Title: State Prosecutor v. Judicial Watch

State: maryland

Issuer: Maryland Supreme Court

Document:

Office of the State Prosecutor v. Judicial Watch, Inc.
No. 9, September Term, 1999
HEADNOTE:
INTERLOCUTORY APPEAL; PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT; GRAND JURY
PROCEEDINGS
Circuit court order pursuant to the State’s Public Information Act to disclose
information from grand jury proceedings was an injunction and therefore immediately
appealable.
GRAND JURY PROCEEDINGS; VENUE
Under Maryland Rule 4-642, Circuit court had no authority to require disclosure of
information in grand jury proceedings conducted outside of the county.
Circuit Court for Baltimore County 
Case No. 03-C-98-007868
 IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF  MARYLAND
NO.  9
SEPTEMBER TERM, 1999
OFFICE OF THE STATE PROSECUTOR
v.
JUDICIAL WATCH, INC.
           Bell, C. J.
Eldridge
Rodowsky
        Raker
   
Wilner
Cathell, 
                      Karwacki, Robert L. 
   (Retired, specially assigned)
JJ.
Opinion by Bell, C. J.
             
FILED:   September 21, 1999
     The reference is to Vaughn v. Rosen, 484 F.2d 820 (D.C. Cir. 1973), in which the Circuit
1
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia required the responding party to provide a list
of documents in possession, setting forth the date, author, general subject matter and claim
of privilege for each document claimed to be exempt from discovery. See also, Lewis v.
I.R.S., 823 F.2d 375, 377 n. 3 (9th Cir. 1987) (“A Vaughn index is a system of itemizing and
indexing that correlates each of the government’s justifications for its refusal to disclose the
documents with the actual portion of the documents at issue.”).
     Maryland Code (1957, 1995 Repl. Vol., 1997 Supp.) § 9-1203 (b) provides:
2
“At the request of either the Governor, Attorney General, General Assembly
or State’s Attorney, the State Prosecutor may investigate criminal activity that
is conducted or committed partly in this State and partly in another
jurisdiction, or that is conducted or committed in more than one political
subdivision of the State.”
In this case, we are called upon to determine whether the Circuit Court for Baltimore
County erred by ordering the State Prosecutor to submit a “Vaughn”  index of documents,
1
requested pursuant to the Maryland Public Information Act, where those documents are
related to an ongoing investigation being conducted by a grand jury convened by another
circuit court.  We shall hold that it did and, therefore, reverse the judgment ordering the
disclosure.
I.
In February 1998, at the request of the State’s Attorney for Howard County pursuant
to Maryland Code (1957, 1995 Repl. Vol., 1997 Supp.) §9-1203(b) of the State Government
Article,  Stephen Montanarelli, the State Prosecutor, agreed to investigate the highly
2
publicized tape recordings made by Linda Tripp of telephone conversations she had with
Monica Lewinsky.  At that time, the State Prosecutor deferred his investigation pending
resolution of a separate, federal, investigation being conducted by Kenneth Starr through the
2
      Md. Code (1974, 1995  Repl. Vol., 1997 Supp.) § 10-402 of the Courts & Judicial
3
Proceedings Article provides, in pertinent part:
“(a) Unlawful acts.- Except as otherwise specifically provided in this subtitle
it is unlawful for any person to:
“(1) Wilfully intercept, endeavor to intercept, or procure any
other person to intercept or endeavor to intercept, any wire, oral,
or electronic communication;
“(2) Wilfully disclose, or endeavor to disclose, to any other
person the contents of any wire, oral, or electronic
communication, knowing or having reason to know that the
information was obtained through the interception of a wire,
oral or electronic communication in violation of this subtitle; or
“(3) Wilfully use, or endeavor to use, the contents of any wire,
oral, or electronic   communication in violation of this subtitle.”
Office of Independent Counsel, in which the tapes played an important role.  On July 7,
1998, the Office of the State Prosecutor, (“OSP” or “the State”) announced the initiation of
a grand jury investigation into alleged violations by Ms. Tripp, of the State Wiretap and
Electronic Eavesdropping Statute,  Maryland Code (1974, 1995 Repl. Vol., 1997 Supp.) §
3
10-402 of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article.  The next day, the appellee, Judicial
Watch, Inc. (“Judicial Watch”), filed, with the OSP, a request pursuant to the State’s Public
Information Act (“PIA”), Maryland Code (1984, 1995 Repl. Vol., 1997 Supp.) §§ 10-611,
et seq., of the State Government Article for all documents and things related to, among
others,  Linda Tripp, Lucianne Goldberg, Monica Lewinsky, Kenneth Starr, and the White
House.    Responding to that request, the State Prosecutor denied having documents or other
material concerning such persons and entities named in Judicial Watch’s PIA request and
refused to disclose any documents or other information the OSP might have concerning Ms.
