Opinion ID: 1623775
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The 19th Judicial District Court for the Parish of East Baton Rouge Action

Text: Following the return of the no true bill by the grand jury, CNN and the Times-Picayune, LLC (Times-Picayune) joined by others, submitted numerous public records requests to AG Foti requesting production of the investigative file. In response, the AG filed suit in the 19th Judicial District Court for the Parish of East Baton Rouge, seeking a declaratory judgment clarifying what portions, if any, of his investigative file were subject to release under the Louisiana Public Records Act. On the same day, several unidentified individuals alleging they are healthcare professionals who worked at Memorial Medical Center during and after Hurricane Katrina and appearing under the names of John and Jane Doe also filed a petition for declaratory judgment in the 19th Judicial District Court for the Parish of East Baton Rouge. These petitioners sought a declaration that the investigative files are not subject to disclosure under the Public Records Act. The Does named as defendants the Attorney General, the District Attorney of Orleans Parish, the Orleans Parish Coroner, Rose Agnes Savoie, CNN and the Times-Picayune, and all other persons or entities who have made requests under the Louisiana Public Records Act. In response, CNN and the Times-Picayune filed a cross-claim and motion for writ of mandamus and preliminary injunction seeking to compel the release of the investigative file. Subsequently, several interested parties were allowed to intervene in the suit. After the filing of the cross-claim, all parties agreed to proceed only in the Does' case. Several days after the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court rendered its order, the judge in the 19th Judicial District Court commenced hearings in the Does' action. The AG filed under seal a complete copy of his investigative file, including an index, in the trial court. [4] After the hearings were completed, the trial court rendered judgment on September 19, 2007, finding that the majority of the investigative file was a public record, but also identifying specific portions that were not subject to public release. [5] The trial court denied the motion for writ of mandamus and preliminary injunction. Finally, the trial court stayed its order to allow the litigants to seek appellate review. The Does and various intervenors, including LifeCare, thereafter applied to the Court of Appeal, First Circuit, for supervisory writs. On April 18, 2008, in a 4-3 decision, a seven-judge panel of the court of appeal granted the writ applications in part and denied them in part, giving identical reasons for each application. The court of appeal denied the writs as to the trial court's findings of jurisdiction and standing, and as to its order denying the motions for writ of mandamus and preliminary injunction. It granted the writs with respect to all other provisions of the trial court's order and reversed. In reversing the remaining orders of the trial court, the court of appeal found La. R.S. 44:3(A), which exempts from the Public Records Act the disclosure of records or information held by the offices of the Attorney General, district attorneys, public health investigators and others when those records and information pertain to pending or reasonably anticipated criminal litigation until such litigation has been finally adjudicated or otherwise settled, applies to the file at issue. The court of appeal concluded materials in the investigative file were compiled, created and prepared to bring homicide charges against persons involved in the treatment of patients at Tenet-Memorial following Hurricane Katrina. The court of appeal found that because there is no prescriptive period for homicide charges, criminal litigation was not finally adjudicated by the grand jury's return of a no true bill. Accordingly, the court concluded, the documents and records at issue are exempted from disclosure under the Public Records Act by La. R.S. 44:3(A). Furthermore, the court of appeal found the investigative file at issue was prepared in connection with, and in preparation for, the eventual presentation to a grand jury. Thus, it concluded, its contents are shielded from disclosure by persons present at the grand jury meeting or having confidential access to information concerning the grand jury proceeding pursuant to La.C.Cr.P. art. 434. [6] CNN and the Times-Picayune subsequently applied to this court for writs of certiorari, which we granted on June 20, 2008. This matter was consolidated with the writs arising out of the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court action. Does v. Foti, 08-1066 (La.6/20/08), 984 So.2d 5.