City of Fresno v. Superior Court

INTRODUCTION

Petitioner City of Fresno (City) filed this petition for writ of mandate, seeking relief from a superior court order requiring City to disclose to real party in interest the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California (ACLU) specified records pursuant to the California Public Records Act (CPRA) (Gov. Code, § 7920.000 et. seq.) and subdivision (b)(1)(A)(ii) of Penal Code 1 section 832.7. The records at issue here concern incidents involving the use of police canines or “K-9’s.” The CPRA governs the public’s right of access to public records held by state and local agencies. Until recently, law enforcement investigatory records were categorically exempted from the CPRA’s disclosure requirements. Now, however, subdivision (b)(1) of section 832.7 contains an exception to this categorical exemption and renders certain law enforcement investigatory records subject to disclosure under the CPRA. As relevant here, such records now are subject to disclosure if they relate to the report, investigation, or findings of “[a]n incident involving the use of force against a person by a peace officer or custodial officer that resulted in death or in great bodily injury.” (§…