3
Tripp, Ms. Goldberg and Ms. Lewinsky.  The grounds he offered to support the decision
were: 1) Judicial Watch is not a “person in interest” and  2) the records sought are part of an
investigatory file compiled for  law enforcement or prosecution purposes.
Following the denial of its request, the appellee filed an action in the Circuit Court
for Baltimore County, in which it alleged that the OSP’s non-production violated the PIA.
The OSP filed a motion to dismiss, or in the alternative for summary judgment, arguing that
the documents the appellee sought were part of a confidential investigatory file compiled for
the purpose of conducting an active criminal grand jury investigation.  The motion was
supported by affidavit of the State Prosecutor.  The appellee countered by pointing out that
the OSP had previously made public at least some documents responsive to its request and
that its request was made only one day after the announcement of the initiation of the
investigation.    It then argued from that premise that the documents could not reveal or
implicate confidential information about an investigation that had begun only one day earlier.
Not conceding the point, the OSP  produced the already released documents.   Those
documents, it explained, related solely to the decision to undertake the investigation and,
thus, did not compromise the ongoing investigation.
The circuit court ordered the OSP to submit to the Court and to the appellee, under
seal, a “Vaughn” index that “word for word, paper for paper” identified all documents that
are  responsive to the PIA request.  It also instructed the OSP to describe each document with
the same specificity required by discovery orders in civil cases.  The OSP filed a motion for
reconsideration or, in the alternative, for a stay pending appeal, supported by affidavit, in
4
     In the affidavit, the OSP stated with respect to the withheld documents:
4
“The documents sought fall into several categories: investigative reports;
physical evidence, including documentary evidence; witness statements;
memoranda of interview[s] with third parties; attorney and investigators’ work
papers; correspondence pertaining to requests for information; and internal
memoranda reflecting the scope and duration of the investigation.”
which it argued  that all of the withheld documents  pertained to the ongoing grand jury
4
investigation.  It argued further that, in Maryland, custodians of public records need not make
an individualized showing when claiming exemption, rather it is sufficient to identify general
categories of documents and demonstrate how they would interfere with an ongoing criminal
investigation.
Both the motion for reconsideration and the request for stay were denied, the court
reasoning:
“This court has no qualms about allowing the State Prosecutor identifying
what he wants protected in a “category.”  The law tells me what to do.  What
he cannot do is generalize and categorize under the bald allegation that “I say
it should be protected.”  For example, an affidavit by the State Prosecutor that
I obtained eight (8) documents from William Jefferson Clinton, pursuant to the
subpoena I issued on ?/?/? after the investigation began, means the eight (8)
documents may be categorized as something obtained pursuant to an
investigation taken.  An affidavit that I have eight (8) documents, the
revelation on which, may hinder future prosecution, is not acceptable as
allowing the court to make any decisions as to whether there is a statutory
protection against disclosure.
“Nothing more is asked of the State Prosecutor here than to give the court the
basis upon which confidentiality is claimed.  As in civil cases, the earmarking
procedure set out in Kelch v. Mass Transit Admin., 287 Md. 223, 441 A.2d
449 (1980) and Discovery Guideline No. 6 is needed so this judge knows what
the parties are talking about.”                                                                        
5
                                                             
The court ordered the OSP, under penalty of contempt, to produce the ordered index by a
date and time certain.  It subsequently also amended the order to require the OSP to state
“[t]he subject matter of the testimony (i.e., knowledge of whether taping was a violation of
the law)” presented to the grand jury.   The OSP timely noted its appeal to the Court of
Special Appeals.  It also sought a stay of the circuit court order, which the Court of Special
Appeals granted.  This Court, on its own motion, issued a writ of certiorari prior to any other
proceedings in the intermediate appellate court and ordered that the stay that court entered
continue in effect.
II.
We granted certiorari to consider the propriety of the circuit court’s order to the OSP
for the production and submission of a Vaughn index.  That order, which is at the center of
this case, is not the final order sought by the appellee - to disclose all documents requested
by Judicial Watch, pursuant to its PIA request.  Instead, this case challenges the circuit
court’s  ordering  disclosure of information designed to assist it in determining that ultimate
issue, i.e. a list containing the date, author, general subject matter and claim of privilege for
each document the OSP claimed to be exempt from discovery.  Consequently, the order
under review is an interlocutory order.   Thus, the first question this review presents is
whether the order is an appealable interlocutory order.  Although the appellee did not file a
motion challenging appealability, having contented itself to expressing, in its brief,  “serious
doubt” as to whether the order was properly appealable, the issue of appealability is a
6
     Maryland Code (1974, 1995 Repl. Vol.) § 12-301 of the Courts & Judicial Proceedings
5
Article provides that "[A] party may appeal from a final judgment entered in a civil . . .
case," whether entered in the exercise of original, special, limited, or statutory authority,
unless "expressly denied by law."  We noted in Baltimore City Dept. of Soc. Services v.
