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State ex rel Ohio Patrolmen's Benevolent Association v. City of Mentor8/16/2000
this cause for a settlement conference under S.Ct.Prac.R. XIV(6). State ex rel. Ohio Patrolmen's Benevolent Assn. v. Mentor (1999), 86 Ohio St.3d 1465, 715 N.E.2d 567.
In September 1999, as mediation progressed, respondents provided relators with copies of the internal affairs investigative report of the possible hazing, as well as additional payroll records that had been inadvertently excluded from the records previously provided to relators by respondents. Respondents filed an answer and numerous exhibits, and they submitted the investigative report concerning the Spetrino complaint to the court for an in camera inspection.
In January 2000, Mentor appointed an independent investigator to determine whether to present the Spetrino matter to the grand jury for indictment. In the same month, Amiott recommended that Officers Grein and Steven Graham be terminated from employment because of the Spetrino internal affairs investigation.
Mediation concluded and, following the return of this case to the regular docket, we dismissed relators' claims regarding payroll, overtime, and hazing investigative records as moot, granted an alternative writ on relators' remaining claims concerning the Spetrino investigative records and their request for attorney fees, and issued a schedule for the presentation of evidence and briefs. State ex rel. Ohio Patrolmen's Benevolent Assn. v. Mentor (2000), 88 Ohio St.3d 1425, 723 N.E.2d 1113.
This cause is now before the court.
Mandamus: Spetrino Investigative Records
Relators assert that they are entitled to a writ of mandamus to compel respondents to provide them with access to the Spetrino investigative records under R.C. 149.43, Ohio's Public Records Act. R.C. 149.43 mandates full access to all public records upon request unless the requested records fall within one of the specified exemptions. State ex rel. Besser v. Ohio State Univ. (2000), 87 Ohio St.3d 535, 538, 721 N.E.2d 1044, 1047. In fact, public employee personnel records, including personnel records of police officers reflecting discipline, are generally regarded as public records, absent proof of an exemption. State ex rel. Multimedia, Inc. v. Snowden (1995), 72 Ohio St.3d 141, 142-143, 647 N.E.2d 1374, 1377-1378.
Respondents claim that the Spetrino records are exempt from disclosure as confidential law enforcement investigatory records under R.C. 149.43(A)(1)(h). R.C. 149.43(A)(1)(h) exempts confidential law enforcement investigatory records from the definition of " ublic record ," and R.C. 149.43(A)(2) defines these records to include:
" ny record that pertains to a law enforcement matter of a criminal, quasi-criminal, civil, or administrative nature, but only to the extent that the release of the record would create a high probability of disclosure of any of the following:
"(a) The identity of a suspect who has not been charged with the offense to which the record pertains, or of an information source or witness to whom confidentiality has been reasonably promised;
"(b) Information provided by an information source or witness to whom confidentiality has been reasonably promised, which information would reasonably tend to disclose the source's or witness's identity;
"(c) Specific confidential investigatory techniques or procedures or specific investigatory work product;
"(d) Information that would endanger the life or physical safety of law enforcement personnel, a crime victim, a witness, or a confidential information source." (Emphasis added.)
The applicability of the R.C. 149.43(A)(2) confidential-law-enforcement-investigatory-record exemption requ
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