Rackauckas

We decline to rewrite the California Public Records Act (CPRA) (Gov. Code, § 6250 et seq.) to require the public dissemination of a postinvestigative closing report that contains the investigators’ opinions, thoughts and conclusions regarding potential criminal misconduct.

I

In September 2000, as a result of two separate incidents of alleged police misconduct involving Officer Edmund Kennedy, the Huntington Beach Police Department requested that the Orange County District Attorney initiate an investigation. This could result in the filing of criminal charges “if appropriate.”

Ebrahim Baytieh, a deputy district attorney, conducted the investigation at the direction of Douglas Woodsmall, the supervisor of the Special Assignments Unit of the Bureau of Investigation. On July 19, 2001, Baytieh wrote a public letter to the Huntington Beach Police Department stating that “we are of the opinion that there is a lack of sufficient evidence to support a filing of criminal charges against Officer Kennedy . . . . [K] Our decision is mainly based on the fact that we lack sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Officer Kennedy engaged in any criminal conduct.” In…