Stein, 328 Md. 1, 8, 612 A.2d 880, 883 (1992), citing Cant v. Bartlett, 292 Md. 611, 614,
440 A.2d 388, 389 (1982); Stewart v. State, 282 Md. 557, 561, 386 A.2d 1206, 1208 (1978);
Jolley v. State, 282 Md. 353, 356, 384 A.2d 91, 93 (1978), that its purpose is to discourage
the piecemeal appeal of issues generated at various stages of the litigation.
     We have recognized that “[t]o fall within the collateral order exception, the "'order must
6
[(1)] conclusively determine the disputed question, [(2)] resolve an important issue [, (3) be]
completely separate from the merits of the action, and [(4)] be effectively unreviewable on
appeal from a final judgment.'" Stein, 328 Md. at 10-11, 612 A.2d at 884-85, quoting, inter
alia,  Cohen v. Beneficial Industrial Loan Corp., 337 U.S. 541, 545-47, 69 S.Ct. 1221,
1225-26, 93 L. Ed. 1528, 1536-37 (1949), the  seminal case on the collateral order doctrine.”
threshold one, which may be raised at any time by a party, even on appeal, and, indeed,
which must be addressed, and will be, by the Court on its own motion, whether raised or not.
Recognizing that “[d]ecisions involving the creation of a Vaughn index usually arise
in civil cases as interlocutory rulings that generally are not final for purposes of Md. Cts. &
Jud. Proc. Code Ann. § 12-301,
 the OSP nevertheless contends that the circuit court’s
[5]”
order is properly appealable both under the collateral order doctrine, “which treats as final
and appealable a limited class of orders which do not terminate litigation in the trial court,”6
and under this Court’s decision in Baltimore City Department of Social Services v. Stein, 328
Md. 1, 612 A.2d 880 (1992).   As we have seen, the appellee disputes the applicability of
both.  We agree with the appellee with respect to the inapplicability of the collateral order
doctrine - the order under review “is inherently intertwined with the merits of the action,”
hence, does not conclusively determine the disputed issue, the propriety of the withholding
7
     An “injunction” is “an order mandating or prohibiting a specified act.” Maryland Rule
7
15-501.  
of the documents responsive to the appellee’s PIA request.  Although we believe that the
Stein exception is somewhat different, we have concluded that it too is inapposite.  The
threshold distinction between this case and Stein is clear.  Stein was a non-party to the
underlying action, as to whom the discovery disclosure order had all of the attributes of
finality recognized by this Court.  It settled the rights of the appellant and appellee in the
records sought to be discovered, thereby, concluding that phase of the action. Stein, 328 Md.
at 13, 612 A. 2d at 885-86. Here, on the other hand, the OSP is a party, indeed, the critical
party, in the underlying litigation and the order under review is an interlocutory order; it does
not purport to resolve and, by definition, could not resolve, the underlying action. 
Nevertheless, we hold that the trial court’s order is an appealable order.    Section 10-
623 of the PIA is concerned with the governmental denial of inspection requests. 
Subsection (c) (3) provides: 
“The court may:
“(i) enjoin the State, a political subdivision, or a unit, official, or
employee of the State or of a political subdivision from
withholding the public record;
“(ii) pass an order for the production of the public record that
was withheld from the complainant; and
“(iii) for noncompliance with the order, punish the responsible
employee for contempt.”
Thus, an order under this Act is an injunction,  the noncompliance with which is punishable
7
by contempt.   Maryland Code (1974, 1995 Repl. Vol.) § 12-303 of the Courts and Judicial
8
     That provision provides in its entirety:
8
“A custodian shall deny inspection of a public record or any part of a public
Proceedings Article, addresses “[a]ppeals from orders not final.”  As relevant to the case sub
judice, it provides:
“A party may appeal from any of the following interlocutory orders entered by
a circuit court in a civil case:
*     *     *     *
“(3) An order:
“(i) Granting or dissolving an injunction, but if
the appeal is from an order granting an
injunction, only if the appellant has first filed
his answer in the cause.”
Despite the circuit court requiring the index to be in the detail required of discovery
deadlines, the order in this case is not a discovery order.  While it may resemble a discovery
order,  it was issued pursuant to the other party’s request and in aid of elucidating the issues
preliminary to a decision on the merits, the order in this case is an injunctive order, requiring
disclosure to the court of information the court found to be necessary so that it “knows what
the parties are talking about.”   Indeed, it has been legislatively determined to be an
injunction and to be directly enforceable by contempt.  Moreover, the court’s order in this
case was under penalty of contempt.   In addition, the information ordered disclosed is, the
OSP claims, protected by the Maryland grand jury laws.   
The PIA requires a custodian of records to deny inspection of a public record if it is
privileged or confidential, by law, or if a state statute or the Rules adopted by the Court of
Appeals prohibit it. § 10-615.   Moreover,  “[s]ecrecy is the lifeblood of the grand jury” and
8
9
record if: 
“(1) by law, the public record is privileged or confidential; or 
“(2) the inspection would be contrary to: 
“(i) a State statute; 
“(ii) a federal statute or a regulation that is issued
under the statute and has the force of law; 
“(iii) the rules adopted by the Court of Appeals;
or 
“(iv) an order of a court of record.” 
