Police reports prepared in the performance of an officer’s duty are public records and do not fall within the attorney-client privilege. The police officers here attended a hockey game and then went to a restaurant. A patron began to harass and threaten them and eventually punched one of the officers. While the officers tried to restrain the man, he fled. A sergeant ordered each deputy to write a supplemental report of the incident, however, they thought they were to hold off on filing the reports. A person who witnessed the incident at the restaurant thought that the officers engaged in misconduct and filed a report. When the matter was referred to internal investigation, the supervisor ordered the deputies to write and file their reports. They did so in order to avoid allegations of insubordination. Instead of turning them over to the normal watch sergeant, they gave them to the investigation supervisor, who gave them to the law firm representing them. The trial court properly found the reports were public records and required disclosure because the reports were prepared as part of the officers’ official duties.
Case Summaries