found
that, by email dated September
1,2009,
the complainant requestedto review the following: Any
and all
documentation regarding
the
termination
of
Hartford
Police
Officer
Matthew Secore. Including, but not
limited
to any and all
internal
investigations,
correspondence, e-mails, correspondence regarding LaborBoard hearings and rulings, appeals of any LaborBoard/mediation rulings as well as any and all records of
any
funds
spent or billed to the City for the use of outside
counsel in this matter.
3.
It is
found
that, by email dated September 2, 2009, respondent Rose replied:
..
.this
is to
acknowledge your email dated 9/1/09
re
FOI-
able documents related
to the
Secore case.
The
matter
is
still
in
litigation
and I
will review
and
comply with yourrequest
in
that context.
For the
record, there
is no
outside
counsel
concerned with
the
Secore matter.
I
will
review
Docket
#
FIG
2009-551
Page
2the law and the
documents
and to the
extent there
are
disclosable materials
I
will gather them
and
advise
you
that
they are
available
for
inspection.
I am
sending
your
request
to
such other City
offices,
agencies
or
departments
as may
be
in
possession
of
documents relevant
to
your request.When
I
notify
you
that such
disclosable
documents
are
available,
you may
call..
.to
schedule
a
time
to
reviewsame.
Any
copies
you
request will
be
billed
at the
statutory
per
page
rate.
4. It is
found
that,
by
email dated September
17,
2009,
the
complainant askedrespondent Rose
for an
update
on
where this request
stands,
as the
complainant
had
not,
as of
that date, received
any of the
requested records
from
the
respondents.
5.
It is
found
that,
by
email dated September
17,
2009, respondent Rose replied:
It is my
opinion that since
the
Secore case
is a
matterpending
and
actively being litigated and, given
the
fact
that
the
file
contains materials covered
by the
attorney clientprivilege,
the
records pertaining
to
that matter
are
protected
from
disclosure
by the
provisions
of the
General Statutes,Sec.
1-210.
6. By
letter
of
complaint, sent
via
email
on
September
19,2009,
and
received
onon
September
21,
2009,
the
complainant appealed
to
this Commission, alleging
that the
respondents
violated
the
Freedom
of
Information
( FOI )
Act by
failing
to
comply with
the
request
for
records described
in
paragraph
2,
above.
In his
complaint,
the
complainant requested that the maximum civil penalties
be
assessed against
Mr.
Rose
and
any
others involved
in
this matter.
7.
Section
1-200(5),
G.S., provides: Public records
or files
means
any
recorded data
orinformation
relating
to the
conduct
of the
public's
business
prepared,
owned, used, received
or
retained
by a
publicagency,
or to
which
a
public agency
is
entitled
to
receive
a
copy
by law or
contract under section
1-218,
whether such
data
or
information
be
handwritten, typed, tape-recorded,printed, photostated, photographed
or
recorded
by anyother
method.
8.
Section l-210(a), G.S., provides
in
relevant part that:
Except
as
otherwise provided
by any
federal
law or
statestatute,
all
records maintained
or
kept
on
file
by any
publicagency, whether
or not
such records
are
required
by any
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