     Maryland Rule 4-642 provides:
9
“(a)  Court records.  Files and records of the court pertaining to criminal
investigations shall be sealed and shall be open to inspection only by order of
the court. 
“(b)  Hearings.  Hearings before the court relating to the conduct of criminal
investigations shall be on the record and shall be conducted out of the presence
of all persons except those whose presence is necessary. 
“(c)  Motion for disclosure.  Unless disclosure of matters occurring before the
grand jury is permitted by law without court authorization, a motion for
disclosure of such matters shall be filed in the circuit court where the grand
is critical to its proper functioning.  In re Criminal Investigation No. 437, 316 Md. 66, 76,
557 A.2d 235, 240 (1989).  See also, Douglas Oil Co. v. Petrol Stops Northwest, 441 U.S.
211, 218-19, 99 S. Ct. 1667, 1672-73, 60 L. Ed. 2d 156, 164-65 (1979).  Consequently, the
harm against which protection is sought will have occurred the moment that the OSP submits
the Vaughn index.  Accordingly, we conclude that the circuit court order is immediately
appealable.
 III.
The OSP offers two bases on which it contends the circuit court’s order should be
reversed: it contravenes Maryland Rule 4-642  and it interferes with an ongoing criminal
9
10
jury convened. If the moving party is a State's Attorney who is seeking
disclosure for enforcement of the criminal law of a state or the criminal law
of the United States, the hearing shall be ex parte. In all other cases, the
moving party shall serve a copy of the motion upon the State's Attorney, the
parties to the judicial proceeding if disclosure is sought in connection with
such a proceeding, and such other persons as the court may direct. The court
shall conduct a hearing if requested within 15 days after service of the
motion.” 
investigation.  As to the former, it argues that Rule 4-642(c) protects grand jury secrecy by
prohibiting, unless permitted by law without necessity of court authorization, disclosure of
matters occurring before the grand jury except as ordered by the court where the grand jury
is convened after a hearing.  Because the grand jury in this case was convened in Howard
County, the OSP asserts, the Circuit Court for Howard County is the only circuit court with
authority to order disclosure of matters occurring before its grand jury.  The PIA, it
continues, does not displace the provisions of § 4-642; consequently,  the circuit court’s
order was error.
Alternatively, the OSP argues that “even if the Public Information Act were applicable
to disclosure of grand jury materials, it provides no basis for the compelled production of a
Vaughn index that, by listing each document the State Prosecutor seeks to withhold,  intrudes
on an ongoing criminal investigation.” Since the PIA does not require disclosure of
investigatory records compiled during pending criminal proceedings, and under Maryland
law, the State is not required to make a particularized showing that the investigatory reports
would interfere with that pending proceeding, it contends that “[t]he Baltimore County
11
Circuit Court’s requirement that the State Prosecutor produce a detailed Vaughn index
sweeps aside these well settled principles because it requires precisely the showing of
particularized interference that this Court and others have consistently held need not be made
in investigatory record exemption cases such as this.”
The appellee counters that the issue “is not about breaching the confidentiality of
grand jury proceedings.  Rather, it is about how the Circuit Court, indeed how any court, can
determine whether the withholding of documents pursuant to Maryland’s Public Information
Act is or is not lawful.”  Thus, its argument focuses on the PIA and its application, without
even a single mention of Rule 4-262.  The appellee asserts that the appellant misapplies cases
interpreting the Public Information Act.  Relying on Fioretti v. Maryland State Board of
Dental Examiners, 351 Md. 66, 78, 716 A.2d 258, 254 (1998), the appellee contends that,
when confronted with a PIA request,  a state agency is required to: 1) identify each withheld
document sufficiently, and 2) demonstrate that public release of the documents would
interfere with a pending criminal investigation.   Judicial Watch argues that the broad
categorization of the documents offered by the OSP is vague, and does not satisfy the
particularity requirement of Fioretti. 
IV.
