Opinion ID: 1792153
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: issues

Text: Parker claims that the trial court abused its discretion in denying his requests for records from the Broward County Sheriff's Office in the form of personnel files and internal affairs files of the law enforcement officers involved in the investigation. As we stated in State v. Coney, 845 So.2d 120 (Fla.2003): A circuit court's ruling on a public records request filed pursuant to a rule 3.850 motion will be sustained on review absent an abuse of discretion.... Discretion is abused only when the judicial action is arbitrary, fanciful, or unreasonable, which is another way of saying that discretion is abused only where no reasonable person would take the view adopted by the trial court. Id. at 137 (quoting White v. State, 817 So.2d 799, 806 (Fla.), cert. denied, 537 U.S. 1091, 123 S.Ct. 699, 154 L.Ed.2d 638 (2002)). In the instant case, Parker made a blanket request for the files of forty-five officers. However, Parker was only able to specifically name two officers, Detective Scheff and Detective Wiley, who were involved in his case. He stated that he needed the files to see if there is any impeachment evidence or anything of that nature in there. In response to the requests, the State offered Parker the opportunity to question the attorneys from each of the agencies involved regarding the records demanded. The trial court granted Parker's request for Detective Scheff's and Detective Wiley's files but denied Parker's requests for all other public records, finding that the prejudicial effect to the administration of justice outweighed any possible probative value to the defendant. The trial court's decision to deny Parker's motion was reasonable because Parker could only name two individuals at the Broward County Sheriff's Office whose files were relevant to his case, and because the State offered Parker the opportunity to question the attorneys from each of the agencies involved. We conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion. Therefore, Parker is not entitled to relief on this claim. In addition, Parker claims that the trial court also abused its discretion in refusing to unseal records submitted by the State Attorney's Office based on claims that the records were exempt from public records disclosure. The trial court reviewed these records and determined that they did not contain any Brady [6] material. Thus, the record reveals that the court did not abuse its discretion in denying Parker access to the sealed records submitted by the State Attorney's Office.