Pursuant to §10-615 of the PIA, as we have seen, the custodian must deny inspection
of public records that are, by law, privileged or confidential or when inspection would be
contrary to a State statute or rules adopted by the Court of Appeals.    It is well settled that
secrecy is essential to the proper workings of the grand jury system. See In re Criminal
12
Investigation No. 437, 316 Md. at 76, 557 A.2d at 240 (“Secrecy is the lifeblood of the grand
jury.”); Coblentz v. State, 164 Md. 558, 566-67, 166 A. 45, 49 (1933)(Grand jury secrecy
“is an inflexible requirement that [the grand jury’s] investigations shall be carried on secretly
and free from outside interference or influence; and great care is taken that they shall be so
carried on.”); In re Grand Jury Report, 152 Md. 616, 631, 137 A. 370, 375-76 (1927).  See
also In re Criminal Investigation No. 51843, 119 Md. A pp. 112, 117, 704 A.2d 464, 467,
cert. denied, 349 Md. 235, 707 A.2d 1329 (1998), in which the intermediate appellate court,
quoting Douglas Oil Co. v. Petrol Stops Northwest, 441 U.S. 211, 219, 99 S.Ct. 1667, 1673,
60 L.Ed.2d 156, 165 (1979), stated, on the subject:
“First, if preindictment proceedings were made public, many prospective
witnesses would be hesitant to come forward voluntarily, knowing that those
against whom they testify would be aware of that testimony.  Moreover,
witnesses who appeared before the grand jury would be less likely to testify
fully and frankly, as they would be open to retribution as well as to
inducements.  There also would be the risk that those about to be indicted
would flee, or would try to influence individual grand jurors to vote against
indictment.  Finally, by preserving the secrecy of the proceedings, we assure
that persons who are accused but exonerated by the grand jury will not be held
up to public ridicule.”
 
   In Coblentz, we further explained:
“Freedom of inquiry is to be preserved, and at the same time individuals whose
conduct may be investigated, but against whom no indictment may be found,
are to be protected from disrepute, and all individuals are to be protected from
one-sided presentations of unfavorable evidence, without opportunity to reply,
before any one present unnecessarily.”   
13
     “All persons who have been selected for grand jury service in the circuit court of any
10
county in the State shall take an oath of secrecy.” Md. Code (1973, 1984 Repl. Vol.) 8-
213(b) of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article.
      A stenographer appointed to take grand jury testimony, “shall take and subscribe an
11
oath that he will keep secret all matters and things occurring before the grand jury.” Id. 2-
503(b)(1)
164 Md. at 566, 166 A. at 49.  It is for this reason that we require grand jurors  and
10
stenographers  to take an oath of secrecy.  
11
This Court has promulgated rules governing criminal investigations, i.e., “inquiries
into alleged criminal activities conducted by a grand jury or by a State's Attorney pursuant
to Article 10A, § 39A.” Maryland Rule 4-641.   Maryland Rule 4-642 addresses the secrecy
of such investigations and, indeed, provides the exclusive vehicle for obtaining disclosure
of grand jury records and documents, which, at times, is necessary to promote justice.  In re
Criminal Investigation No. 437, 316 Md. at 79, 557 A.2d at 242.  It provides:
“(a)  Court records.- Files and records of the court pertaining to criminal
investigations shall be sealed and shall be open to inspection only by order of
the court. 
“(b)  Hearings.- Hearings before the court relating to the conduct of criminal
investigations shall be on the record and shall be conducted out of the presence
of all persons except those whose presence is necessary. 
“(c)  Motion for disclosure.- Unless disclosure of matters occurring before the
grand jury is permitted by law without court authorization, a motion for
disclosure of such matters shall be filed in the circuit court where the grand
jury convened. If the moving party is a State's Attorney who is seeking
disclosure for enforcement of the criminal law of a state or the criminal law
of the United States, the hearing shall be ex parte. In all other cases, the
moving party shall serve a copy of the motion upon the State's Attorney, the
parties to the judicial proceeding if disclosure is sought in connection with
such a proceeding, and such other persons as the court may direct. The court
shall conduct a hearing if requested within 15 days after service of the
14
motion.”
The rule is clear, inspection of grand jury files and records, not otherwise allowed by
law without one, is permitted only upon order of court, after hearing on a motion filed in the
circuit court where the grand jury is convened.  Maryland Rule 4-462 (a) and (c). 
Underscoring the confidentiality and secrecy of such proceedings, subsection (b) makes clear
that, although required to be conducted on the record, hearings related to grand jury
disclosures, as is true of those involving all criminal investigations, are required to exclude
all persons whose presence is not necessary.
The proceedings in this case were pursuant to the PIA, rather than the grand jury
disclosure rule.  Moreover, they were brought in a circuit court other than the one in which
the grand jury, whose files and records were sought, was convened.  By proceeding via the
PIA, rather than pursuant to the grand jury disclosure rule, an end run around grand jury
secrecy has been attempted, which if successful, will undermine that process.  But the PIA
does not sanction this proceeding.   In fact, § 10-615 is clear that effect is to be given to court
rules when to allow inspection of public records would contravene those rules.  That is the
case here.  Thus, as in the case of the Federal FOIA, see Fiumara v. Higgins, 572 F. Supp.
1093, 1103 (D. N.H. 1983); Manchester v. Drug Enforcement Admin., 823 F. Supp. 1259,
1268 (E.D. Pa.1993), the PIA does not trump or override the traditional rule of grand jury
secrecy. 
It follows that neither Baltimore County was the proper venue, nor the circuit court
of that county the proper court to act in this case.   In short, that court acted contrary to Rule
15
     Maryland Rule 2-327, as relevant, provides:
12
“(b) Improper Venue.  If a court sustains a defense of improper venue but
determines that in the interest of justice the action should not be dismissed, it
may transfer the action to any county in which it could have been brought.”
4-462 in entertaining and deciding this action.  The most it should have done was transfer
the matter to the Circuit Court for Howard County pursuant to Maryland Rule 2-327.12
V.
In the event that the Circuit Court for Baltimore County exercises its discretion to
transfer the matter to Howard County, we offer the following for guidance on remand.  To
be sure, Maryland Rule 4-462 does not contain, or purport to prescribe  a standard for  trial
courts to use when deciding grand jury disclosure issues.  This Court has addressed that
issue, however, and determined that “when a court order for disclosure is requested, there
must be a strong showing of a ‘particularized need’ before disclosure is permitted.” In re
Criminal Investigation No. 437, 316 Md. at 82-83, 557 A.2d at 243.  As to the nature of the
“particularized need,” we clarified:
“Parties seeking a court order for disclosure under Md. Rule 4-642(c) must
show that:
“1) the material they seek is needed to avoid a possible injustice;  and
“2) the need for disclosure is greater than the need for continued secrecy; and
“3) their request is structured to cover only material so needed.” 
Id. at 85, 557 A.2d at 244.
We have previously noted that this action has been brought under the PIA and not the
16
grand jury disclosure rule and that it was brought in a court other than the one in which the
records sought are located.  Finally, the proceedings were brought, and are being  prosecuted,
by an organization that is not a person in interest under the PIA, that is unrelated to any party
in the criminal investigation, and that is not a governmental or law enforcement entity.
Therefore, none of the showings required for disclosure of grand jury files and records have
been made or even attempted to be made, nor, under the circumstances, could they have
been.  
To the extent that any of the records sought do not constitute records pertaining to the
grand jury investigation or may be determined to be properly the subject of a PIA request,
different considerations apply.  They, too, will be addressed.
It is the policy of this State that its citizens have “access to information about the
affairs of government and the official acts of public officials and employees.” § 10-612(a).
Indeed, so strong is this policy that the General Assembly has declared that, unless an
unwarranted invasion of the privacy of a person in interest would result, “this subtitle shall
be construed in favor of permitting inspection of a public record, with the least cost and least
delay to the person or governmental unit that requests the inspection.” §10-612 (b).  Thus,
“[e]xcept as otherwise provided by law, a custodian shall permit a person or governmental
unit to inspect any public record at any reasonable time.” §10-613(a).   There are exceptions
to this rule, however.  One, as we have seen, is prescribed in §10-615, requiring denial of
inspection of a public record when, by law, it is privileged or confidential or when to allow
the inspection would be contrary to a State statute or rules adopted by the Court of Appeals.
17
Another is contained in §10-618, which, as relevant to the case sub judice, provides:
“(a)  In general.  Unless otherwise provided by law, if a custodian believes that
inspection of a part of a public record by the applicant would be contrary to
the public interest, the custodian may deny inspection by the applicant of that
part, as provided in this section.
*     *     *     * 
“(f)  Investigations.-  
“(1) Subject to paragraph (2) of this subsection, a custodian may
deny inspection of: 
“(i) records of investigations conducted by the
Attorney General, a State's Attorney, a city or
county attorney, a police department, or a sheriff;
“(ii) an investigatory file compiled for any other
law enforcement, judicial, correctional, or
prosecution purpose; or 
“(iii) records that contain intelligence information
or security procedures of the Attorney General, a
State's Attorney, a city or county attorney, a
police department, a State or local correctional
facility, or a sheriff. 
“(2) A custodian may deny inspection by a person in interest
only to the extent that the inspection would: 
“(i) interfere with a valid and proper law
enforcement proceeding; 
“(ii) deprive another person of a right to a fair
trial or an impartial adjudication; 
“(iii) constitute an unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy; 
“(iv) disclose the identity of a confidential source;
“(v) disclose an investigative technique or
procedure; 
“(vi) prejudice an investigation; or 
“(vii) endanger the life or physical safety of an
individual.”
  
Under this provision, a custodian is permitted to deny inspection of records of
investigations conducted by certain enumerated agencies. §10-618(f)(1).  There is no
provision, certainly not an express one, requiring the custodian to give any explanation for
18
     Section 10-611(e) defines  "person in interest" to mean:
13
“(1) a person or governmental unit that is the subject of a public record or a
designee of the person or governmental unit;
“(2) if the person has a legal disability, the parent or legal representative of the
person;  or
“(3) as to requests for correction of certificates of death under § 5-310(d)(2)
of the Health - General Article, the spouse, adult child, parent, adult sibling,
grandparent, or guardian of the person of the deceased at the time of the
deceased's death.”
 
     In effect at that time was Maryland Code (1957, 1980 Repl. Vol. & 1983 Cum.Supp.),
14
Art. 76A, § 3(b)(i).  It provided:
"The custodian may deny the right of inspection of the following records or
appropriate portions thereof, unless otherwise provided by law, if disclosure
to the applicant would be contrary to the public interest:
"(i) Records of investigations conducted by, or of intelligence
information or security procedures of, any sheriff, county
the denial or, in some way, to offer a justification for the decision.   Section (f)(1) does refer
to Section (f)(2), however, which places restrictions on the custodian’s right to deny
inspection to a person in interest, i.e. “a person or governmental unit that is the subject of a
public record or a designee of the person or governmental unit.” § 10-611(e).   When a
13
person in interest is involved, Section (f)(2) contemplates inspection unless disclosure would
have the enumerated consequences; hence, it implicitly requires, in that circumstance, some
explanation or justification for the decision to deny inspection. 
This Court has addressed the nature of that explanation or justification.   In Faulk v.
State's Attorney,  299 Md. 493, 474 A.2d 880 (1984), the issue was “whether under
§3(b)(i)(A),
 in order to deny access to investigatory police reports to a defendant in a
[14]
19
attorney, city attorney, State's attorney, the Attorney General,
police department, or any investigatory files compiled for any
other law-enforcement, judicial, correctional, or prosecution
purposes, but the right of a person in interest to inspect the
records may be denied only to the extent that the production of
them would (A) interfere with valid and proper law-enforcement
proceedings, (B) deprive another person of a right to a fair trial
or an impartial adjudication, (C) constitute an unwarranted
invasion of personal privacy, (D) disclose the identity of a
confidential source, (E) disclose investigative techniques and
procedures, (F) prejudice any investigation, or (G) endanger the
life or physical safety of any person."   
pending criminal proceeding, the State must present particularized evidence showing that the
disclosure of such reports would interfere with the pending criminal proceedings or whether
under such circumstances a generic determination of interference is appropriate.”   Id. at 495,
474 A.2d at 881. We held that:
“the State is not required to make a particularized showing that the disclosure
of investigatory police reports compiled for law-enforcement purposes to a
defendant in a pending criminal proceeding would interfere with that pending
criminal proceeding. Rather, a generic determination of interference can be
made whenever a defendant in a pending criminal proceeding seeks access to
investigatory police reports relating to that pending criminal proceeding. In
short, the Maryland Public Information Act does not require the disclosure of
investigatory police reports compiled for law-enforcement purposes to a
defendant in a pending criminal proceeding.” 
Id. at 511, 474 A.2d at 889-90.  Underlying our reasoning was the conclusion that “the
General Assembly did not intend to preclude generic determinations of interference when
the circumstances were such that disclosure of the requested materials necessarily ‘would
interfere’ with law-enforcement proceedings.” Id. at 508, 474 A.2d at 888.  That conclusion
was compelled by the fact that “[t]here [was] nothing in the language or the legislative
20
history of § 3(b)(i)(A) to indicate that the General Assembly intended to require a
case-by-case showing that disclosure would reveal the State's case prematurely, result in
delay or otherwise create a demonstrable interference with the particular case, and that
generic determinations of interference could never be made.”  Id.
This holding was recently confirmed, albeit under somewhat different circumstances,
in Fioretti v. Maryland State Bd. Of Dental Examiners, 351 Md. 66, 89, 716 A.2d 258, 270
(1998), where, after reviewing Faulk and Superintendent v. Henshen, 279 Md. 468, 369 A.2d
558 (1977), on which Faulk relied, the Court stated that “the Legislature had given no
indication that it required the enumerated agencies to make a document-by-document
determination that disclosure of the otherwise public documents would create an interference
with the particular case.” 351 Md. at 89, 716 A.2d at 270.  Moreover, this holding is
inconsistent with the particularized showing a Vaughn index requires, but consistent with the
holdings of federal courts construing the exemption under review in the case sub judice,
known in the federal courts as Exemption 7. 
The purpose of the PIA, enacted by Chapter 698 of the Laws of 1970, is virtually
identical to that of the earlier enacted federal statute, the Freedom Of Information Act.
“Where the purpose and language of a federal statute are substantially the same as that of a
later state statute, interpretations of the federal statute are ordinarily persuasive.” Faulk, 299
Md. at 506, 474 A.2d at 887, and cases therein cited.  See also Fioretti, 351 Md. at 75-76,
716 A.2d at 263.   In Crancer v. Department of Justice, 999 F.2d 1302, 1309 (8th Cir. 1993)
(en banc), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 1163, 114 S.Ct. 1186, 127 L.Ed.2d 537 (1994), the court
21
vacated a trial court order requiring submission of a Vaughn index, concluding that such an
index “appends an additional requirement to Exemption 7(A) that exceeds the bounds of the
statute as interpreted by the Supreme Court and this court.”  It held: “Exemption 7(A) does
not require that the government produce a fact-specific, document specific, Vaughn index
in order to satisfy that burden.  The contents of the requested documents are irrelevant.  It
is the particular categories of documents, and the likelihood that the release of documents
within those categories could reasonably be expected to threaten enforcement proceedings,
on which the court must focus.” Id.  See also, Church of Scientology of California v. I.R.S.,
792 F.2d 146, 152 (D.C. Cir. 1986)) (“When, however, a claimed FOIA exemption consists
of a generic exclusion, dependent upon the category of records rather than the subject matter
which each individual record contains, resort to a Vaughn index is futile.”); Lewis v. I.R.S.,
823 F.2d 375, 380 (9th Cir. 1987) (“[A] Vaughn index of the documents here would defeat
the purpose of Exemption 7(A).  It would aid [the appellant] in discovering the exact nature
of the documents supporting the government’s case against him earlier than he otherwise
would or should.”) See also, Solar Sources, Inc. v. U.S., 142 F.3d 1033, 1040 (7th Cir.
1998)(recognizing that “in many Exemption 7(A) cases, provision of a Vaughn index would
itself disclose much of the information that the Exemption is intended to protect.”); Curran
v. Department of Justice, 813 F.3d 473, 475 (1st Cir. 1987) (“Provision of the detail which
a satisfactory Vaughn index entails would itself probably breach the dike.”).
The appellee is not a person in interest and, thus, is not entitled to the more favorable
treatment accorded such persons.  No matter, as we have seen, it fares no better even if it
22
were.
The appellee argues, “judicial review of an agency’s attempted withholding of
[documents pursuant to a PIA exemption] is a two part inquiry.  First, the documents must
be properly identified.  Then, it must be shown that public release of the documents would
interfere with a pending criminal investigation or produce enumerated harm[.]”   It relies on
Fioretti.  While, there, Judge Cathell, for the Court, did make both points, it was in an
entirely different context and, thus, does not support the appellee.  
There is a distinction between records of investigations conducted by agencies
enumerated in the exception and investigatory files compiled for any other law enforcement
or prosecution purposes by non-enumerated agencies. Henshen, 279 Md. at 474-75, 369 A.2d
at 562.  
“Section 3 (b) (i) is in the disjunctive, excepting records of investigation by the
enumerated types of law enforcement agencies or investigatory files compiled
for any other law enforcement or prosecution purposes. The statutory
provision exempts from the mandatory disclosure requirement two categories
of documents: (1) investigatory records of certain named law enforcement
agencies; (2) investigatory records of other governmental agencies which were
compiled for law enforcement or prosecution purposes. It is only with respect
to the second category that there is an express requirement that the records be
compiled for law enforcement or prosecution purposes. The statutory
language, and particularly the use of the word other before the phrase
"law-enforcement or prosecution purposes," suggests that the Legislature
believed that investigatory records of one of the enumerated law enforcement
agencies were presumptively for law enforcement or prosecution purposes, but
that investigatory records compiled by other agencies might or might not be
for such purposes.”
Id. at 475, 369 A.2d at 562.
Thus, as to the former, there need not be an actual showing that the records were
23
compiled for law enforcement or prosecution purposes for the exception to be applicable,
that will be presumed. Fioretti, 351 Md. at 78-79, 716 A.2d at 264-65. 
In Fioretti, the Board of Dental Examiners was not an enumerated agency that is
presumed to be conducting criminal investigations. Therefore, we held, it had the burden of
demonstrating that it was conducting an investigation. 351 Md. at 83, 716 A.2d at 267.  After
holding further “that in the first instance, appellee failed to meet its burden of demonstrating
that the records at issue were investigatory files compiled for a law enforcement purpose so
that the exemption at issue would apply,” id at 86, 716 A.2d  at 268, we also determined that
the Board  had to show that disclosure of the records would have prejudiced its investigation.
Id.  In short, the discussion in that case was dictated by its context, namely that the
applicable agency was not an enumerated one.  This stands in stark contrast to the instant
case. 
To be sure, the OSP is not enumerated in § 10-618 (f).  Nevertheless, it is patent that
it was in the process of conducting a criminal investigation in the same manner and to the
same extent that the State’s Attorney for Howard County would have been.  The OSP is
authorized to conduct investigations at the request of a State’s Attorney, § 9-1203(b), and,
indeed, in this case, that is precisely what it was doing.   Moreover, “[i]n the investigation
of any case as provided in § 9-1203 of this subtitle or the prosecution of any case as provided
in § 9-1205 of this subtitle, the State Prosecutor has all the powers and duties of a State's
Attorney, including the use of the grand jury in any county or Baltimore City.” § 9-1206.  For
purposes of § 10-618, therefore, the OSP stands in the shoes of the State’s Attorney at whose
24
request it undertook the instant investigation.
JUDGMENT OF THE CIRCUIT COURT
FOR 
BALTIMORE 
COUNTY
REVERSED. CASE REMANDED TO
THAT 
COURT 
FOR 
FURTHER
PROCEEDINGS CONSISTENT  WITH
THIS OPINION.  COSTS TO BE PAID
BY THE APPELLEE.